Investigators from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston, published a paper in the current issue of the The American Journal of Medicine detailing how marijuana users had significantly lower fasting insulin and were less likely to be insulin resistant than those who did not smoke the weed. The researchers noted that this remained true even after excluding patients who had a diagnosis of diabetes…
For the current study, the BIDMC team analyzed data obtained from the National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHANES) between 2005 and 2010. Their research included data from 4,657 patients who completed a drug use questionnaire. Of these, 579 were current marijuana users, 1,975 had used it in the past, and 2,103 had never used the drug recreationally or medicinally. The team measured fasting insulin and glucose via blood samples after patients fasted for nine hours. The team also evaluated insulin resistance via homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR).
The researchers found that those who reported using marijuana in the past month had lower levels of fasting insulin and HOMA-IR and higher levels of HDL “good” cholesterol. Those who reported not using marijuana at any time in the last month had weaker associations, suggesting to the team that marijuana use on insulin and insulin resistance exists only during recent use. Current users had 16 percent lower fasting insulin levels than those who reported never using marijuana.
The team also found a link between marijuana use and waistlines. While diabetes is often associated with larger waistlines, the study group found that marijuana users most often had smaller waistlines.”