Wonder if cannabis triggers blood sugar level changes which causes the munchies.
I have funky blood sugar issues, and I can certainly see the overlap in how the cravings feel but never made the connection until now. Very interesting.
> The authors note that more research is needed on the long-term endocrine effects of cannabis use and whether diabetes risks are limited to inhaled products or other forms of cannabis such as edibles.
This study did not differentiate between edibles, which are loaded with sugar, and inhaled cannabis usage. And, since they are not a food product, edibles do not carry the same onus as food for labeling, nor similar regulatory oversight.
This seems a significant flaw in the data gathering and could change the ultimate conclusion of the study.
> The researchers found that new cases of diabetes were significantly higher in the cannabis group (1,937; 2.2%) compared to the healthy group (518; 0.6%).
We know there's a path from obesity to diabetes. I think it would be interesting to see if there's a path from cannabis to obesity.
I wonder if this is connected to the appetite the cannabis consumption brings about. I personally experienced appetite from consuming it but learned that not acting on it is equally pleasant. Maybe I have more self control or something...
This is not a great "study" if you can call it that. Let me be specific by pointing a passage that's doing a lot of the heavy lifting:
```
After controlling HDL and LDL cholesterol, uncontrolled high blood pressure, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, cocaine use, alcohol use and several other lifestyle risk factors, the researchers found that new cases of diabetes were significantly higher in the cannabis group (1,937; 2.2%) compared to the healthy group (518; 0.6%), with statistical analysis showing cannabis users at nearly four times the risk of developing diabetes compared to non-users.
```
Note "nearly four times the risk of developing diabetes" -- this feels like a dangerous exaggeration of "four times the correlation of having developed diabetes." No controls for diet, exercise, etc. In comparison to a gold standard clinical trial this is about as far as you can go on the other end.
That's not to say that I think that a prospective link doesn't merit deeper research -- far from it. In fact, Novo Nordisk has an anti-obesity drug in phase 2a trials, monlunabant [1], that serves as a CB1 (cannabinoid receptor 1) inverse agonist which has a mechanism of action inverse to THC. The clinical trials are showing that it creates modest weight loss, so it seems that there's likely something to how that receptor is activated that could cause weight gain. What's not clear to me is whether all the other receptors that THC activates create a compound effect at a population health level that leads to net weight gain and the development of diabetes, the inverse, or non-correlated outcomes, and whether those occur across the board or differentially based on genetic makeup.
I occasionally use CBN for sleep, never THC, so maybe it's different, but I quickly develop a tolerance, like within a week of daily use and have to cease for many days or a few weeks to get any further benefit at all.
As I read, the endocannabinoid system in the brain is pretty homeostasic.
Does something similar happen with cannabis munchies subsiding to people who ingest THC or whole leaf products daily?
without reading this study in depth my immediate thoughts are:
- cannabis is not the direct link with diabetes
- cannabis urges munchies > overeating
- overeating causes obesity
- obesity causes diabetes
From my experience regular stoners eat less and less.
Yes at first the munchies might cause issues but quickly with the developed tolerance it gets so intense that these people will barely eat without having consumed which usually causes them to loose weight.
Also someone at age 18 already being a regular stoner to age 25 being a regular stoner is vastly different.
After reading the article and the comments on this page, I also think it's unclear what exclusion criteria were used to select the cannabis using and control cohorts. Controlling for likely and unlikely confounding variables is essential in this kind of study. Obesity is a notoriously heterogenous condition with a great number of inheritable and environmental contributors which makes the task especially difficult.
However, a connection of particular interest concerns ADHD, a disorder identified as having a strong link to obesity, including common genetic predisposition [0]. Furthermore, individuals with ADHD are also more likely than non-ADHD peers to develop drug dependence, including cannabis-use disorder [1,2]. If ADHD was not among direct or indirect exclusion criteria, the results of the recent study could be misleading or at least incompletely characterized.
This is a sketchy article about a study which is not even named because it has not yet been presented. It will be presented in the next week. I would take this entire thing with a grain of salt.
"While the authors note that more research is needed to fully explain the association between cannabis and diabetes, it may come down to insulin resistance and unhealthy dietary behaviors." Too much chocolate I'd guess.
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[ 3.9 ms ] story [ 41.6 ms ] threadhttps://www.veriheal.com/blog/study-women-who-consume-a-lot-...
there needs to be a paper that reconciles conflicting findings.
I have funky blood sugar issues, and I can certainly see the overlap in how the cravings feel but never made the connection until now. Very interesting.
This study did not differentiate between edibles, which are loaded with sugar, and inhaled cannabis usage. And, since they are not a food product, edibles do not carry the same onus as food for labeling, nor similar regulatory oversight.
This seems a significant flaw in the data gathering and could change the ultimate conclusion of the study.
We know there's a path from obesity to diabetes. I think it would be interesting to see if there's a path from cannabis to obesity.
```
After controlling HDL and LDL cholesterol, uncontrolled high blood pressure, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease, cocaine use, alcohol use and several other lifestyle risk factors, the researchers found that new cases of diabetes were significantly higher in the cannabis group (1,937; 2.2%) compared to the healthy group (518; 0.6%), with statistical analysis showing cannabis users at nearly four times the risk of developing diabetes compared to non-users.
```
Note "nearly four times the risk of developing diabetes" -- this feels like a dangerous exaggeration of "four times the correlation of having developed diabetes." No controls for diet, exercise, etc. In comparison to a gold standard clinical trial this is about as far as you can go on the other end.
That's not to say that I think that a prospective link doesn't merit deeper research -- far from it. In fact, Novo Nordisk has an anti-obesity drug in phase 2a trials, monlunabant [1], that serves as a CB1 (cannabinoid receptor 1) inverse agonist which has a mechanism of action inverse to THC. The clinical trials are showing that it creates modest weight loss, so it seems that there's likely something to how that receptor is activated that could cause weight gain. What's not clear to me is whether all the other receptors that THC activates create a compound effect at a population health level that leads to net weight gain and the development of diabetes, the inverse, or non-correlated outcomes, and whether those occur across the board or differentially based on genetic makeup.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monlunabant
As I read, the endocannabinoid system in the brain is pretty homeostasic.
Does something similar happen with cannabis munchies subsiding to people who ingest THC or whole leaf products daily?
Also someone at age 18 already being a regular stoner to age 25 being a regular stoner is vastly different.
It makes sense for the same reason that prediabetic people feel better with cannabis
However, a connection of particular interest concerns ADHD, a disorder identified as having a strong link to obesity, including common genetic predisposition [0]. Furthermore, individuals with ADHD are also more likely than non-ADHD peers to develop drug dependence, including cannabis-use disorder [1,2]. If ADHD was not among direct or indirect exclusion criteria, the results of the recent study could be misleading or at least incompletely characterized.