There’s a lot of questions about how we can utilize CBD to improve our health. One of the biggest questions people have is that can you use CBD for weight loss?
CBD comes in many forms ranging from CBD gummies to vaping CBD. No matter how you enjoy CBD oil, it has been associated with improved inflammation, reduced anxiety, and even better outcomes for diseases like diabetes. All of these factors mean that there is a potential for CBD to help with weight loss.
Let’s find out if you can use CBD for weight loss and how this cannabinoid might benefit your health.
How Does CBD Work in the Body?
CBD interacts with the body’s natural endocannabinoid system. The endocannabinoid system is a series of chemical receptors throughout the body that naturally connect with cannabinoids. This includes both the naturally occurring cannabinoids and cannabinoids found in hemp and cannabis plants.
Cannabinoids predominately bond to CB1 and CB2 receptors. CB1 receptors are most commonly found in the nervous system while CB2 receptors are associated with insulin.
However, for individuals with obesity, CB1 receptors can be found in higher concentrations in fat cells throughout the body. Researchers hypothesize that there is a link between these CB1 receptors and obesity.
This also means that there is potential for using CBD for weight loss. CBD gummies could be a way to change how the endocannabinoid system works in order to improve overall health and weight.
Let’s take a closer look at some of the research in a few key areas where CBD has been shown to potentially benefit weight loss.
How CBD Can Help Improve Weight Loss
There are plenty of rumors about CBD flying around the internet. People often treat CBD as a miracle cure, but we are going to focus on just what the science and cutting his research has to say about this cannabinoid.
Let’s get straight to the facts and see how CBD interacts with the body, medical conditions, and can play a role in improving weight loss.
CBD Might Suppress Appetite
We typically associate cannabis products with an increase in appetite, but a 2018 study showed that CBD oil could actually play a role in suppressing appetite.
The way it works is actually fairly straightforward. THC stimulates CB1 receptors increasing activity that can lead to an increased appetite. It’s theorized that CBD has the opposite effect and suppresses activity of CB1 receptors which can suppress appetite.
CBD might not be directly deactivating these receptors. It might be influencing other neurochemicals or blocking their activity, but the end result is a decreased activity in the CB1 receptors themselves.
Then we have to look at the anecdotal evidence. While this isn’t scientifically verifiable, it often points us in a direction where future research can go.
Most people who regularly use CBD don’t report the same kind of munchies or increased appetite that comes with THC. This points us toward CBD not having the same kind of appetite stimulating the fact that THC has.
CBD is Connected to Converting White Fat to Brown Fat
One of the most promising CBD for weight loss strategies involves a concept known as “fat browning.”
There are, essentially, two types of fat stored in the human body. We’re going to take a look at both of these and he’ll see what he can play a role in converting bad fad to good fat.
Let’s start off by talking about bad fat. This is technically known as white fat. White fat is the body storing energy as fat in its tissues.
White fat has been associated with negative outcomes for cardiac health as well as other medical conditions. White fat also is slower to go away and tends to build up overtime.
Then we have good fat. This is known as brown fat. Brown fat is ready to convert into energy and heat. This fat burns away as we exercise and consume the body’s natural stores of energy. Brown fat does not have the same associations with negative Health outcomes.
CBD gummies and other sources of CBD have been connected with transforming white fat into brown fat. One study even directly demonstrated that the body uses CBD to help transform white fat into brown fat.
In 2018, researchers also concluded that there’s a potential that CBD could be helping the body to utilize brown fat. This means that there’s a potential that CBD not only helps convert white fat into brown fat, but also helps the body to burn fat.
CBD, Metabolic Disorders, and Weight
There’s a strong body of evidence connecting obesity to negative health outcomes. Vaping CBD, or otherwise enjoying CBD products, could help reduce these risks. Let’s see how CBD can interact with metabolic disorders and weight.
There is research that suggests that CBD can help with type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and other metabolic disorders. A review in Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research suggests that CBD can have wide-ranging and beneficial impacts for individuals with these conditions.
One animal study even demonstrated a 25% reduction in cholesterol cells in rats treated with CBD. This is a promising sign that there could be human implications for CBD and treating metabolic disorders and weight management in the future.
CBD and Insulin
Insulin resistance is a common medical condition that causes individuals to have difficulties converting blood sugar in it to energy and fat. Weight gain is a complication that’s associated with insulin resistance and related conditions such as diabetes.
Your body naturally releases insulin after eating. This is in response to the increase in blood sugar that happens after we take in food. Insulin should transport the blood sugar into our cells so it can be utilized throughout the body.
However, individuals with insulin resistance have insulin that is less effective at transporting blood sugar from the blood to the body. A 2018 study demonstrated that THC, CBD, and other cannabinoids have the potential to improve this process and reduce insulin resistance in humans.
Inflammation and Weight
Inflammation is both a symptom and a cause of many diseases and medical conditions associated with weight gain. One of the best documented properties of CBD is that it reduces inflammation throughout the entire body.
This can have positive impacts when it comes to weight loss. This is especially the case for individuals with diabetes where inflammation is often associated with weight gain.
This also connects to other medical conditions for inflammation and weight gain go hand-in-hand. Inflammation of the pancreas is also often associated with weight gain which could potentially be managed using CBD.
Mitochondrial and Cellular Energy
Another way CBD for weight loss can improve our health has to do with our mitochondrial cells.
Mitochondria are the powerhouses of the cells. They are responsible for converting glucose into energy that our cells can use throughout the day. This happens throughout the entire body from our muscles to our brain.
One study applied CBD mitochondrial cells in the laboratory. The mitochondria that were exposed to CBD became much more effective at converting glucose into energy. This means that there’s a positive link between CBD and converting glucose into energy.
This could potentially lead to benefits for weight loss in individuals where there is a difficulty in converting glucose into energy. When glucose can be converted into energy, the body often stores it as fat.
CBD, Anxiety, and Weight Loss
There is another way that CBD oil might improve our health and weight loss. This one is often surprising, but it could be a bigger factor than people think.
One of the most promising benefits of CBD is that it has the potential to improve outcomes and individuals who struggle with anxiety.
Anxiety can be a debilitating medical condition. Individuals with anxiety can find it difficult to leave the home or engage in social activities. This severely limits how they’re able to get up and move in order to stay healthy and active.
There is evidence that links anxiety to worse outcomes when it comes to weight gain and health. Reducing anxiety helps individuals to make better health decisions about their lives as well as take steps to mitigate weight gain.
CBD can reduce anxiety which can help individuals overcome the difficulty in engaging with social situations that often comes with this psychological condition. One easy example of this is that an individual could use CBD to relieve anxiety in order to help them attend a fitness class or go to their local gym.
This anxiety can also be associated with medical treatment itself. Individuals often have a lot of anxiety when it comes to visiting a medical professional and CBD could help give them the relief they need to start tackling other health problems that are tied with weight gain.
CBD and Chronic Pain
There’s another promising angle when it comes to CBD and weight loss. This has to do with pain management and CBD’s ability to help individuals overcome chronic pain.
Chronic pain can be seriously debilitating and prevent individuals from leading a happy and healthy life. Even mild chronic pain can have a serious impact when it comes to an individual’s ability to exercise and make beneficial health decisions.
CBD has been connected to better outcomes when it comes to chronic pain. This means that CBD could become part of a treatment plan that helps individuals with chronic pain exercise more comfortably.
Risks for CBD and Weight Loss
There are few risks that we need to consider when it comes to CBD and weight loss. In fact, there’s one big risk that needs to be seriously looked at before wrapping up this article.
The most significant risk factor when it comes to CBD and weight loss is that research into CBD is still very new. There are plenty of hopeful studies that seem to indicate that CBD is not only healthy, but it can help us improve our weight.
We need more studies to look into how CBD interacts with weight loss in order to form more concrete opinions.
As it stands, things look incredibly promising for CBD for weight loss. CBD has already been shown to have positive outcomes for individuals with chronic pain, anxiety, and medical conditions that cause inflammation. Even if CBD does not have a direct impact on weight loss, it can help manage medical conditions associated with weight gain.
As more research comes out, we expect to see that CBD will continue to play a role in helping individuals to achieve a healthy weight.
CBD Sleep and Weight Loss
Here’s another surprising area where CBD can help improve weight loss in adults. Poor sleep is associated with a higher weight gain and CBD can help individuals get to bed quicker.
Research continues to demonstrate that poor sleep, including insomnia, is associated with a higher body mass index in adults. This means that getting better sleep is a great way to improve your health and help manage your weight at the same time.
A study from 2020 took a look at how CBD can help individuals with their sleep. The study concluded that individuals who use CBD products to help them get to bed and concluded that CBD helped with a modest improvement in their overall sleep.
This means that CBD has the potential to help round out an individual’s health. Getting a good night’s sleep is the cornerstone of good health and CBD can play a role in helping individuals overcome insomnia and sleeplessness.
This is just another way that CBD might not directly cause weight loss, but can help individuals overcome medical problems that are often associated with weight gain.
Wrapping Up CBD for Weight Loss
CBD for weight loss is a promising treatment that is backed up by cutting-edge scientific research. While more studies are needed, it looks like using CBD oil or vaping CBD can directly help with weight management.
CBD also helps with medical conditions that are associated with increased weight. CBD helps with anxiety, inflammation, and can even help with metabolic disorders.
All of this research goes to show that CBD has a lot of potential for improving our health!
