Journal of Diabetes banner “Obese individuals are more likely to show insulin resistance (IR). However, limited population studies on marijuana use with markers of IR yield mixed results.

METHODS:

We abstracted data from the 2009-2016 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). We estimated the minimal lifetime marijuana use using the duration of regular exposure and the frequency of use. We used generalized linear models to determine the association of marijuana use with both fasting insulin and homeostasis model assessment of insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) in lean, overweight and obese individuals, separately. We used interview weight years of data to account for the unequal probability of sampling and non-response.

RESULTS:

Of the total of 129,509 adults aged 18 to 59 years, 50.3% were women. In current obese consumers, the mean insulin in those with < 4 uses/months was 52% (95% CI: 19% to 71%) lower than in never users. Former obese consumers with ≥ 8 uses/month and who stopped marijuana use < 12 months showed 47% (95% CI: 18% to 66%) lower insulin. Those with last use of 12-119 months and ≥ 120 months had 36% (95% CI: 7% to 57%) and 36% (95% CI: 10% to 54%) lower insulin, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS:

Marijuana use is associated with lower fasting insulin and HOMA-IR in obese but not in non-obese adults, even at low frequency of < 4 uses per month. Former consumers with high lifetime use had a significant lower insulin levels which persists, independent of the duration of time since last use.”

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31152633

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1753-0407.12958