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Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Anandamide Has Ties With Marijuana, Chocolate
Discovered in 1992, the chemical anandamide performs special duties in the body, some of which can be
reproduced by tetrahydrocannibol (THC) in marijuana and by chocolate. Anandamide plays a role in a person’s pain, depression, appetite, memory, and fertility.
The active ingredients in marijuana are much stronger and last longer than fragile anandamide molecules, and chocolate “highs” are triggered, like the other two, when the ananadamide or its substitute activates cellular receptors, thus producing dopamine, a neurotransmitter that triggers a sense of well being.
Anandamide, easily able to penetrate the hydrocarbon-rich curtain that separates the brain from the bloodstream, is 100 times more common in a woman’s uterus than in the brain. There, anandamide helps synchronize development of the embryo with the uterine wall’s ability to be implanted upon.
Facts about arachidonyl ethanolamide (anandamide,) and how it’s related to marijuana and chocolate include:
* The word anandamide, derived from the Sanskrit word ananda, which means “bliss”
* Some research shows amandamide plays a key role in making and breaking short-term neural memory connections
* One theory is the body’s purpose for anandamide is to filter out unimportant or unpleasant memories
* Although studies are new, research indicates that newborns in the animal world have more anandamide molecules than adults, indicating the possibility that anandamide plays a role in developing the cortical function of infants
* Anandamide is a lipid, meaning it doesn’t dissolve in water, but can be broken down in organic solvents
* A second THC-like molecule in addition to anandamide, sn-2 arachidonylglycerol (2-AG) also has been found to be naturally produced in the brain
* 2-AG is present at 170 times the concentration of anandamide in some areas of the brain and is thought to perform a complementary role to that of anandamide
* Concentrations of anandamide are equally high in a woman’s uterine wall and her developing embryo
* Anandamide is a factor in keeping one embryo from planting too close to another in the uterine wall
* Because THC is a ‘key’ that attaches to the same cells as anandamide, the high concentrations of that chemical and its longevity in the body may interfere with embryo/uterine wall functions
* Although marijuana and chocolate generate similar effects, it’s estimated a person would have to consume 25 pounds of chocolate to achieve an equivalent marijuana high
* The anandamide molecule was discovered by Dr. Raphael Mechoulam, of Israel
Nerve cells communicate by releasing special ‘key’ molecules that only adhere to special receptor sites on cells designed to accept those keys. Anandamide, THC, and dark chocolate molecules have such keys that trigger the production of dopamine.
Studies on various animals, including pigs, indicate that the addition of anandamide can act as a sedative, lowering body temperatures, resulting in slower respiration, and producing more calm.
Dr. Daniele Piomelli, of the Neurosciences Institute, in San Diego, says the study of Anandamide has the potential to help discover a cure for mental illness.
By Rocky Wilson author of Sharene -- Death: A Prerequisite For Life
