FITNESS +
Cannabis
PREVENTING CANCER
WITH CANNABIS, FITNESS, & FOOD BY ANTONIO DEROSE
Cannabis gets a lot of attention for its use in treating the symptoms of cancer, and the side effects associated with the chemotherapy treatments many cancer patients undergo, and for good reason. So much so, The American Cancer Society officially “supports the need for more scientific research on cannabinoids for cancer patients, and recognizes the need for better and more effective therapies that can overcome the often debilitating side effects of cancer and its treatment.”1 Although they don’t have an official recommendation of cannabis for cancer treatment, they do note that Marinol, one of the very few pharmaceuticals containing THC which has been approved by the FDA in treating nausea and vomiting caused by cancer chemotherapy, has been shown to be helpful in easing those symptoms based on numerous studies.
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However, instead of focusing on treating the symptoms of cancer and other diseases, it would benefit us greatly if we focused on preventing these conditions in the first place. Preventing cancer can be encouraged through the consumption of cannabis, certain foods, and physical activity. There are scientists researching cannabis as being a cancer-preventative medicine. In 2018, a review of ongoing clinical trials evaluating the safety and efficacy of cannabinoids in treating cancer was published in Cancer Medicine, a peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary journal publishing research from global biomedical researchers across the cancer sciences, in the areas of cancer biology, clinical cancer research, cancer prevention, and more. Although the review ultimately concluded more research needed to be conducted to determine how useful
cannabinoids can be in treating cancer, it also states, “Many in vitro and in vivo experiments have shown that cannabinoids inhibit proliferation of cancer cells, stimulate autophagy and apoptosis, and have also a potential to inhibit angiogenesis and metastasis.”1 This at least suggests cannabis is helpful in the prevention of cancer. However, those studies were conducted on exogenous cannabinoids, meaning the ones our body obtains from outside sources like THC and CBD found in cannabis. Our body also produces natural cannabinoids on its own, known as endogenous cannabinoids. When we exercise, it stimulates your endocannabinoid system by naturally producing the endogenous cannabinoid, anandamide, which has been found to cause the euphoric sensation after exercising, often referred to as a runner’s
