Cannabis plant molecules have the ability to affect nearly every part of human physiology, including the bones. They accomplish this through interacting with the endocannabinoid system (ECS), a network that runs throughout the body. Even though this field of study is still in its infancy, ongoing investigations using cells and animals provide insight into the potential impact of cannabis on bone health. Discover why having strong bones is crucial, how to keep your bones healthy, and whether there are any future bone-related illnesses that cannabis may be able to help with.
Numerous therapeutic benefits of cannabis have been shown to help treat a variety of illnesses. Obtaining a medical marijuana card Michigan is essential if you want to use cannabis while residing in Michigan; otherwise, you risk facing legal ramifications.
The Significance of Bone Health
You would be a puddle of tissue on the ground if you didn’t have any bones, to start. Although those of us who are more laid back might find this way of life appealing, we wouldn’t accomplish much in this state. The body is structured by its bones. It acts as a support structure for the skeletal muscles in our body. Most muscles cross at least one joint, and when we contract a muscle, we can move a joint to create motion.
Of course, an organism’s ability to move and maintain its structure is crucial to its survival. We wouldn’t have survived the last 300,000 years of our species’ existence without these characteristics. However, bone functions as much more than just an articulated framework. These hard organs store vital nutrients, manufacture vital cells, and provide us with protection. The following are the principal functions of bones:
- Protection
In addition to muscles, bones act as biological armor. They protect our important organs from direct blows. Just think of how vulnerable your heart and lungs would be without your rib cage to protect them.
- Mineral reservoir
Do you recall all the instances when your mother nagged you to finish your milk? You may have been irritated by this, but her intentions were solely to strengthen your bones! The skeleton stores 99% of the body’s calcium and 85% of its phosphorus, acting as a reservoir for minerals.
- Blood cell production
Although the outside of bones is hard, the inside is spongy and is called the bone marrow. Here, the body makes white blood cells, which are vital for immunity, and red blood cells, which are necessary for the transfer of oxygen.
What Encourages Healthy Bones?
Both diet and exercise. That is all there is to it. The basic building blocks come from food, and exercise gives the body a physical stimulus that compels it to continue remodeling bone in a way that is beneficial.
Bone is a living tissue made up of many different kinds of cells. While osteoclasts remove existing bone tissue, osteoblasts are responsible for creating new bone. Maintaining a healthy diet and getting enough exercise balances this cellular activity. On the other hand, inactivity instructs the body to increase osteoclast activity and decrease bone density. This may lead to diseases like osteoporosis, which is characterized by a thinning of the bone and an elevated risk of fractures.
Check out these tips to maintain the health of your skeleton and the density of your bones:
- Resistance training: Exercise is essential for maintaining healthy bones. Your body receives a signal every time you lift weights, telling it to maintain or even grow more bone density in order to withstand the physical strain. Wolff’s law, which asserts that bones will adjust to the strain and demands placed on them, is this principle.
- Eat enough protein: Many people consider bone to be a solid calcium mass. Nonetheless, around 50% of the protein in the skeleton is found in the form of collagen. In contrast to muscle and connective tissue, high concentrations of minerals incorporated into its matrix give bone its strength. Low dietary protein intake can have an impact on bone formation and calcium absorption.
- Consume calcium-rich foods: Calcium supports and strengthens the hard structure of bone. Foods high in calcium include fish, beans, lentils, cheese, yogurt, and seeds.
- Get plenty of vitamin D: Vitamin D is essential for healthy bones and facilitates the body’s calcium absorption. Vitamin D is synthesized when exposed to enough sunlight, and foods high in the nutrient include cheese, fatty fish, and mushrooms.
Research on Cannabis and Bone Health: What Does It Say?
Most people can keep their bones healthy with the help of the above tips. But occasionally, people decide not to exercise or obtain a healthy diet, or they just aren’t able to do both. This may eventually cause a variety of musculoskeletal disorders to manifest. Yet sedentary people are not the only ones who suffer from these ailments.
Wear and tear from activities and other factors can cause joint problems in healthy, athletic populations. Hormonal changes and other age-related factors can also alter bone density and joint integrity. Fortunately, new approaches to maintaining bone health when certain conditions manifest themselves are being investigated by researchers. Cannabis is attracting the interest of many scientists as a possible remedy.
Cannabis and Fractures
The ECS affects fracture healing because it controls the remodeling of bone. Accelerating the process of healing fractures can help older people recover from a traumatic fall and athletes return to the field more quickly.
Despite the lack of conclusive evidence, researchers are currently investigating the potential of CBD to treat fractures. Although the non-psychotropic cannabinoid has a low affinity for CB2, the aim is to see if it can accelerate collagen healing in other ways. Researchers are looking into how CBD might promote gene expression and initiate a chain reaction that results in the formation of favorable collagen.
THC vs. CBD Differences for Bone Health
To make a precise statement in this regard, we require high-quality human trials. However, it appears that two of the most promising cannabinoids in this context thus far are beta-caryophyllene and CBD.
In cellular models of fracture healing, ongoing research is evaluating CBD alone and in combinations with THC.
Cannabis’s Potential Benefits for Bone Health
As of right now, it appears probable that cannabis will have a significant impact on bone health in the future. Because the ECS is so important for bone health and disease, it is interesting to consider cannabinoids as potential targets for our universal regulator. Hopefully, human trials examining the effects of different cannabis constituents on bone density and health will be conducted in the coming years.
