Can Cannabis Have Probiotic Attributes?

Can Cannabis Have Probiotic Attributes?

cannabis and probiotics

Have you noticed when you go to the store today, that in the fresh produce department, you would find many products related to gut health? What do pickles, kombucha, sauerkraut, yogurt, and kimchi have in common? They are all known to be probiotic food. These are food that contains live and active bacteria cultures that are good for you and help maintain a healthy immune and digestive system.

Probiotics are fermented foods, or fresh foods, inoculated with yeast and lactobacillus bacteria that break down carbohydrates in the system and convert it into gas and acid. The tangy flavor in fermented foods are caused by the acid, and the gas provides the bubbles in fermented drinks.

Why the Focus on Fermented Foods as Probiotics?

The living bacteria in fermented food populate the gut and intestines and numerous ways. It also speeds up the utilization of consumed nutrients like proteins. Your immune system is as strong as the balance of good to bad bacteria in your gut. Probiotic good bacteria help to keep this balance. Ultimately, this leads to a strong and healthy immune system. This said everyone agrees that probiotics are good and when a food product has probiotics listed on the label, it gives them an advantage in the market.

How reliable are these Probiotics on the Shelves?

The majority of food containing probiotics is fresh foods. These types of fresh foods do contain refrigeration. Probiotics foods like yogurt and kefir have a short shelf and any heat applied to it, kills the probiotic bacteria even before they are eaten. Lately, though, more products have become shelf-stable and allow for live and active probiotics to be more resilient as before. These kinds of foods include gummy bears, dried pasta and chocolate bars. They have super strong probiotic bacteria that can survive the initial thermal manufacturing process. This allows the product to produce effectively enough benefits for a healthy gut. The bacteria involved in this process are called Bacillus coagulants and are FDA GRAS approved.

How Does the Endocannabinoid Work with Gut Health?

The human gut has an enormous diversity of super concentrated micro-organisms. These micro-organisms contribute to human health in several ways. It synthesizes essential vitamins, expands the energy harvested from food, and strengthen the gut barrier. It also develops and regulates the immune system.

Like that, the endocannabinoid system also establishes and maintains human health. It has a systemic effect on several systems and organs. Endocannabinoids and receptors are found all over the body. There are interactions between the gut micro-organisms and the endocannabinoid system. One plant that has a positive effect on both the endocannabinoid system and the gut, is cannabis. It has the ability to bridge the endocannabinoid system and the gut microbiome.

The Effect of THC on the balance in the Gut

Cannabis has antimicrobial properties and activity against a range of microorganisms. The human gut contains 4 main phyla, namely Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Actinobacteria, and Proteobacteria. A high Bacteroidetes ratio is characteristic of obesity. Studies have shown that THC has the ability to re-establish the balance in the gut. THC increases the abundance of the bacterial species Akkermansia muciniphila, which controls fat storage and adipose tissue metabolism to facilitate weight loss.

The bacterium also improves the endocannabinoid signaling from the gut to the brain and strengthens the gut barrier. There is sufficient evidence that cannabis affects the microbiome in humans.

More Ways Cannabis Helps to Improve Gut Health

The endocannabinoid system is involved in regulating food intake. It is especially involved in fat intake, digestive motility, nausea, intestinal inflammation, gut permeability, cancer cell proliferation, and complex interactions with probiotic bacteria of the intestines. The phytocannabinoids from cannabis help to restore the imbalance that leads to all sorts of diseases and disorders.

When a person’s gut is unhealthy, it leads to an array of problems. Cannabis is highly effective in treating Gastrointestinal disorders and problems. It is excellent for relieving abdominal pain and is especially useful for patients using opioid medicines for stomach aches.

Cannabis is also helpful for those who can´t eat enough due to an illness or something. Gut health gets negatively affected if not enough food is taken in daily. Cannabis increases appetite and reduces the effects of diarrhea and nausea.

The metabolic benefits of cannabinoids are also helpful in treating non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. It contributes to the reduction of inflammation and hells therefor with disorders like inflammatory bowel diseases. THC and CBD enhance immune response where it interacts with cells that play a vital role in a healthy gut. Cannabis helps to block bacteria and other compounds off that cause inflammation in the intestines.

Afterthoughts

There is an underappreciated variable in the onset of both gastrointestinal and neurodegenerative diseases related to the gut microbiome. Cannabis can change gut microbiome. It has therapeutic and preventative effects on the human body and effectively helps to balance the gut microbiome.