How To Build a Strong Immune System with Cannabis?

Photo by davide ragusa on Unsplash

Cannabis has various effects on our bodies and is one of the most potent herbs. A majority of the profound effects of the plant happen in the immune system. The body’s immune system acts as a defense modulator against infection. When viruses and bacteria invade your body, it’s the responsibility of your immune system to fight them off. Needlessly, your immune system is essential for your health. 

Therefore, how does marijuana affect your immune system if you’re a recreational cannabis user or a medical marijuana patient? Can you build a robust immune system with cannabis from Sunday Scaries CBD? Is it advisable to use or not to use it for your immune system? This article will aim to answer these and more other questions.

How does cannabis work in the body?

Photo by CRYSTALWEED cannabis on Unsplash

It is crucial to know how cannabis interacts with your immune system and body to build a robust immune system. Cannabis can have various effects on the body by interacting with your endocannabinoid system. It is a natural biological system that comprises endocannabinoids (a neurotransmitter) and cannabinoid receptors. 

You can find this system throughout the body. It’s believed to regulate various body functions that include:

• Immune system
• Digestion
• Memory
• Pain-sensation
• Stress
• Mood
• Memory
• Appetite
• Metabolism

The cannabinoids you take in when you consume cannabis, such as CBD and THC, bind to the cannabinoid receptors in your endocannabinoid system. This binding changes how your endocannabinoid system regulates your bodily functions.

It’s how cannabis can relieve your pain, boost your appetites, improve your mood or your memory. 

It’s a challenge to determine how your body functions differently after using cannabis. However, several studies have provided clues on how cannabis may interact with the immune system.

How might cannabis build a robust immune system?

Research suggests that cannabis can strengthen immune function, including HIV/AIDS and cancer. Even though these conditions have suppressed immunity, early evidence shows that cannabis can still have some beneficial effects.

Pre-clinical research even suggests that the herb may strengthen the immune response in these conditions. Despite these promising studies, they still require advanced trials for certainty. Here’s some early research scoop for these conditions. 

• HIV/AIDS

Photo by cottonbro from Pexels

HIV hijacks the immune system and suppresses it, making the body incapable of fighting off infection. It means the body is incapable of preventing itself from disease. It makes patients susceptible to infection that can lead to premature death. 

A 2003 research by Dr. Donald Abrams found that HIV patients who consumed cannabis had a 20% rise in T-cells-killer cells that look for pathogens and destroy them and a significant component of the immune response.

In a 2015 study, HIV patients that consumed cannabis had lower viral loads compared to those that didn’t. They had higher CD4 counts- a type of T-cell and a measurement of immune cells that certainly kill HIV.

• Cancer

Cannabis effectively triggers apoptosis – a fancy term for cell suicide in laboratory models of cancer and rodents. A dysfunctional immune system can either make too little or too much apoptosis. For unknown reasons, cancer cells cannot respond to triggers that would otherwise make them self-destruct. Therefore, it allows cancer cells to proceed with their growth and proliferation.

Early studies of lab-cultivated human cancer cells and rodents suggest that cannabis compounds trigger apoptosis in cancer cells. It means the cannabis compounds successfully killed the cells. Scientists continue to study the positive findings of the anti-cancer effects of cannabis. These instances show you can build a robust immune system with cannabis.

Maintaining a healthy gut

The collection of good and bad microorganisms in the small intestines plays a vital role in helping the body have a well-functioning immune system. An extensive inflammation of the gut may lead to intestinal permeability, impaired intestinal immune response, and gut microbiota. The body can counteract this through the endocannabinoid system. 

Human trials have shown that CBD can support a healthy intestinal inflammatory response. Keeping a healthy gut helps an overall immunity.

Supporting a healthy inflammatory response

Photo by Kindel Media from Pexels

We know how cannabis can support a healthy inflammatory response. Studies in animals show CBD can help a healthy inflammatory response in the lungs. Mice exposed to lung irritants also showed improved lung function as well.

Some studies show that cannabis enhances healthy lung markers, including protein concentration, decreased total lung elastance, lung resistance, and healthy levels of cytokines and chemokine. 

Can provide a calming effect

Psychological stress can eventually lead to a decline in immunity. Cannabis can lead to a healthy stress response from everyday stress and frustrations. 

Human trials show that cannabis can reduce mild stress to people giving out some speech. 

Conclusion

Several studies suggest you can build a robust immune system with cannabis. Despite lacking answers on how cannabis affects the immune system, these studies are promising and prove beneficial in certain instances. Time will tell what the future holds for further discoveries.