New Calif. study finds evidence cannabis could treat obesity, diabetes

The munchies are one of marijuana’s most famous effects, with countless movies playing up the trope that smoking weed leads to uncontrollable hunger. But a new study is showing that cannabis could actually have surprising effects on your waistline. 

Read more Bay Area tech giant Cisco to cut thousands of jobs after record revenue

Researchers at UC Riverside gave cannabis to obese mice and found that not only did the rodents lose weight, but when given a concentrated cannabis oil, the mice also saw striking benefits in their metabolic function. Nicholas DiPatrizio, a UC Riverside professor and the lead author of the study, said he thinks the work could lead to cannabis-based diet therapies. 

“We can develop molecules that can be cannabis based, isolate them and maybe even do better than nature. We are just at the beginning,” DiPatrizio told SFGATE.

DiPatrizio said his team studied the issue to better understand why cannabis users show significant reductions in weight and risk for diabetes compared with nonusers.

“We would think that chronic cannabis users would be eating more and weigh more, but it’s just the opposite,” DiPatrizio said.

The existing scientific studies have shown associations between weight and cannabis use, but they do not prove that cannabis causes weight reduction. DiPatrizio’s team designed a study to try to prove causation by giving obese mice two types of drugs: an isolated form of just THC, the most common intoxicant in marijuana, as well as a cannabis oil that was extracted from cannabis and contained a broad spectrum of cannabis compounds. 

Both drugs reduced the mice’s weight — giving more evidence that marijuana causes these effects in humans — but the outcomes differed noticeably on other metabolic functions. The obese mice given pure THC still had impaired metabolic function that mirrored diabetes, while the mice given the more complex cannabis oil saw their metabolic function return to normal. 

Read more California’s deadly mushroom outbreak reaches alarming new levels

Scientists are increasingly examining the possibility that cannabis compounds could fight obesity or metabolic disorders like diabetes. Cannabinoids interact with the body’s endocannabinoid system, which partially controls nearly every aspect of our physiology, including metabolism and appetite. That creates the possibility that targeting this widespread system could unlock new therapies for these conditions. 

The cannabis industry is already exploring whether natural compounds found in the cannabis plant could also be effective for weight loss. Tetrahydrocannabivarin, a natural cannabis compound shortened to THCV, has been shown to cause reduced appetite and increased stimulation. Some California companies have launched products with THCV, which is sometimes referred to as “diet weed” because of its reported effects.

DiPatrizio said the study does not prove that smoking marijuana will cause weight loss or can treat diabetes. Animal studies often do not translate to human effects, meaning the positive signals in the study could fail to be reproduced in humans. DiPatrizio said his lab is now trying to find out what exact chemical caused the effects in the hope that, some day, a THC-free drug could help people facing obesity or diabetes. 

“We’re not saying that folks should go use cannabis to reverse diabetes,” DiPatrizio said. “We would like to specifically find the chemical involved that doesn’t lead to intoxication. That’s what’s exciting about this work. The intoxicating chemical alone doesn’t do it.”