Could CBD be used as the next big weight loss treatment? CBD – or cannabidiol – has caught the attention of many people over the last few years. It is perhaps one of the most interesting things in the modern age. Many studies have been conducted surrounding CBD and the different effects it can have on the human body. As a result, it has even been used as a medical treatment for some conditions, such as epilepsy. On the other hand, CBD has also been used as something of a health supplement. Lots of products can be made with CBD oil, such as massage lotions for chronic pain, and tinctures to help people sleep at night.
The overall perception of CBD is that it does have many positive uses. With that in mind, there’s one particular area of your health that it could play a role in: weight loss. Obviously, there’s still lots of research going on regarding CBD and the human body. So, we might not know the true effects it has for some years. However, is there any evidence to suggest it could be the next big medical weight loss treatment? After doing a bit of research online, the findings might surprise you!
CBD & Weight Loss
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To start, there is some research that indicates a possible link between CBD and weight loss. The word ‘possible’ is very important as the study was done on rats, not humans. During the study, rats were injected with CBD every single day, at different doses. It was found that both of these doses led to a decrease in body weight. The reasoning behind this is that CBD interacts with some receptors in the brain and lymphoid tissue that control metabolism. In less fancy terms, CBD can boost metabolism, meaning you burn more energy. Consequently, more energy expenditure can make it easier to lose weight.
Obviously, two key things stand out from this study. Firstly, the participants weren’t human, so the results might not be the same with you or me. Secondly, the rats were injected with CBD, while most CBD supplements or medications are ingested orally. This could play a role in how it is absorbed in the bloodstream, meaning ingesting CBD oil might not have the same effect.
Furthermore, there is a connection between CBD and fat cells. Everyone has white and brown fat in their bodies, and white fat is the most common form. It helps to insulate your internal organs and store energy. Unfortunately, too much white fat can lead to health conditions when there’s too much of it. One of these conditions is, naturally, weight gain. Brown fat is different in that it helps generate heat throughout the body by burning calories. Thus, it’s good to have high levels of brown fat compared to white fat. It is possible to convert white fat to brown fat through exercise, but could CBD also come in handy here?
Again, some research suggests that CBD can turn white fat cells into brown ones. As a result, this leads to more calories burned in the body, which can further support the idea that CBD increases your metabolism and helps you lose weight. This study was, again, not done on a human test subject, so we should still take it with a pinch of salt.
CBD & Weight Gain
Ironically, CBD has also been linked with weight gain! The main link here is that people that take CBD products could be more likely to experience an increase in their appetite. A review of over 2,400 people
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that regularly used CBD found that around 6% of them felt hungrier while taking the supplement.
When you think about it, this isn’t as strange as it seems. After all, CBD is one of the main components of cannabis. People who smoke weed are more likely
to experience the munchies. This is one of the most common side effects of the drug, and it basically means you get super hungry and need to start snacking right away. Obviously, CBD and cannabis are technically two separate things. There are loads of other elements that make up cannabis, so many of them could be responsible for hunger cravings.
Nevertheless, the fact that a review exists that suggests CBD makes people hungrier could point to it as the part of cannabis that causes the munchies. Ultimately, this is just an assumption as we try to connect the dots – more research needs to be done!
Should You Take CBD As A Weight Loss Treatment?
It’s actually very hard to come up with an answer to this question as there is some evidence for and against CBD & weight loss. Yes, the studies that support weight loss have not been conducted on humans yet. However, think about how many other medical tests and studies have been done on rats, then proven to yield the same results in humans. There is a possibility that your metabolism can increase when taking CBD.
At the same time, we can’t ignore the fact that you could increase your appetite when you take CBD. So, if you do take this for weight loss, what could happen? You might burn more calories, but you also might eat more. So, the two effects kind of balance each other out, rendering CBD useless.
In all honesty, there’s not enough research into CBD as a weight-loss treatment just yet. If you want to try CBD oil and other CBD supplements, your best bet is to focus on other benefits that have more research behind them. For example, taking CBD to help you sleep and deal with stress or chronic pain. There are many potential uses for CBD in your life, but weight loss probably isn’t one of them just yet.
Instead, think about other ways to help yourself lose weight. Exercise regularly, cut down on your calorie consumption and eat more fiber. Fiber is super important for weight loss as it keeps you hungry for longer, stopping instances when you snack between meals. The majority of people don’t need medication or supplements to help them lose weight – it’s a simple case of managing your calories in versus calories out.
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