The mood is a complex series of causes and effects. Your mood involves numerous internal processes and various chemicals. It also plays a huge role in maintaining balance in your mental and physical health. Your mood can be affected by many different things, including something seemingly as simple as a restless night’s sleep, a stressful day, or nagging pain.
When you are in a bad mood, it can blur your focus and affect your decision-making negatively. This can make you feel less in control, and then you become reactive to situations rather than proactive. Bad moods often throw off internal balance, brain chemistry, and hormones. Even complicated and serious conditions such as anxiety and depression are often due to mood imbalances.
How CBD Affects Mood
CBD is helpful for keeping your mind and body balanced. It contains compounds useful to keeping your endocannabinoid system (ECS) healthy. The ECS is a control system in the body that regulates the body’s functions and systems. When it is healthy, it ensures everything works at its best so the body is able to maintain homeostasis or balance.
The ECS helps support both brain and mental health by keeping hyperactivity, brain fog, and stress under control. It also regulates mood, concentration, sleep quality, memory retention, and hormones. Sometimes, you can improve a bad mood by changing your attitude. Sometimes, your brain chemistry needs to change.
Serotonin and Your Mood
Serotonin is a chemical the body makes naturally. It is often referred to as the “happy chemical” since it helps boost your mood. Serotonin is important for the brain, since neurons use it to transmit information throughout the body. This is why it’s called a “neurotransmitter.” Serotonin influences almost all of the processes carried out by the brain. This includes:
- Mood
- Memory
- Learning
- Sleep
- Aggression
- Social behavior
- Sexual function and desire
- Appetite
- Digestion
- Emotional balance
Serotonin also affects other areas, including bone health, motor skills, and the central nervous system. Well-balanced serotonin levels will help you feel less anxious, happier, emotionally stable, and more focused. When they are imbalanced, or low, you may feel angry or irritable. Imbalances in serotonin levels have also been linked to both mental illnesses, like anxiety and depression, as well as physical conditions such as obesity, chronic pain, and cancer. Synthetic drugs are usually prescribed to help artificially control serotonin levels. Many of them produce undesirable side effects, and they tend to lose efficacy over time. CBD can be used to help regulate serotonin levels naturally.
Serotonin and CBD Use
CBD helps the ECS maintain a state of balance in both the brain and the gut, which is often referred to as the body’s “second brain.” Cannabinoids, such as CBD are neurotransmitters, or chemical messengers. Cannabinoids like CBD have similar jobs as serotonin, but they are different. CBD works along with the ECS to keep the body balanced and healthy. The ECS is essential for regulating the functions and systems in the body. It also works with the serotonergic system, which is the system that controls the body’s serotonin levels. The two systems are important to maintaining balanced moods, so they work together and communicate with each other in order to do so. They are also helpful for regulating warning signals such as nausea, fatigue, and pain. Here are some of the ways CBD works with serotonin.
- CBD activates serotonin receptors to help provide a long-lasting-powerful mood boost. One way to think of these receptors is to think of them as little locks and only CBD and serotonin have the key to unlock them.
- When these receptors are activated, they help slow the heart rate and lower body temperature. This allows you to be calmer and more settled.
- Some early research is indicated that serotonin and CBD also release other chemicals that directly affect mood. This includes dopamine, which is the “feel-good” chemical, oxytocin, which is the “cuddle” hormone.
- When both systems work together it can produce stronger effects.
To summarize, serotonin is a natural chemical created naturally by the body. It has a great effect on mood. CBD works with the ECS to activate serotonin receptors, to stabilize mood, slow the heart rate, and possibly lower body temperature.
How to Take CBD for Mood
The most important part of taking CBD for any reason is consistency. It needs to be in your system regularly to achieve the greatest effects. Not sure where to start? Contact us at Brio Nutrition and we’ll help you find the right product and method for consuming CBD. You may prefer CBD oils, creams, capsules, or gummies. Let us help you improve serotonin levels and your mood!