"Can Cannabis Help With Anorexia?"

Cannabinoids gaining great interest, with great focus for the treatment of eating disorders such as anorexia, bulimia and cachexia.

And it's not secret that anorexia has proven to be notoriously difficult to treat with traditional medications...



Cannabinoids such as CBD have been shown to be compounds with multi-modal action mechanisms, with clear therapeutic potential in different medical areas and some important clues comes from 5 studies about the role of the endocannabinoid system in anorexia.

There are several clinical studies in recent years show that cannabis is an effective treatment to help people with anorexia, to gain weight again.

But while gaining weight is often the main target of success in these studies, digging into the results shows an even more important pattern: How cannabis may help relieve some of the stress and anxiety associated with psychological and emotional trauma, making it a potentially unique treatment in the field of mainstream medicine.

What studies says :

-A 2011 Belgian study suggests that because dysfunctional regulation and underlying imbalances within the endocannabinoid system are prominent across eating disorders, developing cannabinoid-derived treatments (targeting the endocannabinoid system) could prove therapeutically valuable.
The study offers promise that cannabinoids could help correct endocannabinoid deficiencies, while helping the individual return to a healthy state.

-In a 2013 study from the Center for Eating Disorders in Denmark, twenty-four women with severe anorexia nervosa were treated with dronabinol, a synthetic form of THC in pill form.
The results showed that study participants gained weight, but even more interesting were the results of the eating disorder inventory, which measures unhealthy patterns surrounding food and eating.

-In 2014, European neuroscientists conducted an important animal study offering another possible explanation on why cannabis (or specifically THC) may be useful in treating anorexia. Anorexia sufferers lose the ability to find pleasure in activities, particularly eating.
The authors of the study found that the way THC activates the endocannabinoid system’s CB1 receptor (one of two identified receptors) elevates pleasure in eating by increasing our sensitivity to smells and taste.

-A human study hailing from the Center for Eating Disorders at Odense University Hospital in Denmark provided encouraging data (although, with just 24 subjects, the study was fairly small). In this study, patients were given a placebo or dronabinol (a synthetic form of THC). On average, patients gained 1.6 lbs more on dronabinol than the placebo.

The authors noted the treatment was “well tolerated” with “few adverse events.” Further, researchers followed up with patients a year after starting treatment and determined patients were still improving their symptoms and nutrition while showing no signs of addiction or withdrawal issues.

-The objectine of another clinical study was "To determine whether CBD helps improve sleep and/or anxiety in a clinical population". The conclusion of this study was that 'Cannabidiol may hold benefit for anxiety-related disorders. Controlled clinical studies are needed".

Final Thoughts:

What can we conclude from the studies...? 

First, cannabis can help increase appetite and make eating more enjoyable, providing an acute treatment for someone when they’re at a dangerously low weight.

But more importantly, it also helps stabilize overall mental health, providing a better platform to deal with past traumas, navigate the psychological pitfalls of eating disorders, and let nutrients work more efficiently. If you would like to strong your immune system, CBD is the best and safest choise!!!

Of course, taking CBD oil alone isn’t going to do enough towards treating anorexia. Seeing and inform your therapist, as well as your nutritionist or dietician to keep track of your dietary intake and together you will build a better health condition!!!

(for more details about the studies hit the link that is marked in every study)