Gastrointestinal disorders have become a common health condition worldwide. A recent study says that over 40% of people globally suffer from some kind of such disorder with varying severity. These health conditions hamper their physical and mental health and severely affect their overall quality of life. Hence, it is important to maintain our intestinal function.
To help alleviate these disorders, Ayurvedic doctors prescribe consuming the potent herb Vijaya. It is known for its high efficacy in alleviating gastrointestinal health conditions and regulating the body’s different intestinal functions. But how exactly does it work?
Vijaya and its derived cannabis-based medicines have attracted researchers and medical experts worldwide with their holistic and efficacious approach towards managing intestinal issues. After numerous studies and research, they have found that the reason behind this herb’s robust effectiveness is the gut-brain axis.
Read ahead to discover what this axis is and how Vijaya uses it to regulate the body’s intestinal activities.
Exploring the Gut-Brain Axis
The body has a central nervous system (CNS) consisting of the brain and the spinal cord. It is responsible for controlling the physical and mental functions of the body. But besides that, the gut has a brain of its own. It is referred to as the enteric nervous system (ENS).
The ENS regulates gut health and controls all the vital digestive and intestinal functions. It includes everything from swallowing food and releasing the digestive enzymes, breaking it down, absorbing the nutrients, and excreting the waste.
A prominent characteristic of the ENS is its connection with the brain. There are numerous direct and indirect nerve pathways between the brain and the intestine. While the brain has over 100 billion neurons (nerve cells), the gut also has over 500 million of them.
They are physically and biochemically connected through those nerve pathways, forming the gut-brain axis. One of the biggest of such nerves is the Vagus nerve. It sends signals both from the gut to the brain and vice versa and plays a key role in regulating gut health.
Besides this, the brain and the gut are also connected through chemical messengers called neurotransmitters. Both the brain cells and the gut microbiota produce chemical compounds like serotonin and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA). These compounds control moods, appetite, digestion, and different feelings and emotions like happiness, depression, anxiety, stress, etc.
The microbes in the gut are over ten times the total cells in the human body in number. They produce chemicals such as fatty acids that affect brain function. Thus, changes in the gut microbiome can influence brain health, and vice versa.
Those microbes also regulate immune function and control inflammation to help reduce gut and brain disorders. Hence, it doesn’t come as a surprise that over 75% of our body’s immune system is in the gut.
The Consequence: Vijaya’s Efficacious Action
The factors mentioned above effectively help establish the gut-brain connection/axis. And this axis is the basis of Vijaya’s approach to regulating intestinal functions and alleviating gastrointestinal disorders.
The evidence says that Vijaya’s chemical compounds called cannabinoids act upon the gut-brain axis and directly influence the body’s digestive, immune, and central nervous systems. That is achieved because of the ECS.
The body consists of numerous endogenous cannabinoids, cannabinoid receptors, and metabolic enzymes. They are collectively known as the ECS or the endocannabinoid system. This vital system regulates the crucial bodily aspects, including digestive functions, immune response, and nervous action.
The gut contains bacteria and other microbes that are over 100 times the number of microorganisms in the entire human body. They help with nutrition synthesis, strengthening the gut barrier, regulating effective immune cell function in the intestines and the brain, etc.
Vijaya enters the body and leverages the gut-brain axis to establish an integral connection between the ECS and the gut bacteria. It has a direct effect on the body’s gut health.
How Does it Work?
The ECS’s cannabinoid receptors are of two main types: CB1 and CB2. The former is predominantly found in the central nervous system (CNS), while the latter is primarily expressed in the immune cells.
When people consume this herb, it binds with these receptors and activates them. Since the ECS is connected to the gut through the gut-brain axis, the herb can affect the numerous bacteria, viruses, and fungi in the intestines. It gives it direct control over the body’s intestinal functions.
That is the reason why, for many years, Vijaya and its cannabis-based medicineshave been used by Ayurvedic doctorsto alleviate gastrointestinal disorders and their symptoms.
But its effects extend beyond the pain-relieving and anti-inflammatory characteristics. In 2018, it was found that consuming cannabis-based medicines decreased the abundance of two major obesity-associated gut bacteria strains among HIV patients.
Another study pointed out that besides breaking down the food, the gut bacteria effectively regulate the gut barrier. They do so by interacting with the activated CB1 receptors of the ECS, which is a result of Vijaya’s interaction.
The gut-brain axis enables the herb to influence the gut microbiome and modulate gastrointestinal activities. Vijaya hence encourages the production of good microorganisms and strengthens the mucosal gut barrier to prevent the harmful ones from entering.
Moreover, by activating the ECS, the herb facilitates a healthy gut microbiome function. It further aids the effective communication of signals between the gut and the brain. As a result, Vijaya helps achieve a healthy gut balance and reduces the risk of gastrointestinal disorders in people.
To know more about how Vijaya regulates your intestinal function, alleviates intestinal disorders, and helps you achieve a healthy gut, contact Hempstreet and get the right consultation from the best Ayurvedic doctors for yourself.
References
https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/the-brain-gut-connection
https://psychscenehub.com/psychinsights/the-simplified-guide-to-the-gut-brain-axis/
