Eating Disorders and the Endocannabinoid System
The endocannabinoid system (ECS) is a network of receptors, enzymes, and endocannabinoid molecules that maintains homeostasis, or a range of healthy functions in the body. The CB1 receptors, found in the central nervous system, transmit a “calm down” signal to overactive neurons. Because these receptors are plentiful in brain regions that control food intake, clinical evidence suggests that there may be a link between a defective ECS and the development of an eating disorder.
How medical marijuana can help with eating disorders?
The ECS is involved in the regulation of eating and energy balance, and CB1 receptors — one of the two kinds of cannabinoid receptors in our brains, the other being the CB2 receptors — are plentiful in the brain regions that regulate hunger and control eating behaviors. Because of the way they bind to CB1 receptors, ingested cannabinoids can help reduce patients’ anxiety and increase (or decrease, in the case of high-CBD strains) the amount of food they consume. What stoners have long known to be true turns out to be backed by science: Cannabis can chill you out and give you the munchies.
“Cannabis helps me in two ways. First, it helps with hunger cues,” Cassidy said. “When you’ve been restricting for a while, your body stops asking for food when it needs to. The munchies help with that. Second, [cannabis] helps with the anxiety. It kind of quiets the wave of negative self-talk that often comes with eating.”
Does medical marijuana help with eating disorders? Anorexia sufferer Cassidy, whose name has been changed agrees. “Cannabis helps me in two ways. First, it helps with hunger cues,” Cassidy said. “When you’ve been restricting for a while, your body stops asking for food when it needs to. The munchies help with that. Second, [cannabis] helps with the anxiety. It kind of quiets the wave of negative self-talk that often comes with eating.”
You can read the article in its entirety here: https://news.weedmaps.com/2019/10/for-patients-with-eating-disorders-cannabis-may-be-the-right-medicine/
Also find out if medical marijuana can help with bulimia.
