Here's The Truth About Smoking Weed And Weight Loss, According To Science

 

 A recurring myth is: smoking weed makes a person look lean and lose weight rapidly. Scientific research may say otherwise; find out.

Myths are so because they travel wide and far — often orally — through sensationalism.

Someone's father said something. The next day, he told his friend at work. His friend, alarmed or shocked, relays what he's just been told to his wife when he gets

home.

His wife brings it up in a public space with her colleagues. They gasp; someone recalls they've also heard it somewhere else on their way to the office.

And it spreads, uncontrollably, contorted into various versions to sound as convincing and intriguing as can possibly be.

The subject matter could be about anything. But sometimes, it could also be about weed.

Smoking weed may be "cool" in some quarters, forbidden in others, and medically relevant in yet other parts.

But the myth that has remained for long is: it makes you lose weight, especially if you smoke often.

Now that can only be true if science has found the link between cannabis and our appetite and metabolism.

Let's go into it.

Yes, there's the "munchies"

The "munchies" is a familiar term for the increased appetite that takes over when smoking weed.

You become intensely hungrier than normal and want to devour anything at all, maybe even that three-day-old custard in the fridge suddenly seems appetizing.

THC (the psychoactive compound in cannabis) causes this and it can lead to weight gain for some people.

But do some people experience weight loss on weed?

In 2023, the University of California, Irvine researchers released a study to report their findings on the relationship between weight loss and cannabis use.

They reckon, in the study, that people who frequently use cannabis are leaner and less subsceptible to diabetes despite getting "the munchies" effect.

And here's why, according to the study:

Many adults who smoke weed daily or almost daily started it as teeenagers.

As the habit follows them into adulthood, what happens during the stage of physical development is a disruption of the standard processes that regulate energy storage which not only makes the body leaner but also less capable of gathering stored nutrients needed for brain and muscle activity.

The researchers gave low daily doses of THC or its vehicle to adolescent mice and stopped the treatment after.

When the animals reached adulthood, they performed a thorough assessment of their metabolism and found something interesting.

Mice that had been treated as adolescents with THC, but were now drug-free showed the following:

• Reduced fat mass and increased lean mass
• Partial resistance to obesity and hyperglycemia
• Higher-than-normal body temperature
• Inability to mobilise fuel from fat stores.

These features are also seen in people who frequently smoke weed/use cannabis.

Weed and metabolism

Based on a 2020 study of regular cannabis smokers, blood markers related to metabolism were found in the participants' blood after they either smoked, vaporized, or ingested cannabis vs. a placebo.

Cannabis is also said to affect the endocannabinoid system in the body, which plays a huge role in regulating bodily functions like memory, sleep, pain, immune responses, and appetite.

The verdict?

Linking weight loss directly to smoking weed is complex. Science has reported that there is a connection there as regards to appetite, metabolism, and energy regulation. However, different people may provide varying feedback about their appetite and weight (gain or loss) in relationship to their cannabis use.