Can CBD Help You with Weight Loss?

If you’ve tried to lose weight at any point in the past, you’re probably aware of how challenging the effort can be. Diets and supplements that promise to make weight loss easy tend to be ineffective and a waste of money, and in some scenarios can actually make you sick.

An instinct that motivates the consumption of more calories than you are able to burn off is one of the primary reasons obesity is as hard to fight as it is. It may seem counterintuitive that CBD (cannabidiol) may be a weight loss ally when cannabis, the plant that it is obtained from, is known to lead to hunger pangs; nevertheless, CBD can be of value. Studies exist that lend weight to the argument that CBD does belong in a weight loss plan.

The research on CBD weight loss

Nearly all of the research available studies how marijuana and a constituent cannabinoid known as tetrahydrocannabivarin (THC) affect hunger and appetite. One study, however, does link CBD to an ability to fight weight gain.

The study (alchimiaweb.com/blogfr/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Cannabidiol-promotes-browning-in-3T3-L1-adipocytes.pdf), published in 2016, focuses on the effect of CBD on fat cells in the human body. The study observes that the consumption of CBD could potentially fight obesity.

The human body stores fat in different kinds of fat cells: white and brown. White fat cells are the human body’s long-term store of energy. Brown fat cells, however, are the energy source of choice during physical exertion. CBD oil has been observed in some circumstances to aid the body in taking white fat cells and turning them into brown fat cells. When you have more of your fat stored as brown fat cells, you have more fat that your body can burn off with exercise.

CBD may help fight obesity in indirect ways, as well. CBD is potentially helpful in dealing with a number of psychological conditions that contribute to a lifestyle of excessive calorie consumption and lack of exercise – anxiety disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and social anxiety disorder, among others (link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13311-015-0387-1).

Anecdotally, as well, use of CBD is known to help lower stress, and take the edge off eating habits fueled by nervousness, stress, or anxiety.

CBD has also been found in at least one study done on lab animals (http://centaur.reading.ac.uk/28010/1/CBN%20%26%20CBD%20exert%20opposing%20effects%20on%20rat%20feeding%20patterns%20FOR%20CENTAUR.pdf) to lower appetite. This effect hasn’t been validated with humans, however.

Finally, there is some evidence (israel21c.org/cannabis-extract-to-be-used-to-treat-diabetes/) to support the belief that CBD may lower insulin resistance in the body, an action that helps the body lessen the buildup of fat.

Should you try CBD for weight loss?

While there is no conclusive proof to support the belief that use of CBD directly helps weight loss in humans, it may help in individual cases. It can be a good idea to try talking to your doctor about using CBD as part of a weight-loss effort. If your doctor clears you to try CBD, you may find that it manages to make a difference in your particular instance.