The use of medicinal cannabis products across the U.S. continues to grow as more research is being done on marijuana and its active components, including tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD). It seems like every day there is a new medicinal use found for CBD, and it’s becoming impossible to ignore the many health benefits it provides.
This may come as a surprise, but CBD for weight loss is proving to be one of those benefits. Various studies published over the past few years in the International Journal of Epidemiology have shown that not only are cannabis users less likely to become obese than those who don’t use it, but they are also less likely to gain weight than those who never use cannabis.
How Does This Work?
CBD works to help with weight loss in a variety of ways. One way it works is by stimulating genes and proteins that break down fat cells in the human body and reduces the amount of new fat cells that are generated. CBD also increases the mitochondria in the body, which means the body is able to burn more calories.
One of the greatest benefits of CBD, though, is its ability to increase the process of browning fat—the process the body undergoes to change white fat tissue into brown fat tissue. This is important because white fat is responsible for energy preservation, whereas brown fat indicates energy is being burned. Rather than allowing white fat to be built up and stored, then, CBD helps turn that into brown fat, speeding up and increasing the fat-burning process in the body.
There is plenty of research available that supports the claim that CBD has a direct impact on metabolism. A study published in Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry in 2016 showed, after monitoring CBD and its effects on immature fat cells, that CBD actually has multiple ways of boosting the fat browning process:
“These data suggest possible roles for CBD in browning of white adipocytes, augmentation of lipolysis, thermogenesis, and reduction of lipogenesis…the current data suggest that CBD plays dual modulatory roles [by] inducing the brown-like phenotype [and] promoting lipid metabolism. Thus, CBD may be explored as a potentially promising therapeutic agent for the prevention of obesity.”
What About Those Munchies?
The food cravings often associated with cannabis consumption (commonly referred to as the munchies) can primarily be attributed to the tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) component of the plant—although this component has also been shown to help with weight loss. But when CBD is extracted from the cannabis plant, the THC is not extracted with it.
So, where the THC in cannabis may increase your appetite when you use it, the use of CBD products does not. In fact, CBD actually suppresses appetite.
More than ever before, it is crucial for us to consider healthier options for weight loss. CBD can act as a natural alternative to medication and should be among your top considerations for natural weight loss options.
Stacy Bull has been the co-owner and operator of Your CBD Store Naples and Marco Island locations for nearly four years. She has her bachelor’s degree in Health Care Administration from UW–Milwaukee. She has worked in various healthcare departments including Ophthalmology, Oncology, and Cardiology before getting involved in Cannabinoid Therapy. She can be reached at 239.259.8654.