A study by the University of Nottingham has found that the body can produce cannabis-like products to relieve pain. This study comes when cannabis has become an increasingly popular way to deal with pain.
Researchers found that endocannabinoids can reduce inflammation naturally. It could also prevent heart disease, cancer, and arthritis.
Scientists have long investigated the importance of this substance in the body. It plays a role in managing pain, transmitting information in the brain and metabolism. It also works with opioids to increase euphoria after exercising.
How researchers carried out the study
The researchers gathered 78 people with arthritis over 45 and looked at how exercising affected their health. They split the volunteers into two groups. One group had 38 people who did 15 minutes of daily muscle strengthening exercises for six weeks. The control group did not work out.
Researchers drew blood samples from the volunteers to analyze serum levels to determine inflammatory markers, short-chain fatty acids, and endocannabinoids in their serum. Cytokines are one of the inflammatory markers they analyzed. They also collected their stools samples and did DNA sequencing to evaluate the amount and types of gut microbiota.
The researcher linked the gut microbiome to endocannabinoids
The team found that the group that exercised experienced less pain. Moreover, the levels of cytokines in their bodies reduced. They also found changes in the participants’ guts.
Researchers found that the body produced more endocannabinoids when the volunteers exercised. This increase led to SCFAS, a microbiome in the gut, making more anti-inflammatory substances and healthy microbes. The team also discovered that about one-third of the anti-inflammatory substances produced by microbes resulted from endocannabinoids.
While past studies have shown that exercise can reduce inflammation, thus lowering the risk of arthritis, heart disease, and cancer, scientists did not know how this worked. This new study shows that endocannabinoids are responsible for the inflammatory effect.
According to Dr. Amrita Vijay, a lead study author, exercising leads to the body producing more cannabis-like substances. Although there is an increased interest in using cannabis products such as cannabinoid oil, Dr. Vijay points out that people should know how to modulate the endocannabinoids their bodies produce.
