This discussion revolves around a study suggesting that marijuana users are less likely to be overweight or obese, despite the common experience of "the munchies." The participants debated the study's methodology, the potential biological mechanisms, and the reliability of the findings, revealing several key themes.
Conflicting and Nuanced Research Findings
A prominent theme is the confusion and lack of consensus surrounding the effects of cannabis on weight and related health outcomes. Several users pointed out the conflicting results from different studies, emphasizing the need for clearer, more unified research.
- "very confusing results around this the last few years," noted leoh.
- leoh also stated, "there needs to be a paper that reconciles conflicting findings."
The "Munchies" and Appetite Stimulation
The phenomenon of "the munchies" is frequently discussed as the intuitive mechanism linking cannabis use to increased food intake and potential weight gain. However, users also presented counterarguments or nuances to this direct correlation.
- bitwize succinctly mentioned, "The munchies" have unpleasant sequelae..."
- homeonthemtn speculated, "Wonder if cannabis triggers blood sugar level changes which causes the munchies."
- AngryData offered a personal observation: "Anecdotally it always seemed to me that it didn't make you that hungry straight out, but it did depress the feeling of satiation after eating so it is much easier to binge on food once you start eating something."
- blackjack_ shared, "I don't know why this isn't talked about that often, but a lot of people who smoke weed end up needing to smoke weed to be able to eat."
- DontchaKnowit claimed, "Yeah in my experience real heavy users of weed don't get munchies anymore and actually just smoke instead of eat pretty frequently. Eating kinda kills your high."
- hattmall noted, "When the first thing on your mind when you wake up is smoking weed and that's your primary activity throughout the day, food just becomes secondary, so the idea of eating without smoking first is just not realistic."
- aurareturn observed, "A negative side effect of weed abuse is that you get so dependent on it, you have no appetite to eat unless you're high."
- ferfumarma remarked, "The munchies...."
- afw333 stated, "From my experience regular stoners eat less and less. Yes at first the munchies might cause issues but quickly with the developed tolerance it gets so intense that these people will barely eat without having consumed which usually causes them to loose weight."
- khelavastr argued, "This doesn't make sense as causation. Cannabis stimulates insulin-sensitizing hormone. It makes sense for the same reason that prediabetic people feel better with cannabis."
Study Design and Methodological Flaws
A significant portion of the discussion focused on potential flaws and limitations in the study's design, particularly the lack of differentiation between various consumption methods and the control of confounding variables.
- m0llusk provided a link to a Medical News Today article and commented, "Exactly what is going on here appears to be more complicated than that." Referring to the study's participant numbers, they added, "This involved 33k participants in the US, so at least one order of magnitude smaller and in a different context."
- imchillyb highlighted a critical weakness: "This study did not differentiate between edibles, which are loaded with sugar, and inhaled cannabis usage. And, since they are not a food product, edibles do not carry the same onus as food for labeling, nor similar regulatory oversight. This seems a significant flaw in the data gathering and could change the ultimate conclusion of the study."
- leptons further elaborated on edibles: "Not all edibles have sugar, but most seem to be pure candy. It's dangerous too because if the edible tastes so amazing you want to eat another one and then you get way too high."
- bb88 cited a key statistic from the study, "The researchers found that new cases of diabetes were significantly higher in the cannabis group (1,937; 2.2%) compared to the healthy group (518; 0.6%)." They then questioned the broader implication: "We know there's a path from obesity to diabetes. I think it would be interesting to see if there's a path from cannabis to obesity."
- yowlingcat critically analyzed the study's statistical claims: "Note 'nearly four times the risk of developing diabetes' -- this feels like a dangerous exaggeration of 'four times the correlation of having developed diabetes.' No controls for diet, exercise, etc. In comparison to a gold standard clinical trial this is about as far as you can go on the other end."
- jrapdx3 raised concerns about cohort selection: "I also think it's unclear what exclusion criteria were used to select the cannabis using and control cohorts. Controlling for likely and unlikely confounding variables is essential in this kind of study. Obesity is a notoriously heterogenous condition with a great number of inheritable and environmental contributors which makes the task especially difficult." They also pointed out the potential impact of conditions like ADHD: "If ADHD was not among direct or indirect exclusion criteria, the results of the recent study could be misleading or at least incompletely characterized."
- duffpkg provided a crucial insight into the origin of the article: "This is a sketchy article about a study which is not even named because it has not yet been presented. It will be presented in the next week. I would take this entire thing with a grain of salt."
- yellowapple corroborated this by stating, "The website also has a bunch of other sketchy articles playing up the alleged “dangers” of cannabis, usually by the classic approach of conflating correlation with causation. I'll refrain from suggesting this to be deliberate on the authors' part, but there's obviously some bias at play here."
- kingofcoders quoted the article's own cautious conclusion: "'While the authors note that more research is needed to fully explain the association between cannabis and diabetes, it may come down to insulin resistance and unhealthy dietary behaviors.'"
Physical Activity and "Couch Lock"
The impact of cannabis on physical activity, often stereotyped as "couch lock," was another point of discussion, with some users challenging the stereotype and others reinforcing it.
- caboteria suggested, "Also 'couch lock', i.e., reduced physical activity."
- keeda sought to debunk this: "I actually would like to see a study about this. I am starting to think that the stereotype of lethargic potheads chilling on a couch comes mostly from portrayals in movies. Anecdotally, I encounter many people casually using cannabis while engaged in varying levels of physical activity..."
- hattmall countered, "It's shockingly accurate. Sure people get high and do other stuff but the amount of people just sitting on couches passing weed around for hours is huge."
Tolerance and Appetite Regulation
Several users discussed the development of tolerance to cannabis effects, specifically concerning appetite stimulation and its implications for BMI.
- blackjack_ posed a thought: "My understanding is those that were obese and have lost weight still have a higher chance of getting type 2 diabetes than those that were slim throughout their lives. If your chance of getting diabetes is 70% while obese, and 2.2% (or 15% or whatever it actually is) after losing weight, how is that not a win?"
- lr4444lr questioned the duration of effects: "Does something similar happen with cannabis munchies subsiding to people who ingest THC or whole leaf products daily?"
- giraffe_lady answered anecdotally: "Anecdotally yes. I'm a very occasional user now and get insane munchies but when I was using it differently I felt that tolerance built quickly and I stopped having munchies once it did."
- jaco6 stated, "Once you become a heavy user it no longer reliably triggers appetite, maybe because you get better at recognizing the hunger is fake and focus on other aspects of the high."
- morkalork shared an unexpected observation: "I've been taking CBD daily in the evening for sleep... and I find it can act almost like an appetite suppressant."
Lifestyle Choices and Correlation vs. Causation
A recurring theme is the difficulty in establishing a direct causal link between cannabis use and health outcomes, with many suggesting that lifestyle choices and underlying predispositions might be more influential.
- thekevan asked a fundamental question: "Does the cannabis do something to the body to cause diabetes or is the type of person who would indulge in cannabis also the type of person that would indulge in some cake?"
- ivape argued, "You can easily eat entire cakes every single day if you are high all the time."
- bb88 theorized about stimulation: "My personal hypothesis, is that cravings (drug, sugar, food, sex, alcohol, socializing, etc) fill a need for stimulation. Most people get that through maybe watching sports, reading books, or if you can, mental stimulation (math, science, programming, 3d printing, juggling, etc)."
- dontchaknowit provided anecdotal evidence for a complex relationship: "Tell me youre not a edible user without twlling me youre not an edible user."
- tapoxi shared a personal struggle: "Speaking from personal experience I went from a BMI of 24 (healthy) to a BMI of 31 (obese) because of daily cannabis use that gave me insane munchies."
- faangguyindia pointed to traditional uses: "Doesn't it boost appetite? It's traditionally fed to underweight kids in india."
- hereme888 simply attributed it to "The munchies...."