Can you use cannabis to lose weight?

Considering the typical activities associated with recreational cannabis use, it seems almost nonsensical to consider using it to shed a few pounds. With tastier junk food and increased relaxation being at irreconcilable odds with diet and exercise, logic alone would dictate that lighting one up probably isn’t going to bring you any closer to that rockin’ bod. For all you know, it may even move push your goal post out a few belt notches.

But since the holiday season functions as a revolving door of fatty foods, those who enjoy indulging in both cannabis and the occasional meal might do well to know where we’re at with weed and weight before diving headfirst into a pool of carbs.

What we know about cannabis and body weight (so far)

Let’s give some credit to logic here: If you’re frequently consuming cannabis before retiring to the couch to gorge on all manner of sweets, carb-heavy and fatty foods, weight loss will likely remain a distant dream; elusive as the lime Skittle. It’s not surprising that an early study found consumers’ daily caloric intake to be considerably higher than participants who said they’d never touched the stuff – up to 600 delicious calories more, in some cases.

Yet, putting pot’s more sedentary associations aside, the existing research offers a surprisingly generous helping of hope for canna-friendly waist watchers. Later cases examining cannabis’ relationship to body weight found that fans of the green had noticeably lower scores on their body mass index, and were less likely to be obese by almost 10 per cent.

Aside from a (possibly) lower likelihood of obesity, academics from several institutions have reported similarly intriguing findings: Consumers showed higher levels of HDL (the good cholesterol) and a generally smaller waist circumference. The research also showed that cannabis smokers' insulin levels were lowered by 16 per cent, along with their insulin resistance was reduced by roughly the same figure – something worth making note of as diabetes continues its alarming ascent.

Consumers also appear to be less prone to diabetes, likely for the same reasons.

What gives?

Given all of the ways the plant appears to be a primer for weight gain, researchers themselves have referred to the collective results of these cases as “…paradoxical and somewhat perplexing”, though they suggest the outcomes of such studies might be influenced by other factors that may follow cannabis use: the use of other drugs, the lack of distinction between frequent and occasional consumption, and perhaps even a potential “competition” in the brain’s reward centers; where a hankering for the dopamine spike of a sweet or salty treat may be replaced with the desire to consume more cannabis.  

It’s also been proposed that cannabis users may tend less towards alcohol, possibly limiting the weight they’d otherwise pack on following a few indulgent nights at the bar.

Perhaps most telling of all is evidence that cannabis may also increase consumers’ metabolism, burning off whatever else they’re consuming at a faster rate.

Can cannabis help you lose weight?

As of writing, there’s no ironclad evidence to suggest a link between cannabis and losing weight; at best, the existing studies can only hint at a connection between weed and your waistline.

It seems to have been good enough for mice, however, as a 2015 case described THC being used to maintain a healthy weight in a few lucky critters. The results were favourable, with overfed, obese mice gaining less fat, weight and requiring less energy to keep them scampering about. The study noted that THC interacted with microorganisms in their gastrointestinal tract that influence body weight, while also leaving their motor skills intact. The human endocannabinoid system extends to the gut as well, but we’ve yet to see the same results in people.

In fact, there have been anti-obesity drugs that work by blocking certain cannabinoid receptors in the gut, effectively promoting weight loss and improved metabolism better than placebos. It was taken off the market for inducing anxiety and depression in many patients, though.

What’s been more confidently proposed is that the development of a THC and CBD “combination drug” could help promote weight loss, although further investigation is needed.

So, don’t scrap the elliptical just yet. Until LPs create a strain that makes broccoli taste like chocolate, a healthy diet paired with regular exercise is still your best shot at keeping the pounds off.

This article was written by David Wilson. David Wilson is a freelance writer and journalist, living and working in Toronto. He writes about cannabis, culture, and the intersection at which they meet.

For more Blissed content please see our Instagram page @be.blissed

This article was published March 3rd, 2020.