Anandamide is a little-known chemical that may have a really dramatic impact on your sense of wellbeing. It’s a neurotransmitter – a messenger in your brain – that binds to the brain and body’s cannabinoid receptors. In doing so, it creates an overall sense of wellbeing and happiness.
Many people know it as the ‘bliss molecule’. In fact, its name is derived from the word Ananda, Sanskrit for happiness, joy, or pleasure.
Its impact doesn’t end there, however. There are several mechanisms through which it can boost your overall health and mental wellbeing.
As it binds to your cannabinoid receptors, which are the receptors that the central psychoactive compound in marijuana binds to, you may assume that you can only really manipulate anandamide by using cannabis. Though cannabis use will indeed increase your anandamide levels, it’s far from the only way of doing so. There are even some anandamide supplements to help with this.
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Read on to find out why anandamide is so important and how you can boost your levels naturally through diet and lifestyle.
Anandamide 101
So what exactly is anandamide? In brief, it is a neurotransmitter, as above, created from arachidonic acid, which is a long-chain essential fatty acid. It is one of the more important endocannabinoids.
Endocannabinoids are produced within the body and bind to cannabinoid receptors.
Scientists found it whilst looking into THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, which is cannabis’ key psychoactive component. THC receptors were found in the human brain, which initially puzzled researchers. Why would we naturally have developed them? There was a missing link.
This missing link was anandamide, which binds to these otherwise seemingly superfluous receptors. When it was discovered, researchers decided to search more thoroughly for cannabinoid receptors in the human brain and body. It turned out that we are chock full of them.
They are very widely spread throughout our bodies, as well as existing in multiple regions of the human brain.
For example, researchers have found them in the central nervous system, liver, kidneys, lungs, spleen, reproductive organs, the gastrointestinal and urinary tracts, and even in white blood cells.
Due to the widespread nature of cannabinoid receptors, anandamide has plenty of effects.
Its effects all told are also incredibly profound. Anandamide plays plenty of disparate roles, including in memory, sleep, pain relief, and appetite.
The endocannabinoid system (the sum total of endocannabinoid compounds and their receptors) works as something of a regulator, helping to keep the body and brain in homeostasis, a state of balance.
Conversely, an anandamide deficiency may be at the heart of many conditions. Some researchers have posited that it may be a root cause for a wide range of chronic conditions including depression, recurring migraines, multiple sclerosis, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, and even certain neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s.
There is even tentative data suggesting that anandamide can suppress cancerous cell production.