Can You Use Marijuana for Weight Loss?

One of the most common side effects of weed is the munchies it causes. It makes people eat staggering amounts of food, clearing out fridges and emptying pantries in single sittings. However, not all cannabis strains give you the munchies. In fact, there exist several strains of marijuana for weight loss specifically, and hardly anybody knows about it. You can actually lose weight by taking the right strains of weed.

Marijuana for Weight Loss

Munchies have their place. The ability to stimulate appetite makes cannabis a vital medicine for millions of patients worldwide. It helps AIDS sufferers maintain weight. Those with wasting disease also need to eat more food. Its most famous munchie-use is for cancer patients, who use it to quell nausea that chemotherapy causes and to ensure they eat regularly.

However, most people would rather not get the munchies if they can help it. Weight gain is a mortifying prospect for many, but cannabis also contains an appetite suppressant called tetrahydrocannabivarin, or THCV. Amounts of it are naturally higher in some strains and lower in others and in its purest form, THCV clearly has the unique ability to stave off hunger.

Science vs. Weight Loss and Cannabis

Besides THC itself, THCV is another psychoactive ingredient in the marijuana plant. It provides a psychedelic high, but with focus and clear-headedness. It causes the THC to affect you much quicker, so the more THCV in the bud, the faster it will make you stoned. On the other hand, THCV causes the effects to fade quickly too, which can be a downside.

As an appetite suppressant, the problem with THCV is that plants produce such tiny amounts of it. This is why munchies are such a well-known effect of weed, as most strains do not contain enough THCV to counteract it. However, scientists can now replicate THCV and extract it in quantities suitable for commercial production. THCV is pricey and tricky to extract, which is why few know about it.

The process of extraction is biotatalysis. It allows scientists to manufacture cannabinoids and other molecules in a controlled laboratory. Technology is available for companies to produce these molecules on a large scale. The cannabinoids are exact replicas, just created in a different environment to the natural plant, and apparently in every way identical.

Using Cannabis for Weight Loss in California

Unfortunately, high THCV strains are particularly rare and difficult to find in marijuana dispensary in California. There are higher-than-average strains that will not give you the munchies, but any concentrated, compound-rich products are still in the developing phase. Plants produce small amounts of THCV, and only a select few have the genetic capability to produce much higher traces of it.

Until high-THCV cannabis concentrates enter the weight loss market, munchie-conscious people should consider Sativas, especially Africa’s world-famous landrace strains. Test results show that landrace Sativa have the highest natural levels of THCV, but because genetics alone cannot guarantee it, actual content may vary between harvests. Ask your budtender specifically for THCV-rich, lab-tested strains.

Finding the Right Strains for Weight Loss in California

High-THCV strains may be difficult to come by, but those high in cannabidiol and low in THC will also help to suppress appetite. THC is the molecule responsible for causing munchies, so if you do not know the exact THCV level, then choose a high-CBD strain. Some strains test as high as 15 percent THCV, such as Purple Purps and Doug’s Varin, but here are five known munchie-free strains to start with:

• High-CBD Cannatonic
• High-CBD Sour Tsunami
• High-THCV Durban Poison
• High-CBD Harlequin
• High-THCV XJ-13

Cannabinoids also Suppress Appetite

Research published by British scientists back in 2012 showed the hunger-reducing effects of some cannabinoids, which are the active molecules important in medical marijuana. After testing the effects of each of them on rats, they were able to isolate which of them played a role in suppressing appetite and which did not. They tested these cannabinoids to reach their conclusions:

• Cannabigerol, or CBG
• Cannabinol, or CBN
• Cannabidiol, or CBD

Although the effects of these cannabinoids vary greatly from each other, the only one stimulating appetite was CBN, which is a by-product of THC breakdown. On the other hand, CBD reduced appetite significantly among the rats. Although they enjoyed eating their food and ate it heartily, they ate a notable amount less.

Conclusion

Because landrace Sativa strains are better at suppressing appetite than Indicas, there is an added benefit for those wishing to lose weight in California. Sativas are energizing and physically motivating. They are ideal for days spent actively outdoors, which is a surefire way get fit and lose weight. Indicas are sedatives, causing mental grogginess and extreme couchlock, along with uncontrollable munchies.

Potent Sativas even motivate the worst cases of exercise-avoidance. Those who do not enjoy post-dinner walks, hikes or other physical activity will find themselves loving the experience. Remember to look for high- THCV or CBD strains to suppress your appetite and make sure they are powerful Sativas to activate your enthusiasm for exercise. This combination provides a natural, healthy way to lose weight.