Does Marijuana Have an effect on Weight Acquire or Bone Density?  | NutritionFacts.org

Are the obvious opposed results of heavy hashish use on the bone simply resulting from customers being thinner? 

It’s been recognized for many years that cigarette smoking can have “a significant impact” on bone well being, “rising the lifetime threat of hip fracture by about half.” It additionally seems to impair bone therapeutic, a lot in order that surgeons ask if they need to discriminate in opposition to people who smoke as a result of their bone and wound-healing complication charges are so excessive. What about smoking marijuana?

As I focus on in my video Effects of Marijuana on Weight Gain and Bone Density, “There’s accumulating proof to suggest that cannabinoids [cannabis compounds] and their receptors play vital roles in bone metabolism by regulating bone mass, bone loss, and bone cell operate.” Okay, however are they “buddy or foe?” 

“Outcomes from analysis on cannabinoids and bone mineral density in rodent fashions have been inconsistent. Some research present elevated bone formation, others have demonstrated accelerated bone loss, and but others have proven no affiliation. This variation in outcomes could also be due [in part] to variations within the mouse pressure, intercourse, age…” If you happen to can’t even extrapolate from one mouse to a different, how are you going to extrapolate from mice to human beings?

What for those who simply measure hashish use and bone mineral density in folks? Researchers examined 1000’s of adults and requested them about their hashish use. There didn’t look like any hyperlink between the 2, which is a aid. Nevertheless, on this research, “heavy” hashish use was outlined as simply 5 or extra days of use within the earlier 30 days. The researchers didn’t ask past that, so, theoretically, somebody who smoked simply 5 joints of their whole life could possibly be categorized as a “heavy consumer” in the event that they occurred to make use of it 5 instances within the final 4 weeks.

How about hashish use on 5,000 separate events over a lifetime? Now that’s a heavy consumer—many years of standard use. In that case, heavy use was “associated with low bone mineral density and an elevated threat of fractures”—about double the fracture price presumably resulting from decrease bone density within the hip and backbone, though heavy hashish customers had been additionally thinner on common, and thinner folks have lighter bones.

Hip fracture threat goes down as our weight goes up. Almost half of underweight ladies have osteoporosis, however lower than 1 % of overweight ladies do, which makes whole sense. Being overweight forces our physique to make our bones stronger to hold round all of that additional weight. That’s why weight-bearing train is so vital to consistently put stress on our skeleton. With regards to our bones, it’s use it or lose it. That’s why astronauts can lose a % of their bone mass each month in “long-duration spaceflight.” Their our bodies aren’t silly. Why waste all that power making a powerful skeleton for those who aren’t going to place any weight on it? 

So, possibly the explanation heavy hashish customers have frailer bones is as a result of they are usually about 15 kilos lighter. Wait a second. Marijuana customers are slimmer? What in regards to the munchies? “The decrease BMI that was noticed in heavy hashish customers at first sight appears counterintuitive,” given marijuana’s urge for food stimulation, however this isn’t the primary time this has been famous. 

“Well-liked tradition generally depicts marijuana customers as a sluggish, torpid, and unproductive subculture of compulsive snackers,” and marijuana has certainly been found to extend meals consumption. A single hit can improve urge for food, so that you’d count on weight problems charges to rise in states that legalized it. However, if something, the rise in weight problems appeared to sluggish after medical marijuana legal guidelines had been handed, whereas it appeared to only hold rising in different states, as you possibly can see within the graph under and at 3:45 in my video. 

The rationale pot people who smoke might be slimmer is due to the impact of smoked marijuana on metabolism. We’ve identified for greater than almost 40 years that inside quarter-hour of lighting up, our metabolic price goes up by about 25 % and stays there for a minimum of an hour, as you possibly can see under and at 4:04 in my video. So, that could be enjoying a task. 

Is that why heavy hashish use is associated with decrease bone mineral density and elevated threat of fractures? As a result of customers simply aren’t as chubby? No. Even when taking BMI into consideration, heavy hashish use seems to be “an impartial predictor” of weaker bones.

I initially launched a collection of marijuana movies in a webinar and downloadable digital DVD. There are nonetheless a number of movies popping out over the following yr, however for those who missed any of the already printed ones, see the associated posts under. 

For extra on bone well being, take a look at the associated posts under.