Liz joined CannaFit in May to improve her eating and exercise habits to lose weight and feel better. One of her goals was to conquer mindless eating.
She tried a pharmaceutical weight loss drug but didn’t like having to be on medicine for the rest of her life and knew there must be a more natural approach. That’s when she found CannaFit through a local dispensary.
Since working together, she’s been taking 15-30 mg of CBD daily, planning her meals and working out consistently 4-5 times per week at home. We’ve added strategies to her eating such as a snack mid afternoon to provide energy for working out between the time she gets home from work and dinner. Before implementing a snack with a small amount of caffeine, she felt too tired to workout when she got home and spent most of the evening on the couch.
Additionally, she’s instituted a planned mid morning snack to stave off intense hunger that previously led to food noise and unwanted eating while at work.
Liz has been deliberately listening to her hunger and fullness to decide when and what to eat.
For example, her husband often makes popcorn for an evening snack, which is a temptation. However, she may or may not have some depending on whether she’s hungry or not and has no problem saying “no” if she’s not hungry. The feeling of uncertainty and lack of control over her choices is gone. She’s confident in her decisions
There have been times she’s wanted to indulge in chips or ice cream but she’s adopted the practice of checking in with her hunger and fullness levels and reminding herself of her goal to lose weight and that, although she likes chips, she doesn’t need them at that moment.
She attributes the lower volume of food noise to the CBD she takes daily. Liz says it helps her stay present in her body while making decisions about what and when to eat. This has changed, she said, as the decisions used to be emotion based or simply instant gratification. She has also noticed more even moods and that the CBD keeps her motivated to stay focused on her eating goals and her exercise goals.
One habit she’s been working on is to slow down eating. Many of us struggle with eating too fast and mindlessly while watching TV and that’s a difficult habit to break.
She recently started using THC again occasionally. Once she learned which terpenes cause the munchies she noticed strains she’s previously consumed were high in myrcene and did cause her to be hungry. Now she’s able to choose strains with specific terpenes to suppress her appetite and avoid the munchies.
This week she said she smoked (a puff or two) her favorite strain, Jealousy, before eating and noticed that she ate slower and was more attentive to the actions of eating. She appreciated each bite, the flavors and textures. She finally was able to eat slowly, one of her original goals!
After congratulating her I explained that this is the entourage effect!
Her CBD has been modulating her actions, emotions, thoughts, but adding a low dose of THC created the entourage effect, which is when we experience more benefits by combining plant compounds CBD and THC.
What’s cool is that by learning to eat more slowly she’s creating a new habit. As she appreciates and recognizes how much better it feels to eat mindfully it will reinforce her habit without having to use cannabis.
WHAT IS THE ENTOURAGE EFFECT?
The “entourage effect” is a term coined in 1998 as researchers discovered that all of the compounds of cannabis work in concert to enhance the good and dampen the bad effects of cannabis. Over 100 cannabinoids, all of the terpenes, flavonoids and even the things we haven’t discovered yet work better together.
There may be some instances where a single cannabinoid is needed, but in general, they work better together. CBD and THC balance each other out and provide benefits through different mechanisms, optimizing results. For example:
- Low THC + High CBD = little-to-no psychoactive effects.
- High THC + Low CBD = psychoactive, but low amounts of CBD may dampen THC’s effects and increase the amount of time THC imparts its effects.
- High THC + High CBD = psychoactive and sedative, with CBD increasing the amount of time THC spends in the body.
- Low THC + Low CBD = more of an energizing effect
- Equal ratio of THC + CBD = psychoactive, but less so than THC on its own. A potent anti-inflammatory.
Now that you know these distinctions and how beneficial the entourage effect can be, you can use this to guide your decisions when selecting cannabis for your particular goals!
If you’re excited to shop for cannabis now, here are some important terms to know:
Isolates: CBD is often found in isolate form, which means it’s been filtered to exclude any form of THC or other cannabinoids. These do not provide an entourage effect.
Broad Spectrum: This type of CBD is filtered to exclude THC but may contain other cannabinoids, terpenes and flavinoids. This option is optimal when looking to benefit from the entourage effect but limit THC.
Full Spectrum: These products include all compounds of the plant, including up to 0.3% THC, which is the legal limit. Full Spectrum CBD products will provide the entourage effect without getting you high.
Major Cannabinoids:
There are up to 150 cannabinoids in the cannabis plant, possibly more. Of these, there are six main cannabinoids. These are:
THC: THC, the main psychoactive compound found in the cannabis plant, is responsible for its sedative, appetite-stimulating, antiemetic, and analgesic effects. It is commonly the dominant cannabinoid in cannabis.
CBD: CBD is the non-intoxicating component of cannabis. It is the second most prominent cannabinoid in the cannabis plant, except where the plant has been specifically bred for its CBD content. CBD has anxiety-reducing, antidepressant, antiseizure, neuroprotective, and anti-inflammatory effects.
CBG: CBG is the “parent” cannabinoid, as CBG is converted to THC and CBD by enzymes in the plant. It is non-psychoactive and may strengthen the function of anandamide – the body’s natural version of THC. CBG may play a role in enhancing pleasure and motivation, regulating appetite and sleep, and alleviating pain. CBG also has significant antibacterial properties.
CBC: CBC is the third most prominent cannabinoid in the cannabis plant, and it has anti-anxiety, antidepressant, pain-reducing, antiviral, tumor-busting, and bone-growth stimulating properties.
CBN: CBN is a metabolite of THC, as THC converts to CBN as it ages. Cannabinol is mildly psychoactive, but not in the same way as THC. CBN has sedative anti-inflammatory, and slightly analgesic properties. Like THC, it can also stimulate the appetite.
THCV: THCV is anti-psychoactive at low doses and psychoactive at higher doses. THCV has appetite-suppressing properties and can help reverse insulin resistance, making it helpful in treating diabetes and aiding weight loss. THCV also has anti-inflammatory effects.
There are also the acidic counterparts to these major cannabinoids (except for CBN), and these also have unique properties (although this is much debated). The acidic counterpart is essentially the raw material. Once CBDA, or THCA, for example, is heated to a certain temperature, it becomes CBD or THC, respectively. These raw materials can also be combined to enhance the effects. For example, THCA works together with CBD to improve its antiseizure effects.
Any of these cannabinoids can be combined to create an entourage effect, essentially maximizing the benefit of each compound. By maximizing the benefits you can overcome any obstacle to your fitness or eating habits using cannabis as a tool. Overall, you can adopt a more holistic and flexible approach to your well-being, fostering a positive relationship with your body, food, and promoting long-term health benefits.
If you’re interested in more personalized information or want to explore this topic further, feel free to reach out to me directly at Beth@Cannafitnessnutrition.com.
You can discover more about my comprehensive 12 week program, CannaFit, which helps you integrate cannabis as a tool into your fitness and nutrition to overcome obstacles such as stress or emotional eating at www.cannafitnessnutrition.com.
