Summer is here which means it’s time to let it all hang out!
When it comes to maintaining proper body weight, people will try anything to feel and look good, including unhealthy fad diets and excessive and obsessive calorie counting. According to the Healthy Living Alliance, almost 30% of South Africans are overweight and our country has the highest obesity rate in Sub-Saharan Africa.
As we all know, there is no quick fix and the proper way to get rid of the excess fat is to eat less, move more, and have a nutritionally balanced diet but unfortunately, with our crazy busy lifestyles, it can be extremely difficult to manage a diet without the occasional slip-up or comfort food binge!
One of the most amazing things about the body is that it strives for homeostasis, which means that people who are overweight or underweight, are going to be unhealthy and unbalanced but, for those of you who are having a hard time with your waistline, CBD oil has shown promising results as a potential treatment for slimming down as well as stabilising weight loss.
In a recent study, scientists found that CBD oil has a profound effect on immature fat cells (preadipocytes). Not only does the consumption of CBD oil stimulate fat genes and proteins to break down and oxidize fat but it can also boost the activity levels of the cell’s mitochondria. When these activity levels are elevated, this helps the body burn off more fat.
The same study proved that consuming CBD oil helps in decreasing the “expression” of proteins found in the fat cells (lipogenesis). When combined together, these effects induce fat browning which occurs when the body converts white-coloured fat tissue into brown-coloured fat tissue. This process is important as brown fat burns away excess energy and reduces overall body fat, whereas, white fat stores energy.
It is well known that for those who want to gain weight, consuming THC causes the munchies, which will urge you to consume excess calories. However, CBD oil has the opposite effect, as it will suppress your appetite. Another component of CBD oil is tetrahydrocannabivarin or THCV, which helps reduce body weight by increasing the metabolism of fat cells.
When you consume CBD oil for weight loss, you will drastically decrease your fasting insulin levels which makes you less resistant to the production of insulin, meaning that your body can better regulate blood-sugars and thereby help stave off Type II diabetes, lower your risk of obesity, decrease your heart disease risk and reduce bad cholesterol levels.
A healthy diet and regular exercise are still the best weight-loss strategies and CBD should not replace any other medications, but rather used as a dietary supplement to help you look and feel your best!