Study Finds Link Between Marijuana Use and Lower BMI

Lower BMI Study

Obesity is one of the most pressing health issues in the United States. Approximately two-thirds of the U.S. population is considered overweight, and roughly one-third of the population is considered obese.

With obesity costing Americans billions of dollars every year, scientists have been struggling to find the magic bullet for the nation’s obesity epidemic.

Conventional wisdom dictates that the cure for obesity is diet and exercise, but a new study published in the Journal of Obesity suggests that marijuana might be a valuable weapon in our nation’s arsenal against obesity.

Researchers from the Conference of Quebec University Health Centers examined 786 Inuit adults between the ages of 18 and 74 through a self-reported anonymous questionnaire. At a rate of 57 percent, marijuana use was prevalent among the respondents.

Researchers found that respondents that used marijuana at least once a month had a lower body mass index than those that did not use marijuana—users averaged 26.8 compared to non-users at 28.6. Marijuana users also had a lower fat mass, lower fasting insulin levels, and a lower HOMA-IR, or insulin resistance.

Those that had used marijuana in the last year, but not within the last 30 days, showed no difference from those that had never used marijuana. While this study may not answer the question of how to cure obesity, it raises interesting questions about how marijuana affects the body.

The findings from this study echo results from a 2013 study published in the American Journal of Medicine. In that study, researchers looked at 4,657 adults from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey between the years 2005 and 2010.

Of the respondents, 1,975 were past marijuana users and 579 were current users. Researchers found that the current marijuana users had 16 percent lower fasting insulin levels and a 17 percent lower HOMA-IR. They also found a significant association between marijuana and smaller waist circumferences.

Surprisingly, researchers found no such difference in past marijuana users.

For many, these results may be surprising because it flies in the face of marijuana stereotypes. When people often think of regular marijuana users, they think of doughy junk food eaters with poor physical health; with these new findings, that stereotype may no longer ring true.

As pleasing as these results may be for certain people, it is important to remember that two medical studies do not define a trend and that correlation is not causation. Using marijuana will probably not make you magically lose weight, but it does present a tantalizing research opportunity to those in the medical community.

As previously reported in MJINews, Alicia K. Wilbur, PhD., is currently focused on the utility of medicinal marijuana in the treatment of debilitating conditions. In regards to the likelihood of future research, Wilbur stated, “Given the serious health consequences of obesity as well as the relative ineffectiveness and severity of the other available treatments, further exploration of the weight modulation properties of cannabis seems more than reasonable.”

William Sumner is a freelance writer and marijuana journalist located in Panama City, FL. Passionate about writing, William is dedicated to journalistic integrity and providing quality insight on current events. You can follow him on Twitter @W_Sumner.

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