Is it Possible to Boost Your Metabolism with CBD?

Can CBD rev up your metabolism? Can you use CBD to burn more fat or to curb an out-of-control appetite?

The truth is that CBD may help to support a normal, healthy metabolism, but understanding how it works is, well, a little complicated.

While CBD is not a weight loss wonder, it may be a helpful tool in addition to healthy eating and regular exercise. 

Cannabis and the Munchies

Everybody knows that consuming THC may bring on attacks of the munchies. CBD is a well-known cannabinoid extracted from hemp, and, similarly to THC, it interacts with the body’s endocannabinoid system (although not in the same way as the other well-known cannabis chemical, THC).

So it's reasonable to wonder whether CBD would also boost hunger and cravings. 

A quick review of an essential point in marijuana education: THC is the psychoactive chemical in cannabis that gets you high. CBD is non-psychoactive.

Simply put, research shows that CBD doesn’t boost your appetite the way THC does.

When doctors ran a clinical trial of two strains of medical-grade marijuana, they found that a THC-only strain increased appetite of the study participants more than a strain that contained less THC and more CBD.

An earlier study of the safety of CBD in lab rats found that pure CBD had no effect on appetite. The conclusion researchers draw from these and other studies is that CBD won't make you want to eat more. 

But can CBD support normal and healthy weight? It turns out that regular users of cannabis give us an answer to that question.

CBD helps regular users of cannabis eat more and weigh less.

In 2019, researchers at Michigan State University who published their findings in the  International Journal of Epidemiology found that although it is not unusual for marijuana smokers to experience carbohydrate craving, they tend to weigh less than people who do not use cannabis on a regular basis.

“Everybody gains weight,” said Dr. Omayma Alshaarawy, a professor of family medicine and the lead researcher for the study. “But over the three years we followed both users and non-users of cannabis, the cannabis users (primarily smokers) gained less weight than the non-users.”

Cannabis use didn’t make a huge difference in weight. Among the 33,000 people the researchers followed, using cannabis regularly might make about a 1 percent difference in body weight over the three years of the study.

When this 1 percent difference is found over tens of thousands of people with different diets, exercise habits, and lifestyles, there is a strong indication that the benefits of cannabis for maintaining healthy metabolism are valid. And when these findings are considered in light of research into the comparative effects of THC and CBD on appetite, it is reasonable to assume that CBD has metabolic benefits as well.

A different study found that CBD seems to increase the fat-burning power of a special kind of adipose tissue known as brown fat.

Brown fat cells don’t just store fat. They burn fat to keep you warm. When you are out having fun in the snow, your brown fat cells work overtime. CBD seems to make brown fat cells work even harder, and it even seems to stimulate the transformation of white fat cells (fat storage cells) into brown fat cells, which can burn fat.

The research shows that the fat-burning effect of CBD is dependent on a combination of exposure to the cold and physical exercise. This means that CBD is most likely to have fat-burning benefits during exercise at low temperatures. 

Conclusion for CBD Education: Reasonable expectations for CBD in regulating your metabolism

CBD is not a cure for obesity. It will not take off the pounds if you don’t put in the effort. On the other hand, CBD seems to support healthy weight. It makes your efforts to stay fit more effective, along with all the other benefits of taking CBD.

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Bergamaschi MM, Queiroz RH, Zuardi AW, et al. . Safety and side effects of cannabidiol, a Cannabis sativa constituent. Curr Drug Saf. 2011;6:237–249.

Alshaarawy O, Anthony JC.. Are cannabis users less likely to gain weight? Results from a national 3-year prospective study. International Journal of Epidemiology, 2019;

Parray HA, Yun JW. Mol Cell Biochem. Cannabidiol Promotes Browning in 3T3-L1 Adipocytes.2016 May;416(1-2):131-9. doi: 10.1007/s11010-016-2702-5. Epub 2016 Apr 11. PMID: 27067870.