Oct 12, 2022 – Another stereotype is dusting off: Despite its appetite-boosting effects – otherwise known as “snack foods” – cannabis may actually help keep your weight in check.
Cannabis users may be less likely to become obese than people who abstain from it, according to a recent study in the journal. Health Economics. the study Health data tracked from Washington state before and after 2014, the year cannabis became widely available for recreational use.
According to the study: “As a result of marijuana legalization, which allowed recreational marijuana dispensaries to open [in] Reduction in obesity rates in Washington State”.
Within 4 years after legalization, the state“The obesity rate was 5.4% lower, on average, than it would have been if cannabis had not been legalized.
How did they find out?
The researchers put together something called synthetic counterfactuals.
“He. She“Lead author Raymond Marsh, PhD, assistant professor of applied economics at North Dakota State University, says the best rough estimate of what Washington would have looked like had marijuana not been legalized. Mars and his colleagues brought in residents like Washington State“By incorporating data from states that were not legalized during those same four years, including Arizona, Minnesota, Kansas and New Hampshire.
and then “artificial realism”—what Washington would have looked like had it not been legalized. The authors concluded that the state would have had 5.4% more obese people “The post-treatment period” – 4 years after legalization – with the medical expenses and human misery associated with obesity-related conditions such as diabetes, heart disease and stroke and an increased risk of premature death.
The researchers also compared Washington state“Obesity figures with national trend. Both directions are upward, but after 2014, Washington“The rate of increase has decreased significantly.
Why could this happen?
Thomas ClarkPh.D., a physiologist with the Department of Biological Sciences at Indiana University in South Bend, addressed a possible cause of Study 2018 in the magazine Hemp and hemp research. According to the study, “cannabis The use appears to reflect the impact of the modern American diet on health by decreasing the effects of elevated omega-6/omega-3 fatty acids on endocannabinoid (eCB) tone.”
Clark explains: “The 1970s saw an increase in obesity in the United States, and it is“It is still rising today. It started with government subsidies for corn and soybean oil, which change the body“Physiological regulation of metabolism. When you alter the balance of omega-6 fatty acids and omega-3 fatty acids—which you do by increasing vegetable oils like soybean oil in the diet—the body“The endocannabinoid system becomes overactive, which leads to weight gain.”
The endocannabinoid system – which promotes homeostasis or homeostasis in the body – is regulated by the signals of molecules that are mimicked by the chemicals in cannabis. Yes, cannabis stimulates appetite, hence its therapeutic use by people with diseases such as AIDS, or those receiving appetite-killing treatments such as chemotherapy. But according to Clark, it also downregulates the endocannabinoid system, keeping it balanced, preventing weight gain and, in theory at least, helping Washingtonians slow the tide of weight gain in their state.
“My research suggests that we should look at these metabolic diseases and their relationship to cannabis use,” he says. “There may be a significant health benefit to using cannabis.”
If these benefits are confirmed, cannabis may be one solution to swollen waistlines and health risks for the American public.
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