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Subscribe to RSSWe're all familiar with the stereotype of the typical pot smoker -- a lumpy, lazy couch potato with one hand wrapped around the remote and the other elbow-deep in a bag of nacho cheese Doritos.
But new research out of France gives a different spin to the stereotypical stoner.
"Cannabis is supposed to increase appetite," says Dr. Yann Le Strat, a psychiatrist at Louis-Mourier Hospital in Colombes, France and co-author of a new study in the American Journal of Epidemiology. "So we hypothesized that cannabis users would be more likely to have higher weight than non-users and be more likely to be obese."
Instead, Le Strat and his colleagues found just the opposite.
"We found that cannabis users are less likely to be obese than non-users," he says. "We were so surprised, we thought we had [made] a mistake. Or that our results were due to the sample we studied. So we turned to another completely independent sample and found exactly the same association."
Le Strat and his colleagues ended up using data from two epidemiologic studies of U.S. adults -- the 2001-2002 National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions and the 2001-2003 National Comorbidity Survey-Replication -- to tally the weight differences between pot smokers and non-pot smokers.
Obesity rates among participants in the two surveys who reported no use of cannabis were 22 percent and 25.3 percent, respectively. Those who fessed up to smoking pot at least three days a week, however, had obesity rates of 14.3 percent and 17.2 percent, respectively.
La Strat says there could be "confounding factors" which would explain the results -- such as the level of physical activity of the pot smokers, or the fact that they might also use tobacco -- but they tried to rule out such factors.
"We did our best to take them into account and still showed the association," he says. "Our findings are too preliminary to answer [what accounts for the disparity]. But there are a lot of different substances in cannabis. The observed association may be due to the effects of one of them."
An adjunct scientist at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health in Toronto, Le Strat was also quick to point out that his study might send the wrong message.
"The take-home message is certainly not 'smoke cannabis, it will help you lose weight,'" he says. "The possibility that cannabis is associated with a lower risk of obesity remains an interesting hypothesis, but certainly does not counterbalance its negative effects on health and mental health."
Andrea Giancoli, a Los Angeles-based registered dietitian and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association, agrees that the study seems very preliminary.
"There could be many other reasons why pot smokers have less obesity," she says. "Maybe they're inclined to exercise more, be outdoors more, eat more fruits and vegetables. There could be all kinds of confounding factors that could make the results null and void. We can't look at this study and take it as a license to go out and smoke pot because we think it's going to help us lose weight. We need more information."
Giancoli does acknowledge one thing, though.
"I know when we think about smoking pot, one of the jokes is that it gives you the munchies and dry mouth so you drink a bunch of water and eat a bunch of Cheetos," she says. "Maybe we need to adjust the stereotype."
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Leave a Comment:
LEGALIZE and TAX NOW !!
Marijuana is a natural plant of nature. It has many beneficial properties.
Arresting someone for using one of nature's plants is just stupid.
.
I concur! Just legalize it already and save money on this so called "war" on drugs!
So marijuana is also a good weight loss drug?? Is there anything it can't do??
It can't make you smell good. I have a couple of pot-head friends. They always reek of it and general bad BO. Silly hippies.
Those silly hippies probly think they're preppy friend's Axe spray gives them a headache.
People with cancer are thinner too, that doesn't make it healthy...just saying.
I have yet to know of ANYONE who contracted cancer from smoking marijuana. However, I do know of several people who have smoked cigars, cigarettes and used chewing tobacco who have cancer or died from it. Anyone??? Just saying.....
Indigogal, whenever you smoke anything, you ingest a large amount of carcinogens, so Marijuana isn't exactly cancer free, but I do get your point though being that cigars and cigarettes have a ton of harmful additives and chemicals.
Indigogal, what_the_81, I believe some fellows at Harvard have the answer you are looking for. Here's a summary of the report:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070417193338.htm
Any carcinogenic material from the smoke is counteracted by the THC. Hope that helps!
I think its an age thing. You smoke pot in high school and college but then stop once you get a job and start a family. You will always be thinner when you are younger than when you are older. Pot may have nothing to do with it. I wonder if age and sex were taken into consideration when the results came out. I realize age and weight is much less a factor in Europe than in the U.S. This study though used Americans. So I'm curious about the age possibility.
Oh come on... any researcher/data analyst worth their salt would be smart enough to factor out age differences, i.e. compare people of a given age group to others the same age.
Yes smoking MJ does deliver carcinogens. However, one doesn't have to smoke it. Vaporizers deliver the THC without the carcinogens.
Or eat it.
What kind of idiots or pot heads you are. People who use pot only care about getting high then eating except when they get the munchies. They look forward to when they can get high next. If they legalize pot people would be smoking in their cars, at their smoke breaks, lunch breaks, and so on. Americans can't say no.
Stop harshing my mellow, Dude! Sounds like you need to get laid.
Lawrence, you are a clueless idiot. Learn what you're talking about before posting.
whatthe81, it is important to know that there is a difference between something containing carcinogens and something causing cancer. However, it MAY be true that cannabis is the only plant that when smoked does not cause cancer. Any plants that are discovered that when smoked do not cause cancer should definitely be researched as potential cancer weapons! (Too bad our government cares more about its' CSA than finding a cure for cancer)
Smoking anything does cause carcinogens to be released, but the the cannabanoids in cannabis are anticarcinogenic so they 'cancel out' the carcinogenic effect. Of course, if one so desires, carcinogens can be avoided altogether by not smoking, but rather vaporizing or eating cannabis.
(duplicate)
Just legalize it already!
dontgivemethepenguin
The perv of the day!
Legalize Axe? NO WAY
dontgiveme..... , such an intelligent comment coming from obviously a person who's shoe size and IQ are the same number.....wow, wanna change that wife beater t-shirt and move your trailer to a safer spot than tornado alley?
Hippies: 1 Establishment: 0
They are not as obese because they are smoking pot instead of drinking alcohol, which is very high in calories, and also causes munchies. Thus, the real difference is that smoked pot has no calories!
Nice to see another pot smokers' stereotype struck down.
Legalize now!
pot is for wussies, try coke or x
Coke's a good choice for weight loss, too.
Yeah let's do an addictive killer instead get lost
pot has never killed any of my friends BUT ALCOHOL X AND COKE AND OR CRACK HAVE KILLED SEVERAL OF MY FRIENDS!!!!!!!!!!
Ignore this idiot, obviously a troll that has less common sense than a bag of hammers.
Nothing else seems to be working to fix America. Try legalizing pot and see what happens. Some added tax revenues certainly wouldn't hurt. Rich fat cats don't want to chip in so let some skinny potheads take up the slack.
Oh, it's got a lot more healing properties than just keeping you thin!!!
I don't know where they are doing these studies but all the hop-heads I know are rather rotund. (mostly beacuse they don't leave the basement)
Funny, my experience is the complete opposite. See post #13
Yeah all my friends are skinny and athletic we run and play all the time MAYBE these people live in an area where there is nothing to do or maybe they are suckered in by all the snack food commercials. FOOD IS MORE DANGEROUS THAN POT don't believe me find out for yourself DO YOU HAVE ANY CLUE WHATS IN YOUR FOOD. If you did you would not be worried about a bunch of friendly pot smokers WAKE UP FOLKS THEY GOT U
Did the researchers consider the effect of all that energy that smokers expend looking for a Taco John's that is still open at 3 AM? ... has to be extra-tough in France.
somebody should study the correlation between smoking pot and lung cancer.
i think the results would blow your mind.
Um, they have. It was a 20 year study. They concluded pot smoking does not cause lung cancer. The lung cancers incidents were only slightly higher than the non-smoking public. The called the difference "statistically irrelevant".
Wow, I know my mind is blown now!
That study was buried by the feds real quick. In fact there were indications that marijuana cured or prevented cancer.
Think of tobacco and you think of lung cancer. Think of alcohol and you think of liver disease. Think of marijuana and you think of ...socializing, feeling good and relaxing. We don't have a significant disorder in our minds associated with marijuana because one doesn't exist!
Dr. Donald Tashkin blew the lung cancer theory out of the water with a *huge* study. And he started from the point of view that marijuana probably did cause cancer!
We taxpayers are paying $40 billion a year for the federal marijuana prohibition for NOTHING!
You make me want to fire up a phattie! Or eat a brownie!!
lalinda63,
Close, but you are wrong: in the study, the cannabis users had slightly LOWER cancer rates than nonusers.
Perhaps what they are missing is that smoking pot has been proven to help control chronic pain and depression. Both are conditions that lead to less active lives. That those who partake in smoking marijuana are able to live healthier more active life styles is no surprise to those of us who have at anytime in our lives used, not abused, marijuana and not allowed ourselves to be brainwashed by the drug industry, pharmaceutical companies, through their paid off politicians.
How totally insane it is I can legally take Oxycontin or even Morphine for pain relief both of which are highly physically addictive and have many known high risk side effects but I can't smoke a joint to relieve my pain.
not to mention you can overdose(i had a friend who did) on oxycontin but not weed. to quote katt williams" you may think that smoker's dead, but he ain't dead, he's asleep. he's going to wake up in 30 minutes and eat everything in your house."
I smoke pot and bet i am healthier than anyone in congress Funny how pot is illegal but you can put genetically modified UNTESTED products on the grocery store shelves. The real health problems will rear up from this when our kids are older and have to take care of us and the planet we ruined for money. Legalize it stop sending my money to mexico and stop killing MY PLANET.
Amen. I have a chronic disease and I would fair much better if there was availability of medical marijuana. I would be more productive.
somebody should study the correlation between those who think marijuana should be illegal and those identified as fat, dumb, jesus-freaking rednecks
i think the result would blow your mind
to a pothead, anything would blow their mind
TCS-3900151,
Stupid alchy, what do they call you? Beerhead?
.
Or, maybe called beerbelly.
Pot smokers are thinner because they tend to be more active. They hike, and camp, and surf, and ski, and snowboard. They eat healthier foods, drink more water, and are just generally healthier and happier. They also sleep better and laugh more. AND... People who smoke pot (believe it or not) also tend to be better educated and holding down well paying jobs. The stereotype of the loser 30 year old still living in his parents basement was nothing more than a myth perpetuated by the government, and by such programs as D.A.R.E., to scare kids away from use. How has that worked out?
Yup. I'm 23 years old and I'm the assistant manager of my bank branch after only 8 months of working at it. I surf, go rock climbing, run 3 miles 3 days a week, play volleyball two days a week, train for boxing 4 days a week, tutor a 7th grader in math 2 times a week, smoke on a regular basis, and eat generally healthy. I love pot and I love life.
You know, this is my experience, too. While I have seen a couple of the stereotypical loser stoners (both of which were scrawny, mind you), I know more people who smoke that are CEOs, executives, software developers, small business owners, secretaries, doctors, nurses, professors, etc. Most of these people eat relatively well and stay healthy.
I've never had it, always wondered what it's like but my job depends on me not having a criminal record. I agree though that pot should be legalized, the government is missing a golden opportunity to tax it. Compared to cigarettes, cigars, pipes and alcohol, I don't see pot being as bad as all those yet they are legal.
Get some...sour cream and onion chips, with some dip, man. Some beef jerkey, some peanut butter. Get some Hagen-Dagz ice-cream bars. A whole lotta of chocolate. Gotta have chocolate, man. Some popcorn, pink popcorn. GRAHAM CRACKERS!!! Graham crackers with the marshmallows. Little marshmallows with little chocolate bars and we'll make some s'mores man. Celery, grape jelly, Captain Crunch with the little crunch berries, pizzas, we need two big pizzas, man, everything on 'em, water, a whole lotta water and.......Funyuns.
SwellSurfer88,
Ok, party's at your house !!
just don''t feed it to a diabetic horse.
Butterstuff! I mean butternuts. Cup! Yea...Buttercup.
If I'm not back in 10 minutes.....call the police...
If he's not back in 10 minutes, we callin' Dominos.
Oh...and that stuff we used to get in high school.....LOVED THAT MOVIE!!
Legalizing stupidity will cause stupidity to increase.Do we really need more stupidity?
Stupidity IS legalized in the USA we call it "Running for Political Office", now match up the ramblings of a Politician with those of a Pot Smoker & see which one makes more sense... one wants to raise no taxes & the other is begging the US to TAX them & allow them to contribute an extra 10 billion a year to the government.
VirgilHickdude,
What on earth makes you think marijuana smoking is related to stupidity? You need to smoke a big dooby, dude, and maybe some of your brain synapses will come to life. No, no, no, too much self awareness at one time might overload the ones you have.
Stupidity was legalized a long time ago- look at the people in political office. I'd rather deal with a pothead than a politician any day!
If you think that the past forty YEARS of stupidity - aka 'the War on Drugs,' is worth continuing, you ARE stupid. Forty years in, NO cities are clean, NOT ONE STATE. Indeed, MORE drugs are available, stronger, cheaper, and totally unregulated!!
Yeah, the stupidity of the 'War on Drugs' has done nothing but breed MORE stupidity!
I believe depression plays a HUGE role in one's eating habits. Since, marijuana is an appropriate medicine for depression, i doubt people will eat at obese rates to fill that void. Potheads do eat salty/fat snacks and i'm sure if the study was related to "overweight" and not "obese", the results would be substantially different.
This is a French study; their "obese" is America's "overweight."
It's true, America's average rate has risen 25lbs. Ref Link:
Really. Do you honestly believe that?
And that the 'potheads' have a monoply on fatass!!
Ha ha!
Now, where did I leave those Little Debbies....
Marijuana and alcohol have been used by the human civilization for thousands of years. I believe that civilization was actually facilitated through use of these drugs as well as others. Social events using these drugs allowed our early human ancestors to be "kinder and more understanding" of each other building social relationships. Without these tools our ancestors may have taken a longer time to be come civilized and separate from normal animal behaviors. With all the religious and social intolerance today removing these social tools may be the wrong time in our evolution. Just look at some of the extreme religious groups that ban use of these drugs and how their actions are reverting to animal behavior killing those that don't agree with them. But then again I could be wrong as these groups do not believe in evolution of our species.
DesertDave,
using these drugs allowed our early human ancestors to be "kinder and more understanding" of each other...........well, maybe smoking pot helped us to be so. Ever been to a bar and watched all the drunks trying to fight each other? Says something about the difference of the two types of drugs and also says something about the society that makes one legal (the violent drug) and the other illegal (the peace pipe drug).
Hehehe, that's why I'm so tolerant
All the regular smokers I know tend to be pretty avid hikers but, I live in mountain country. I used to sit on the couch and veg every day after work but, after I started smoking pot again I realized how boring my couch is and started going out more. I also started working more hours because I realized how much free time I was actually wasting. If you're looking for a drug to turn you into mush, I recommend TV over pot. I did experience an initial weight gain but within a few weeks the extra weight felt physically uncomfortable, (another "high" realization,) and I started pre-planning my munchies and exercising regularly. This isn't a pro-pot anouncement, just my observations about my personal use. I don't recommend it for everyone but, it has worked out exceptionally well for me compared with antidepressants and religion.
It is however the only one anyone will take home.
But most will take it just that and forgo the additional information.
Hell, I don't need more information any more than I need another hole in my head.
I'm going on the Pot Watchers Diet Plan immediately! They use a well balanced diet, plenty of water, a doobie between meals and right before bed. Besides, Cheech & Chong make for very convincing spokepeople. Wait till they come out with their Pot Watchers Brownies, they're GREAT! (I hear that Kirstie Alley and Valerie Bertinelli are leaving W/W and J/C to come over to P/W)
the ones who smoke will continue regardless of this and the ones who don't will continue regardless of this.
Not entirely true, hatr. Some of the doubters will observe that these discoveries of new benefits of cannabis are happening all the time, and while they may not give any thought to a single article like this (hahah yeah sure pot has benefits... it's illegal dude!), it becomes harder to deny once they've seen 10 of them.
Maybe it speeds up your metabolism and that is why it makes you feel hungry, and I guess if you made some healthy food choices during those times, maybe it would help your body burn calories quicker?
Actually, to me this is a no-brainer. Snackers are thinner than people who eat big meals. I snack throughout the day and have moderate sized meals (I weigh in at 105lbs). Meanwhile, some of my heavier friends try to "diet" all day long and go without food and by dinner they're starving and make a giant plateful of dinner. Snacking is portion control.
The article mentions the "negative effects on health and mental health" of pot. Now, smoking anything is probably not very good for your lungs, but I've never seen a definative study linking pot smoking with lung cancer. As far as "mental health" is concerned, why do you think prople smoke it in the first place? It makes them feel better, makes them happier, makes them enjoy life more! Seems to be good for their mwntal health to me. If only we weren't made to stress over it's illegality.
there's a definitive study that says smoking pot does not lead to lung cancer.
The article mentions the "negative effects on health and mental health" of pot. Now, smoking anything is probably not very good for your lungs, but I've never seen a definative study linking pot smoking with lung cancer. As far as "mental health" is concerned, why do you think prople smoke it in the first place? It makes them feel better, makes them happier, makes them enjoy life more! Seems to be good for their mwntal health to me. If only we weren't made to stress over it's illegality.
Now that I think about it, the last time I smoked much pot... I was 18 and skinny as a rail ..... do you think now that I am old and fat.... ?
It is surprising findings.
If there was any stereotype in my head, it's always been that pot smokers were skinnier.
Yup, I can't recall ever seeing a fat old hippy. Whether they're still on the same plane of existence mentally is another issue altogether, but that's probably due to more than the herb alone.
Hell yeah! that's what I'm talking about, I'm pushing sixty, and still look like a teenager, well, at least when I'm high.
I bet you are a riot, too. Good times.