Learning & Education
Did you know that because of cannabis, getting high on your own supply has never been easier? It's all because of our body's endocannabinoid system (ECS), a major regulatory system, which was discovered because people love their cannabis...and have for almost 5000 years.
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) are the most known active compounds in the cannabis plant. Over the last several decades, these cannabinoids were discovered to modulate the ECS.
To dig deeper into the ECS's inner workings, we first need to define some basic biology. Briefly, we will describe what elements comprise the nervous system, its internal communication process, and how the neurons talk to each other.
After that, we'll discuss 5 easy ways to enhance your ECS. Ready? As always at Tro Nation, #buccalup!
Just 1% faster. Just 1% stronger. These are the kinds of gains elite athletes strive for to be just .01 second faster than their competition. But even if you are just a weekend warrior trying to not get injured in this week's softball game, the better tuned your internal metabolic system is at making energy, the faster, stronger, and less prone to injury you will be too.
Energy metabolism depends on a key cellular organelle, the mitochondria. They work as the cell power plant, relentlessly providing energy in (almost) every cell of our body via OXPHOS and the ETC. You have quadrillions of mitochondria in your body. Yes, quadrillions!
BLUE: Did you know that besides staining our tongues blue and turning on smurf mode, methylene blue has been historically used in biochemistry as a dye for microbes and blood smears? (A sphincter says) What?!* Is methylene blue actually good for us? Or is it dangerous?
Sleep is a hugely important restorative process for humans as well as all organisms across the animal kingdom. It is absolutely essential for the body, mind, memory, and learning [1]. The brain, in particular, produces metabolic end-products such as reactive oxygen species that can damage and impair the function of brain cells. It is during sleep that these damaging end-products are cleared [2]. In addition, anabolic hormones are preferentially released during sleep (such as the growth hormone) that aid in the physical restoration process.
More than a decade ago, a pathbreaking discovery showed for the first time that mature mouse somatic cells could be reprogrammed into pluripotent stem cells (i.e., make them young again). The discovery was made by using the forced expression of four transcription factors: Oct4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc.
These results came from the research group of Shinya Yamanaka, and hence these factors responsible for reprogramming induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) are called the Yamanaka factors [1].
Mitochondria are absolutely vital to maintaining and optimizing health. When they work well, we feel well, and when they don’t, we don’t. Symptoms of mitochondrial dysfunction can vary from fatigue and brain fog to the obliteration of the electron transport chain from cyanide poisoning and death. Ouch!