They’re two words that have become ultra-trendy in today’s wellness culture: cannabis and keto. They don’t seem to be slowing down in popularity, either. Can you smoke weed while on keto? The answer is yes. What is even more compelling is the idea that they might actually complement each other when it comes to health and weight loss.
First, what is the keto diet? It’s a high fat, low-carbohydrate, carnivore diet that encourages the body into a metabolic state called ketosis. This state is achieved by lowering the amount of glucose available for the body to use as fuel, through reducing blood sugar and insulin levels. Once the body enters ketosis, it starts burning fat instead of glucose. Dieters have increasingly turned to this method of eating, because the results are proven and they happen quickly.
The keto diet has also become associated with more balanced levels of energy and lower inflammation. Not only that, but it can also help people who have Type 2 diabetes, epilepsy and Alzheimer’s.
So far, scientific research has shown that CBD also provides some of the same health benefits as the keto diet. For instance, CBD acts as an anti-inflammatory. According to research, CBD fights inflammation and neuropathic pain by targeting glycine receptors. For some types of pain, it works even better when combined with THC.
Cannabis and CBD been specifically identified as helpful for patients with epilepsy and Alzheimer’s. Even the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has identified cannabis as a treatment for intractable childhood epilepsy. And studies have shown that CBD exerts a neuroprotective effect, which can help folks suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia.
To summarize, it seems both cannabis and keto have a positive affect on the body’s neurological system. However, those aren’t the only ways in which cannabis and keto can provide similar results. As it turns out, both cannabis and a carnivore diet have numerous other health benefits.
While the keto diet has become synonymous with weight loss, cannabis and weight loss don’t have the same reputation. However, research is finding that indeed, cannabis can help you lose weight.
According to this study in The American Journal of Medicine (2013), marijuana users were found to actually maintain lower fasting insulin levels. Lower insulin levels are associated with both weight loss and lower blood pressure. In their observations of over 4,500 adult men and women, the researchers also discovered that cannabis users had a smaller waist circumference.
Through interacting with the endocannabinoid system, cannabis can also help the body maintain a balanced homeostasis, which can stabilize your appetite and emotional well-being. The keto diet has also been acknowledged for its possible balancing effect for the human body, as well as its ability to help suppress appetite.
If you’re just starting the keto diet, or even if you’re already living a carnivore lifestyle, cannabis can help. Regardless as to whether you’re consuming CBD, THC, or both, cannabis could possibly enhance the benefits of keto. It could also help with some of the temporary negative effects of the keto diet, too.
During the initial stages of the keto diet, cravings can be intense, and your body might not have the same kind of physical stamina. This is all temporary, but it’s possible to alleviate some of these symptoms by incorporating cannabis into your weight loss treatment. CBD can help with muscular aches and pains. It could also potentially help with symptoms of keto flu.
When first starting the keto diet, it’s common to encounter the keto flu. Symptoms include nausea, muscle cramps, irritability and gastrointestinal issues. That’s where cannabis can help. By reducing inflammation and helping to ease gut and gastrointestinal issues, it can help you get through that keto flu a little easier. It may also help ease symptoms of irritability that are easy to come by when drastically changing the way you eat.
Interestingly, there is another effect of combining cannabis and keto. Not only can cannabis potentially enhance the effects of the keto diet, but keto may enhance the effects of cannabis. It all comes down to bioavailability. Basically, a high fat diet (like keto) increases your body’s absorption of cannabis. CBD and THC are both lipophilic, which means fatty foods can enhance their effects on the body.
If you’re considering combining cannabis and the keto diet, science shows that they might make a great pair. However, it is important to consult your physician if you have an existing health condition. You doctor will need to monitor this diet.
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11 Responses
Same for me… anybody got a solution to the edible part? I took a 500mg brownie and felt nothing
Make sure you’re having THC, not CBD. CBD won’t make you high, and it’s not very effective for what it does do when you eat it. If you had a 500mg THC brownie and felt nothing, there might be something seriously wrong with your gut health. This amount would put me in the hospital, and I’m a daily user who is 200lbs and 6’1″.
The effect is probably reduced somewhat because of the fact that keto also causes a similar euphoria to what you get from edibles. Especially if you’re doing keto under 20g of net carbs.
I was wondering about cannolis edible recipes that still taste good and are 100 percent keto!?
I have found gummies and vapes really hit me much harder. I’m a pretty big guy (6’5; 230#s) and being on keto I feel a whole 100mg gummy is too much. My typical vape drag is overwhelming as well. Keto and MJ are quite the pair.
I agree
Why are you equating keto diet with a carnivore diet? They are not at all interchangeable. It’s perfectly feasible to follow a vegetarian or vegan diet on keto.
I’ve found exactly the opposite. At higher ketone levels edibles hit me way harder. I don’t know about smoking, I don’t smoke anything at all… I just find it gross for myself (no judgement of others)
This seems to validate most of my personal experience, except one. I my spouse and I both find the keep diet makes edibles less effective. As a test, we had a “cheat weekend” paired with edibles, and the results were much stronger.
(I’m no expert, in advance) I’ve read a few places that tfw keep diet impacts the liver – the liver processes THC differently when edibles happen. Curious if there’s a link that hasn’t been researched!
I too have found that intermittent fasting (16hrs) has made edibles less effective to no effect at all. It does not affect smoking though.
I also feel that keto/IF makes edibles pointless. Even like 200mg. But smoking is find and I eat CBD jerky or caps. I assume the benefits are still there just not the euphoria.