Marijuana-Like Compound in Your Brain Could Be Magic Pill for Weight Loss: But Don't Reach for the Doritos Just Yet

By Dennis Romero Wed., Mar. 7 2012 at 8:09 AM

psycho with a heart

Oh boy. You stoners are going to love this one.

Turns out the key to weight loss might be a marijuana-like chemical that already exists in your brain. While there are skinny weed advocates out there like Seth Rogen (after) and James Franco, consider all the Taco Bell you ate in the name of bud or the fact that it is recommended by some doctors as a appetite stimulant.

Yeah. Research from right here in Southern California found that ...

... lab mice who had their natural supply of the weed-like endocannabinoid compound 2-AG squeezed off by scientists ended up skinny even though they were given a fat-heavy diet.

In other words: UCI pharmacology professor Daniele Piomelli and his colleagues found a way to starve rodents' brains of this pot-like compound, and they ended up with the Mary-Kate Olsen of mice.

According to UCI:

... These modified mice ate more and moved less than typical mice but did not gain any weight, even when they were fed a high-fat diet. Additionally, they did not develop any signs of metabolic syndrome, a combination of health problems such as obesity and high blood pressure that increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

The research is being published in the March issue of Cell Metabolism (which we get in the mail along with Road & Track, the New Yorker, and Cigar Aficionado. We kid).

The bad news? The SoCal researchers didn't come to this via a drug. They actually bred the mice to produce brains that limited production of this cannabis-like compound. You can't do that at home, they note.

Piomelli:

To produce the desired effects, we would need to create a drug that blocks 2-AG production in the brain, something we're not yet able to do.

Keep on this, UC Irvine.

Can you imagine? Smoke all you want, kick back with that bag of Doritos, and watch the pounds melt away.

Some of us really need this.

Tags:

cannabinoid, fat, marijuana, research, UC Irvine, weight loss

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slimex.de

A nice post if it works than it would be just like a magic and would ruled over the market.Many people want to reduce their weight hope it works.

weight loss plans

Seems really good research on weight loss. If this thing is able to prove all this things than I am sure this product will make any pharmaceutical company a billion dollar company.

Wesemanlisa

James Franco is not a stoner. Good research.

Angela Garcia as NeonMosfet

So, they limited, the natural, cranium weed, and the lab mice, began to LOOK like weeds. This may be true, but mice aren't the brightest lipsticks on the counter. By doing the brain drain shuffle, they could become really stupid, although thin. All we know for certain, is that they lost weight, but we can't really tell if the mice are dumber. Sounds like a losing proposition any way you look at it.

Angela Garcia as NeonMosfet

Chris

LA Weekly, don't you have this precisely backwards? The article states when the weed like chemical in the brain is removed or limited, weight loss occurs.