Does Weed Make You Shed Weight?

There is evidence to support both claims that marijuana can cause users to lose weight and that it can cause users to gain it. In terms of weight loss, using cannabis both lowers insulin resistance and also facilitates metabolic function.

A study published in the American Journal of Medicine showed that frequent marijuana users have levels of fasting insulin (insulin in your body before eating)16% lower than non-users. The study also showed that marijuana users had lower waist circumferences. Research concluded that there were significant links between marijuana use and smaller waists.

Marijuana can also help one’s physique by making workouts seem less painful and tiring. Many athletes swear that marijuana and the cannabinoids THC and CBD are performance enhancing drugs that ease anxiety and increase pain threshold, allowing them to push themselves harder during workouts. Researchers corroborate this, suggesting that marijuana has an anti-inflammatory effect, and the chemical compounds in weed mimic our natural endorphins.

Another 2011 study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology looked at 52,000 participants and discovered that obesity rates are approximately one third lower among cannabis users despite them consuming an average of six hundred more calories per day.

A 2014 study that included 700 members of Canada’s Inuit community found that regular cannabis users had higher levels of HDL-C (good cholesterol) and slightly lower levels of LDL-C (bad cholesterol). In a book called The Marijuana Diet, author Art Glass recommends a host of natural recipes for smoothies, juices, salads and salad dressings, encouraging weight loss with a marijuana based diet. Glass also believes that Marijuana can make one’s food cravings disappear and leave them more awake, aware and creative than before.

Chemical compounds and diet books aside, marijuana also has the capacity to encourage behavioral habits that lead to weight gain. Smoking weed often gives people the munchies–a drastic increase in appetite that can cause them to eat a lot all at once. This drive to eat can lead to long term weight gain. In a nicotine dependence test, researchers studied a group of 271 men and 319 women at the age of twenty, and determined that those who had smoked marijuana regularly but did not smoke cigarettes gained weight. Also, the men who smoked marijuana on a daily rather than weekly basis were found to have gained more weight.

All in all, it would appear that the actual chemicals found in marijuana can increase metabolism and lower levels of fasting insulin. These factors when combined with a healthy diet, can cause one to drop pounds. To remain thin, however, a marijuana user would have to avoid over indulgence and the urges to binge eat, which frequent marijuana use can inspire. The answer to the question “Does Marijuana help you lose weight?” is really “not by itself.” Ultimately, healthy choices and calorie intake play a bigger role than the chemicals found in cannabis.