Does Cannabis Actually Induce Weight Loss?

      Usually when you think of someone who smokes a lot of marijuana, you associate their eating habits with getting the "munchies."  Because of this, many people think that heavy marijuana smoking leads to weight gain for most people.  However, a recent study shows that this may not be the case. 

       Studies show, according to scientists from the University of Nebraska and the Harvard School of Public Health, that pot smokers have smaller waists the non-pot smokers, even though pot smokers have a higher calorie intake that non-pot smokers.  The scientists looked at 4600 adult subjects, and found that those who smoke marijuana typically have higher amounts of HDL.  HDL is known as "good cholesterol".  Also, the subjects that smoked marijuana had a significantly lower insulin levels then non-marijuana smokers.  In fact, marijuana smokers had insulin levels that were 16% lower than non-marijuana smokers.  These studies were even controlled for tobacco use, exercise levels, age, sex, and alcohol intake.  Even with all these controls factored into the study, marijuana smokers still showed to have healthier cholesterol levels, lower insulin levels, and thinner waists than their non-pot smoking counter parts. 

     I found this study to be very surprising.  I've always have known of several health benefits cannabis can provide for those who use it, but I always have though that smoking marijuana would make people gain weight because of the increase in appetite.  I cant believe that even though marijuana smokers had an increase in calorie intake, that they're still several health benefits user can experience over those who do not use marijuana.  Could marijuana be helpful for those who have diabetes?    Could it even help those who need to improve their cholesterol?  These are all great questions that perhaps should be further investigated in order to lean more about the potential health benefits marijuana might have on these health factors.

http://www.policymic.com/articles/42253/marijuana-legalization-new-study-says-smoking-weed-makes-you-thinner