Guest Blog with Elizabeth Ashley : Cannabis – A Triangle of Healing

Hello from Elizabeth Ashley

Elizabeth Ashley is the UK Director of the National Association of Holistic Aromatherapists, and an overseas speaker for the International Federation of Aromatherapists. Author of the Secret Healer series of aromatherapy manuals, she is mother to three children, a stroppy Staffordshire Bull Terrier and several shoals of tropical fish. She lives in Ludlow, Shropshire where she writes in a pretty blue and green shed.

Elizabeth is one of the world’s leading essential oil researchers, and the author of 20 essential oils manuals including her Amazon category number one best selling work “Cannabis Medicine”.

Unlike other authorities, she takes the knowledge of the plant right back to its earliest historical origins and then traces it through to the most contemporary research in the clinical labs.

Her mind-body-spirit medicine elucidates how disease emanates from our feelings and emotional responses to life and how an essential oil can liberate us from their bondage. Her engaging writing is full of personality and giggles and she draws from her experiences of messing with bottles of oil in The Secret Healer’s Shed whilst juggling the joys of motherhood of three children, writing for four magazines and her marriage to her most beloved husband, The Strong Silent One.

In the last 10 years, the number of people being diagnosed with diabetes has doubled (1). Every year, 160,000 people die from heart and circulatory disease (2). One in seven couples now experiences difficulties conceiving (3). It looks as if poor health is on the increase. Many people surmise diet probably underlies the cause, but scientists now suspect a specific, newly discovered physiological system might hold the key. 

The endocannabinoid system constitutes a complex signalling mechanism, working as the volume control for hormones, neurotransmitters and key enzymes in the body. Fundamentally, its role is to transmit information as to whether too much of a chemical is being secreted, or too little. Maintaining homeostasis, the endocannabinoid system is a delicate and little understood network of two different types of receptors (although it is suspected there may also be three other types too) spread throughout the body and brain. Dysfunction leads to disease, insulin is not processed correctly, cortisol perpetually attacks the heart and oestrogen, progesterone or testosterone fail to work in their correct balances. Mood disorders rear their ugly heads, personality disorders pull sufferers into their darkness; health and happiness slip away. 

The two receptors, cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1) and cannabinoid receptor 2 (CB2), named after the cannabis plant that co-incidentally locks to and balances them, are expressed on the boutons of nerves and on the jelly like brain tissue, glia. 

CB1

CB1 receptors are found predominately in the brain (4) and in lesser numbers in the periphery. Found abundantly in the cerebellum, cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, and the outflow tracts of the basal ganglia, they control:

• Memory

• Emotion

• Cognition

• Motor function

• Pain

• Itchiness

• Muscle tone

CB2

CB2 receptors are found in the periphery, predominately on tissues connected to blood or immunity (5). We find them on:

• Lymph nodes

• Bone Marrow

• Tonsils

• White blood cells

• Splenic tissue

They can also be found in fewer numbers in the:

• Brain

• Liver 

• Pancreas

CB2 receptors control pain, immunity and particularly inflammation. (6)

Endocannabinoids

Naturally, the body did not create these receptors just for people to enjoy smoking a joint! The first cannabinoids were discovered by Israeli scientist, Raphael Mechoulam and his team, the now famous non-psychoactive component cannabidiol, in 1963, and the infamous psychoactive delta – 9-tetrahydrocannbinol in 1964, were followed by the identification of the CB1 receptor in 1988 and finally in 1992 an endogenous chemical (the body makes it itself) anandamide, was discovered that activated the receptor.  

Anandamide binds to the CB1 receptor and to a lesser degree to the CB2 in the periphery. A second endocannabinoid 2- arachidonyl glycerol (2-AG) links equally to both receptors.

Disease seems to evolve from an imbalance between the numbers of receptors the body manufactures and how much of the endogenous ligands – anandamide and 2-AG the body has available to link to these. Too many, or too few circulating endocannabinoids can be problematic, for example both too much anandamide or too little can lead to an anxiety phenotype (7), so health is a delicate balance between the two.

Substrates of Endocannabinoids

Clearly, since the role of the eCS is to balance the system, we should concern ourselves with nourishing it. Interestingly, endocannabinoids are manufactured, by the body, from a substrate called arachidonic acid. This, in turn, the body builds from oils and fats. A beneficial ratio of omega 3 and omega 6, in a 1:4 ratio, is vital to health. 

Arachidonic acid is omega 6, and so it might seem sensible to blanket supplement to increase levels of anandamide and 2 AG, but too much omega 6 equals too much arachidonic acid. Leading to an excess of endocannabinoids in the system, this is just as damaging as deficiency. Supplementing with omega 3, increases the levels of EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), essential fatty acids also required to fuel the ECS, as well as diffusing arachidonic acid through the tissues. (8)

The evidence supporting this particular dietary change is overwhelming but not least that a deficiency in omega three leads to a depression of CB1 receptors in the brain. These receptors profoundly affect neurological wellbeing. Ideally you should be consuming between 500-1000mg of omega 3 a day, which can be found in tuna and salmon as well as other oily fish, in seeds such as flax seed. Fascinatingly, since this is fuel for the endocannabinoid system, omega 3 is found in massive amounts in hemp seeds. An interesting fact, when history shows that hemp has been a staple food source, for many nations, for several millennia. It was only in the 1930’s that US propaganda changed the laws about cannabis growth and the rest of the world followed suit. Hemp seed, one of the primary sources of omega 3 was stripped from society. Incidentally, before that time, about a third of over the counter pharmaceutical medicines contained cannabis too. 

On visiting a Victorian pharmacy at the Black Country Museum, I had seen several of these bottles with cannabis labels and had presumed them to contain the herb as a pain killer, and that may be so, but cannabis has so many more applications. Containing no less than 

• 100 or so cannabinoids
• 120 terpenes
• Amino acids
• Proteins
• Enzymes
• Ketones
• Fatty Acids
• Steroids
• Flavinoids
• Vitamins (9)

Many cannabinoids have yet to be elucidated but cannabidiol, the main constituent of High CBD hemp oil has myriad properties alone. Having weak binding affinity to both CB1 and CB2 receptors it is known to be: 

• Anti-inflammatory
• Anti-nausea
• Anti-emetic
• Anti-oxidant
• Neuro-protectant (10)

Cannabinoids are a certain strain of alkaloid, and are fat based, as such, they are hydrophobic and will not pass through distillation, thus are only found in the Cannabis CO2 or full plant extract, but not in the essential oil. 

Hemp Essential Oil

The essential oil, however is high in beta caryophyllene, one of the few chemicals that have also been found to activate (albeit weakly) the CB2 receptor, making it and other oils high in the terpene excellent for boosting immunity and reducing pain and inflammation. (8)

CBD Oil acts on many other mechanisms outside of the endocannabinoid system, actively treating diseases such as epilepsy (11), autism (12), PTSD (13)and even cancer through its effects on gene transcription (14). 

Cannabis: CBD Rich Hemp Oil, Hemp Essential Oil and Hemp Seed Oil: Using Cannabis Medicines for Aromatherapy available from all good online bookstores: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cannabis-Essential-Medicines-Aromatherapy-Profiles-ebook/dp/B074P4YMY6/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

With special thanks to InEssence Magazine for the article.

ELIZABETH ASHLEY – THE SECRET HEALER

Many of Liz’s kindle books are reduced to just 99p for the 5th anniversary of her first book(Gradually climbing back to their original price by the 2^nd Dec) 

Notes about the summit 

Run in partnership with Hungarian aromatherapist and creator of Aromatika magazine Gergely Hollodi

Over 15K live participants attended the free summit. 

58 lectures by the world’s best aromatherapists on all aspects of essential oil and botanical usage from the most clinical chemistry and neuroscience to the most esoteric healing. 

Free recordings were available for 7 days; many have now expired. 

Recordings are available however reduced from $497 to $197 until the 2^nd Dec when they will be still be available, but at a higher price. 

Recordings packages also include bonus recordings from experts outside aromatherapy who may be able to help improve your therapists. (EG Nutritionists and CBD experts )

Free access to Jade Shute’s butters course and Elizabeth Ashley’s 5 Steps to a Successful Aromatherapy business course. 

Several lectures come with downloadable powerpoints. 

Many bonuses for courses and products available 

Fridays Promotions 

Nov 30th 2018 marks five years since the publication of the first six books in the secret Healer Series. Subsequently another 14 have been written taking the total to 20. 

On 30^th 1^st 2^nd All book EXCEPT CANNABIS and THE COMPLETE GUIDE will be reduced to 99p /99c in aKindle countdown promotion. 

This means that during the two days the price will gradually creep back up to their usual retail price of £3.99

Link to shop here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Elizabeth-Ashley/e/B00PLU1SC8/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1539962936&sr=1-1