Obesity is caused by a chronic imbalance between energy intake and expenditure. The growing rate of obesity is becoming a major public health concern. Obesity is associated with the risk of developing metabolic syndrome, which has devastating consequences, including decreased quality of life and shortened life span. Additionally, obese people suffer from psychological problems like depression and obsession¹.

Many people suffering from obesity are recommended different methods or treatments – from diet to prescription medicines or surgery. Not everyone is ready to practice a strict diet or use drugs or go for surgery since many such treatments are commonly associated with issues like the inability to maintain weight loss, serious cardiovascular diseases, or gastrointestinal symptoms².

Therefore, no surprise that there is a need for finding natural and safer remedies. CBD may be considered one of such methods. Of course, CBD is not used as a separate treatment, but if you take it regularly, your chances of a successful weight loss can increase.

Metabolism regulation

We are always seeking ways to regulate our metabolism and more often speed it up!

Here are some tips on metabolism regulation and ways of including CBD:

• Water is vital for people who want to lose weight and regulate metabolism. Water consumed before meals allows your body to feel full sooner and digest food more efficiently. Water can trigger/boost metabolism for a few hours and it can help you burn more calories than CBD alone.
• Make sure your diet is full of fiber. Fruits and vegetables are a key component of speeding up metabolism due to its high fiber.
• Some studies found that CBD may affect metabolism directly. According to researchers, it happens because CBD affects immature fat cells called preadipocytes and “browns” the body fat cells. Unlike white fat, brown fat or “good” fat is not responsible for obesity. It may contribute to burning the body’s energy at an increased rate and so promote weight loss¹. You can take CBD with your daily beverage or you can add CBD to beverages. Luckily, in the UK food and drinks with CBD is legal and you can easily purchase them. It is the popular trend to make the drinks that support your physical health and the manufacturers differentiate them as functional drinks³. If you prefer to prepare drinks yourself, just add CBD to your favourite beverage.
• Exercise. We’ve all heard this one before. Get those extra steps in to boost your metabolism. Whether it’s parking your car further away from your office or walking to the grocery store. Every step makes a difference. Try to increase your steps on a weekly basis or even hit the gym. Add a few drops of CBD oil to your morning coffee or smoothie before heading to work or the gym.

Good sleep maintenance

Adequate sleep is very important for those who seek to lose weight. Too little sleep or poor sleep quality can increase the chances of obesity. The study suggests the association between inadequate sleep and obesity is stronger in children and adolescents⁴.

It is good practice to ensure enough hours of sleep each night and to create a regular daily routine. This goes for your diet as well.

Some recent findings show that CBD may improve sleep and /or reduce anxiety⁵. It also has a positive effect on weight loss as obesity itself is a heavy psychological burden and obese people tend to suffer from several psychological problems due to low self-esteem, mood disorders or body image issues⁶.

The most notable benefit of CBD, when used for sleep-related problems, is safety. There are no reported cases of a lethal overdose of CBD products, and severe side effects are reported rarely.

Let us get this straight. CBD is shown to have beneficial effects on health, including weight loss. Researchers are still studying CBD and all its benefits are yet not determined. We have some findings that CBD may help regulate metabolism and help with psychological problems including anxiety, depression and sleeping disorder. But more large-scale clinical trials are needed.

References

1. Hawkins MN, Horvath TL. Cannabis in fat: high hopes to treat obesity. J Clin Invest. 127(11):3918-3920. doi:10.1172/JCI97042
2. Cheon HG. Antiobesity effects of melanin-concentrating hormone receptor 1 (MCH-R1) antagonists. Handb Exp Pharmacol. 2012;(209):383-403. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-24716-3_18
3. McHugh H. #Trendspotting: 2020 Trend Predictions. Imbibe. November 2019. https://imbibeinc.com/food-and-beverage-industry-media/blog-postings-from-the-drink-tank/trendspotting-2020-trend-predictions. Accessed February 7, 2020.
4. Knutson KL. Does inadequate sleep play a role in vulnerability to obesity? American Journal of Human Biology. 2012;24(3):361-371. doi:10.1002/ajhb.22219
5. Shannon S, Lewis N, Lee H, Hughes S. Cannabidiol in Anxiety and Sleep: A Large Case Series. Perm J. 2019;23. doi:10.7812/TPP/18-041
6. Sarwer DB, Polonsky HM. The Psychosocial Burden of Obesity. Endocrinol Metab Clin North Am. 2016;45(3):677-688. doi:10.1016/j.ecl.2016.04.016