MOOD Altering NOT MIND Altering

It’s of key importance in today’s confusing, and occasionally hysterical world of mis-information and complex labelling to really feel comfortable with what’s being discussed on-line, and what’s being put in your body. That’s why it’s important to those for whom CBD can be an incredible support and a beneficial partner that they alleviate their concerns and feel comfortable with the decisions that are uniquely personal in how best to achieve the life balance they are searching for.

Psychoactive drug is a term that refers to any substance that chemically affects a person’s brain. However, it is important to note that psychoactive substances include BOTH mood altering and mind altering drugs. Therefore substances such as coffee, Coca-Cola, and chocolate are all psychoactive substances. The concept of putting moral labels and judgements on these terms is generalist, faulty, and extremely unhelpful. As the story of human existence has so eloquently shown, our history could just as easily be called the history of psychoactive substances, as our two stories are so intimately intertwined. From Sugar to Tea, the drive to utilize, exploit, harness and discover psychoactive substances has helped us to not only survive, but to strive, and to thrive!

As with anything we put in our body (not to mention anything we do in life) it all about balance and quantity. So, altering a mood is one thing, as it is usually done in smaller amounts of a more temporary nature and with a less intensive effect; altering a mind can be another — as we usually see this as being done in larger amounts, over a longer intensity and with more permanent effects. 

Swedes live in a country with less sunlight, more darkness, and challenging weather to say the least. It comes as no surprise then that Swedes drink an average of 3.2 cups of coffee a day as of 2021 statistics, second in the world to only Finland (3.5 cups a day, an ever bigger ’no surprise’ there). If you add in energy drink consumption, at which Swedes now have the highest level in the world, it results in Swedes having the highest caffeine consumption rates of any country in the world!! My point in illuminating these statistics is not to shame or shock you, but instead to make readily apparent that Sweden is a country that has fully embraced, efficiently managed, and successfully utilized mood altering psychoactive substances for quite some time, and to extreme benefit.

The cannabis plant contains dozens of cannabinoids that bind with ECS receptors. The two primary receptors for cannabinoids are called the CB1 and CB2. The CB1 receptors are located primarily in the brain and central nervous system. They help regulate coordination, pain, mood, appetite and certain other functions. CB2 receptors are located throughout the body and are common in the immune system. They primarily affect inflammation and pain.

CBD is certainly a mood-altering substance. It has been shown to have moderating effects on anxiety, psychosis, depression, pain, appetite, memory, seizures and other brain activity. It works in tandem with THC and other cannabinoids that act on the central nervous system. CBD does not result in euphoria or intoxication, but it most certainly can assist us in ’balancing’ our mood. 

The biological purpose of the Endocannabinoid System (ECS) is to provide balance to the chemically induced system that we call our ’emotions’. The best interface that we have found to interact with that system are those cannibinoids that occur naturally. So, when you are in need of striking an emotional balance — whether it be an imbalance that results in fatigue, pain, anxiety or depression, using CBD to assist your body in finding that balance is not only healthy and wholesome it is an efficient practice as simple as having a cup of coffee, a bar of chocolate, or a protein bar.