Can Cannabis Impact Leptin Resistance?
Are you one of those who battle to lose weight no matter what you do? You try diet after diet and supplement after supplement, but without satisfying results. You just don’t lose weight; instead, it looks like you are rather gaining weight. One possible culprit could be a resistance to the hormone Leptin.
What is Leptin?
Weight gain or weight loss has little to do with counting calories or how strong your will is. Researchers today believe it rather has to do with the hormone Leptin. This hormone regulates body fat cells. It has a double role to play- it either satisfies your hunger or tells you that you are hungry. It targets the hypothalamus in the brain and its main function is to let your brain know that you have stored enough fat and that it is ok to burn calories now. It has other functions too, but it mainly regulates energy and how much fat your body needs to store.
How Does It Work on the Brain?
Leptin is produced in the fat cells in your body. This means that the more fat you have, the more Leptin you have. The bloodstream takes Leptin to the Hypothalamus where the percentage of Leptin in the blood is measured. High Leptin levels indicate that there are enough fat stored, and low Leptin levels indicate that you need to eat. In a negative feedback loop, when you eat, your leptin levels increase, and you burn more energy. Leptin levels drop when you don´t eat and the body fat goes down. Then you need to eat more and burn less Leptin energy.
When are you Leptin Resistant?
When you are overweight, you have high levels of Leptin and too much body fat in the fat cells. When the Leptin signal is not functioning properly in telling the body that there is enough fat stored, the brain doesn´t see it. This contributes to piling up fat and ends up in obesity because the brain thinks you are starving. The brain changes its behavior and tells the body:
- To eat more – your brain wants to prevent starvation
- To conserve energy – you burn fewer calories as the brain reduces energy levels
It Has a Negative Impact on Dieting
If any diet you try has not positive effect, you could very well be Leptin resistant. In this case, your body reduces fat mass and Leptin levels, but your brain fails to reverse the resistance. When Leptin levels are down, it produces hunger and lowers the desire to exercise. Your brain thinks then that you are starving and find numerous ways to replace the weight you just lost.
Could Cannabis Treatment be a Possible Solution?
Studies on the relation with Cannabis to the hormone leptin are very limited. In a study in Brazil, men and women were tested to see what the effect of cannabis smoking on serotine leptin levels is. Over 900 people were tested. It is a known fact that when you smoke weed, you get the munchies. This happens when the CB1 receptors are activated. CB1 receptors are commonly found in the hypothalamus where the regulation for appetite is administrated. The appetite hormone, Leptin, released by fat cells, reach the hypothalamus and binds to the CB1 receptors with the main function to regulate food intake and metabolic rate.
In this study, it was found that when cannabis is smoked, the CB1 receptors are blocked by THC. The CB1 receptors also control Leptin, and when weed is smoked, leptin negatively controls the CB1 receptors and prohibit it from being activated. Contradictive results were found when cannabis is taken orally. In obese patients, leptin plasma levels were found to be reduced. Gender also plays a role as men metabolize cannabis differently than women.
Another pilot study, confirms that oral intake of a CB1 antagonist, like THC, reduces plasma leptin levels in overweight primates. A detective leptin signaling is associated with elevated levels of endocannabinoids in the hypothalamus. This study also founded that smoking cannabis did not decrease leptin levels as expected, but rather increased the levels.
Not Enough Studies Yet
There are still too many limitations to know if cannabis could reverse leptin resistance. THC specifically has an impact on appetite stimulation and regulation, but it is not fully understood yet if weight reduction is promoted. But one of the main objectives of cannabis is to promote homeostasis. So, if you expect that your struggle with weight has to do with unstable Leptin levels, try to do the following:
- Stay away from sugar or limit your intake. This includes fructose and refined foods.
- Eat enough protein and fat products. Eat healthy fats and proteins for breakfast.
- Sleep enough – it cannot be over - emphasized enough.
- Detox – even from commercial deodorants. Toxins put stress on your body
- Add Hempseeds to your diet
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