Category: Nutrition Science

Endocannabinoid System (ECS) The new inverted food pyramid and text that says "The New US Dietary Guidelines" and "Eat to Support Your ECS". ECS.education logotype is visible to the right.

The New US Dietary Guidelines: Eat to Support Your ECS

Posted on By Stefan Broselid

This article explains how the endocannabinoid system is shaped by diet, especially omega‑6 and omega‑3 fats. The 2025–2030 US Dietary Guidelines process is quietly doing something profound. On the surface, it might look like another technical update about fat intake, unsaturated oils, and seafood recommendations. But underneath that familiar language sits…

Read more
Commentary Header graphic for an ECS.education article titled ‘When Percentages Lie: Rethinking Omega‑6 Risk Biomarkers’. Two simple scatter‑plot cartoons show linoleic‑acid–related cardiometabolic risk: on the left, risk plotted against LA in µmol/L with a bold red arrow sloping up; on the right, risk plotted against LA as percent of total fatty acids with a bold green arrow sloping down, illustrating how concentration and percentage give opposite trends. On the far right, a clear plastic bottle pours golden cooking oil next to a linoleic acid structural formula and the ECS.education logo, with the study DOI printed near the top.

When Percentages Lie: Rethinking Omega‑6 (LA & AA) Risk Biomarkers and Endocannabinoid Substrates

Posted on By Stefan Broselid

The blind spot in fatty acid epidemiology Since the 1960s, most circulating fatty acid data have been reported as “percent of total” rather than as absolute concentrations, because gas chromatography methods naturally produce compositional peak areas that are easy to turn into percentages (Sergeant et al., 2016; Lagerstedt et al.,…

Read more
Endocannabinoid System (ECS) Diagram showing how diet and exercise modulate brain endocannabinoid system through substrate dynamics. Left: Western diet activates PLA2 leading to CB1 changes. Center: Brain with reduced hypothalamic and increased cortical CB1 receptors labeled. Right: Exercise activates PLA2 similarly. Bottom text states outcome of regional CB1 receptor changes.

How Diet and Exercise Modulate the Endocannabinoid System

Posted on By Stefan Broselid

New Evidence for the Substrate-Driven Model I came across a fascinating recent study this week in Nutritional Neuroscience that really validates something I’ve been thinking about for a while. Lima and colleagues just published research showing how diet and exercise reshape the endocannabinoid system in the brain. It all fits beautifully with what I call the substrate-driven model of ECS function. Let me walk you through what they found and why it matters. The Study: Diet, Exercise & Brain ECS The team took young rats and divided them into groups. Some got standard lab chow, others got a “palatable diet” (think: high in omega-6 fats and sugar, like a Western diet). Some rats didtreadmill training for eight weeks, others didn’t. Then they looked at CB1 receptors and NAPE-PLD enzyme levels in three key brain areas: • Hypothalamus – your energy regulation center • Frontal cortex – handles reward and decision-making…

Read more
Endocannabinoid System (ECS) Illustration showing the link between obesity and dysfunction in the endocannabinoid system (ECS). The image includes a silhouette of an overweight person, a fingerprint, a brain with a cannabis leaf symbol, and a chemical structure with the text 'ECS.education'

Obesity’s metabolic fingerprint is characterised by ECS Dysfunction!

Posted on By Stefan Broselid

Obesity isn’t just about extra weight—it imprints a unique metabolic fingerprint deep within your body. New research reveals that this signature is marked by endocannabinoid system (ECS) dysfunction, driven by dietary fat balance and energy surplus. Learn how what you eat tunes your ECS, shapes your health risks, and why fixing the “input side” of nutrition could help fade the metabolic fingerprint of obesity.

Read more
Critical analysis Illustration depicting a mother breastfeeding her infant, surrounded by icons of BMI, omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids, a fish, green leaves, and a brain diagram, with the caption 'Maternal Obesity Disrupts Breast Milk PUFA Balance' from ECS.education

Maternal Obesity Disrupts Breast Milk PUFA Balance: New Insights into ECS Programming for Infants

Posted on By Stefan Broselid

Let’s dive right in. In my earlier posts on ECS.education, we’ve talked about how maternal adiposity shapes breast milk’s endocannabinoid system (ECS) and influences infant health. The May 23 piece on ‘The Adiposity Filter: How Maternal Body Fat Reshapes Milk PUFAs for Your Baby’s ECS‘ highlighted shifts in endocannabinoid profiles…

Read more
Endocannabinoid System (ECS) Infographic slide breaking down the Endocannabinoid System (ECS) as a dietary precursor-driven symbiotic homeostatic suprasystem, with sequential symbols: a fork and knife for 'dietary' (fueled by food nutrients), a building block for 'precursor-driven' (built from fatty acids), reciprocal arrows with gut microbes for 'symbiotic' (mutual interaction with microbiome), a yin-yang for 'homeostatic' (maintains internal balance), and a network diagram for 'suprasystem' (integrates multiple organ systems)

The Endocannabinoid System: Dietary Precursor-Driven ECS & Medical Education Gap

Posted on By Stefan Broselid

The Misunderstood Master Regulator The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is often considered the “cannabis system,” but this label ignores its true—and far broader and more important—role in holistic health. Instead of being defined by external substances, the ECS is a dietary precursor-driven, symbiotic, homeostatic suprasystem: a dynamic physiological network that maintains body-wide…

Read more