Love Hormone Oxytocin May Mimic Cannabis

Cannabis use may lead to the same behavior as the natural hormone oxytocin produced by the body. For those trying to make a love connection, these substances may achieve the same goal.

What could be more important than finding what makes us like our friends, trust our mothers and fall in love?

In your brain, oxytocin serves as a messenger, triggering a variety of pleasant reactions. Let’s take a closer look at the cuddle chemical.

• What does oxytocin do? Some studies indicate that cannabis mimics the natural hormone oxytocin. Oxytocin is sometimes called the cuddle chemical or love hormone because it has been linked to human behaviors such as the following:

• Arousal

• Trust

• Anxiety

• Recognition

• Mother-child bond

• Oxytocin and the brain. New research suggests that cannabis and high levels of oxytocin both make people more sociable. Oxytocin has already been strongly linked to establishing the bond between lovers as well as mothers and babies. If you are searching for a love connection, you may want to pay close attention to future research in this area. Here’s how scientists think it works:

• Research conducted on rodents suggests that high levels of oxytocin trigger the release of anandamide. So, here’s the link to some people’s favorite pastime. Anandamide is an endocannabinoid, making it similar to cannabis’ psychoactive ingredients.

• Blocking the endocannabinoid reduced the beneficial effects of oxytocin, whereas increasing levels of anandamide improved the sociability of animals.

• Scientists believe that oxytocin could help children with autism become more sociable. However, they have had a hard time coming up with an effective delivery system.

• There are only a few neurons that produce the love hormone. Stimulating the neurons does result in an increase in anandamide.

• Since anandamide attaches to the same receptors in the brain’s pleasure centers, it can produce a similar high to THC, the active ingredient in cannabis.

• Study summaries.

• A study at Stanford University suggests that the love hormone oxytocin has an important role in both sexual and nurturing behaviors. The study, conducted on mice, did not reveal how the process works, only that increases of the love hormone made the rats a little friskier toward their mates.1

• In another study, researchers concluded that oxytocin has a strong effect on female voles’ choice of a mate. Higher levels of oxytocin impacted the strength of the bond.2

While the research remains inconclusive, the similarities between active ingredients in cannabis and the natural hormone oxytocin suggest positive outcomes between cannabis use and romantic pairing. You may wish to conduct your own research on the matter to draw a conclusion that satisfies your curiosity.

The team at Standing Akimbo would love to supply cannabis products to support your experiment and we’d love to hear about the results!