Understanding How Marijuana Impacts Caloric Intake and Body Weight
As marijuana legalization expands globally, more adults are using cannabis products like smoked flower, edibles, concentrates, and tinctures. This raises questions about how weed affects metabolism, hunger signals, and ultimately, weight management.
Do Cannabis Strains Impact Calorie Intake Differently?
Yes, different marijuana strains seem to influence appetite and cravings in distinct ways based on their unique cannabinoid profiles.
Sativa-dominant strains tend to provide an energetic, euphoric mental lift with less stimulation of hunger. Meanwhile indica strains relax the body and tend to boost appetite significantly, driving increased caloric intake.
People using hybrid or balanced THC/CBD strains frequently experience a moderate elevation in appetite and food enjoyment without significant intensity or cravings.
Can Weed Lead to Weight Gain Over Time?
For some regular users, marijuana can contribute to gradual long-term weight gain over the years. However, research on weed’s definitive effects on body weight is mixed.
A 25-year study on over 33,000 Americans in the International Journal of Epidemiology showed a correlation between frequent cannabis use and higher body fat. Users had 2% higher body fat than non-users.
However, another analysis in Nutrition & Diabetes found daily weed use not directly associated with increased BMI. More research is still needed.
How Marijuana Stimulates Appetite and Calorie Intake
Weed impacts the endocannabinoid system, which regulates hunger signals, metabolism, digestion, and calorie processing. This generates its notorious appetite enhancing abilities in several ways.
Targeting Hunger and Satiety Hormones
After consuming marijuana, levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin rise, signaling the brain to seek food. Simultaneously, cannabinoids bind with leptin receptors, blocking the hormone that normally suppresses appetite.
This dual biochemical process of increasing ghrelin while decreasing leptin dramatically amplifies hunger, driving motivation and cravings to eat high-calorie foods.
Enhancing Sense of Smell and Taste
THC triggers receptors in olfactory bulbs and taste buds, heightening sensitivity to aromas and flavors. Food smells, tastes, and textures become ultra-appealing after cannabis use.
Eating provides an immersive sensory experience, promoting overconsumption of calorie-dense meals and snacks to satisfy weed-induced food cravings.
Stimulating Dopamine Reward Centers
Similar to other pleasurable activities like sex or laughing, binge-eating fatty, sugary, or salty foods causes dopamine release in the brain’s reward network.
Weed directly stimulates these same dopamine-releasing regions. Combining marijuana with pleasurably tasting meals amplifies rewarding neurochemical signals, further driving excessive eating.
Strategies for Avoiding Cannabis-Related Weight Gain
Learning techniques to prevent or minimize possible weight gain with marijuana starts with understanding personal patterns of use and tendencies.
Timing for Hunger Management
Because appetite stimulation is one of weed’s most predictable side-effects, timing is key for controlling related overeating or weight gain.
Using cannabis right before or during meals allows harnessing hunger signals to fully taste and enjoy food when eating the daily allotted number of calories. However, getting “high” outside of mealtimes often leads to raiding the kitchen for unnecessary extra calories.
Portioning High-Calorie Snacks
When the munchies strike hard, the tendency is to binge on cookies, chips, fast food, and ice cream. Having pre-portioned 100-200 calorie servings of healthier snacks prepared in advance allows satisfaction of cravings without going full tilt into high caloric junk foods.
Some smarter choices include apples with peanut butter, Greek yogurt with berries, carrots with hummus, cottage cheese with pineapple, or protein smoothies. Drink plenty of water too for hydration and fullness.
Opting for Low-Calorie Intake Methods
Inhaled methods of cannabis ingestion like smoking flower or vaping oils allow feeling satisfying effects without consuming heavy levels of calories or triggering intense hunger.
However, edibles like candies, baked goods, or beverages introduce an enormous dose of calories on top of strongly boosting appetite for long periods due to longer digestive processing time.
Considering Tolerance Breaks
Those using marijuana daily or multiple times a day tend to experience a “tolerance plateau” where more weed and food are both required to achieve desired effects. This drives overconsumption.
Taking periodic 2-4 week tolerance breaks allows hunger cues and endocannabinoid receptors to reset back to increased sensitivity so less cannabis and food provide enjoyable outcomes.
How Many Calories in Different Marijuana Products?
When tracking diet and nutrition, it helps to have an awareness of approximate caloric levels contained in various cannabis products.
Smoked or Vaped Flower and Oils
Inhaled methods like smoking dried bud or vaping cannabis concentrates provide effects without introducing calories beyond users’ normal diet.
However smoked or vaped marijuana strains still influence hunger, cravings, and eating behaviors as outlined previously.
Edibles and Drinkables
Cannabis edibles and drinkables contain estimated calories based on product type and ingredients:
- Gummies: 100-200 calories per piece
- Cookies, brownies: 300-500 calories each
- Chocolate bars: approximately 230-320 calories per ounce
- Cannabis soda: about 100 calories per 12 oz can
- Weed beers or wines: 150 calories per 12 oz, similar to regular alcohol calories
When ingesting THC through the liver instead of smoking, these products deliver intensely amplified psychoactive effects. So edibles strongly stimulate appetite on top of delivering concentrated calories.
Tinctures
Sublingual cannabis tinctures provide dose-measured THC/CBD effects using just a couple drops held under the tongue then swallowed. This allows avoiding significant calories or stimulation of hunger.
However, carriers like MCT oil, glycerin, or alcohol add some calories which should be calculated based on dosing frequency.
The Bottom Line
For devoted cannabis lovers, being mindful of marijuana’s influence on appetite while utilizing strategies to curb overeating allows preventing unwanted weight gain.
Knowing caloric profiles of various weed products informs decisions when combining cannabis use with a healthy overall diet and active lifestyle.
FAQs
Does smoking weed make you gain weight?
Frequent long-term marijuana use can contribute to gradual weight gain over time due to increased appetite and calorie intake. However, directly linking cannabis to measurable weight gain needs more research.
Why do I get the munchies when high?
Weed impacts the endocannabinoid system which regulates hunger signals in the brain and digestion. Marijuana boosts the hunger hormone ghrelin while suppressing satiety hormones, strongly increasing motivation to seek out and consume foods.
How many calories in a weed gummy?
The average marijuana gummy contains approximately 100-200 calories per piece. The concentration of THC and other cannabinoids does not impact the calorie level. However, edibles substantially intensify appetite and cravings.
Does smoking weed make you lose weight?
No, inhaling marijuana via smoking or vaping provides psychoactive effects without containing measurable calories. However, some users experience appetite loss rather than stimulation, which could enable weight loss depending on diet.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new treatment regimen.
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