Marijuana and Gut Health – The Fresh Toast

There's a lot of buzz in the wellness community right now, but gut health isn't just a trendy topic, it's an important aspect of health. “It impacts everything from obesity to cancer rates,” says Dr. Aditya Sreenivasan, a gastroenterologist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York.

Cannabis has proven medical benefits for a variety of things, including treating cancer, nausea, inflammation, and more, but what about marijuana and gut health?

RELATED: Treating Multiple Sclerosis With Marijuana

Gut health refers to the well-being of the digestive system, which is responsible for breaking down food, absorbing nutrients, and eliminating waste from the body. It is home to trillions of microorganisms, including bacteria, viruses and fungi, collectively called the gut microbiome.

Illustration by MEHAU KULYK/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/Getty Images

The short answer is: There is not enough research to determine whether marijuana has gut health benefits.

A review of 20 studies published in the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology in 2021 concluded that while the use of cannabinoids in people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) did not produce effective remission, it was associated with patient-reported improvement in symptoms, including a decrease, associated was abdominal pain, diarrhea and nausea.

For your gut health, it's important not to overdo anything like cannabis or alcohol. The main ways to prevent it include:

• Eat a diet rich in fiber
• Eat a variety of foods
• Limit highly processed foods
• Drinking water.

These four things can have a big impact on how your body (and your stomach) functions. The importance of our digestive system to overall health is a topic of increasing research in the medical community. Research shows that the gut microbiome influences multiple organs in our body.

RELATED: 8 Ways to Enjoy Marijuana Without Smoking It

There is not enough research on marijuana and the gut, and there are several hurdles in studying the effects of cannabis on the gut. Cannabis, for example, can come in so many different formulations and strains. When patients consume cannabis, one patient may be consuming a different strain than the patient next door.