Can You Use Cannabis aka Marijuana on a Carnivore Diet? Why & Why Not?

Can you eat/smoke/ingest marijuana on a carnivore diet? Actually first, what’s the carnivore diet? It’s basically a lifestyle and diet in which you consume only animal products.

If you want to rely on technicalities then the answer is “no” as cannabis aka marijuana is from the plant kingdom.

However this is definitely not an easy “yes” and “no” answer so we are going to dive in and try to provide some interesting findings on the matter so that you can make your own decision and/or at least point you in a direction for more knowledge.

Obviously if your doctor prescribed you cannabis for medical reasons then it’s probably a good idea to keep doing what you’re doing. This article is in no way medical advice. If you have medical and diet questions then ask your doctor. This is pure entertainment. Enjoy!

Also I assume you know what cannabis is. If not here is the cannabis Wikipedia definition to help you out.

If you are reading this article and learning about the carnivore diet then a healthy lifestyle is on your radar. All in all we just want to expose you to some ideas that float around both Cannabis and the Carnivore Diet.

Carnivore Diet Doctor Perspectives

Dr. Paul Saladino, carnivore diet proponent, wrote a very informative book called “The Carnivore Code” and in it, he gives his two cents on marijuana and it’s relation to the carnivore diet and health.

Off the top he’s not a fan of anything from the plant kingdom from a food point of view. (He clearly believes plants are suitable for medicine like everyone else in the world but as food not so much.)

Why would he be skeptical of consuming marijuana?

First off marijuana has polyphenols. Polyphenols are organic compounds found in plants that are used for pigment and defense against fungi, animals, and insects.

Polyphenols don’t mix well with humans and are most likely not our friends. In fact they could be very toxic and detrimental to your health.

Dr. Saladino mentions that these polyphenols can potentially damage your DNA and decrease testosterone and other androgens.

Check out this study:

1. Low doses of widely consumed cannabinoids (cannabidiol and cannabidivarin) cause DNA damage and chromosomal aberrations in human-derived cells.

Basically it shows that cannabis in recreational doses can have negative effects in human-derived cells.

Now what about those studies that say polyphenols are good for us? Those studies are based on epidemiology! Epidemiology is based on food surveys that have what’s called a healthy user bias and not from intervention.

Check out Dr. Georgia Ede destroy epidemiology in the post titled, “The Problem with Epidemiology.” Mic drop!

Side note: after reading Dr. Shawn Bakes book, “The Carnivore Diet”, and absorbing his take on plant food, in general, I wrote 2 articles on potential plant toxicity:

• 5 Ways Green Smoothies Are Killing You
• 10 Chemicals in Plant food Slowly Killing You

Dr. Saladino leaves some lasting thoughts on marijuana by saying, “I believe marijuana and its related compounds may have utility for some medical applications, but I don’t think they are a beneficial addition to the lifestyle of healthy individuals.”

He further goes on by saying, “If marijuana is helpful for our anxiety or sleep, it may serve a temporary adjudicative role, but we should look diligently for the causes of these issues as well.”

CBD, THC and Inflammation

I stumbled upon a nicely written article by Dr. Adie Rae on Weedmaps titled, “CBD Oil for Inflammation.” I’ve summed up some useful info from that article pertaining to inflammation.

Inflammation comes in two forms, acute and chronic.

Acute is like when you get a cut or sprain your ankle or get sick. Your body sends cells to the affected area and swelling/redness occurs.

Chronic inflammation, as explained by Dr. Adie Rae, ” (is) a prolonged inflammatory response in the body. When inflammation lingers, it can detrimentally impact tissues and organs due to the increased production of free radicals, which results in oxidative stress, an imbalance between antioxidants and free radicals.”

According to Dr. Rae these are a few diseases associated with/and or caused by chronic inflammation:

• Autoimmune Disease
• Untreated Infections
• Asthma
• Cancer
• Diabetes
• IBS

Does CBD help alleviate inflammation? Dr. Rae says CBD shows some promise and says, “CBD shows potential as a plant-derived anti-inflammatory without the side effects of medications.”

Got any medical studies to back up the claim that CBD helps with inflammation? Here are 4 which try to do that.

1. Cannabidiol (CBD) and its analogs: A review of their effects on inflammation
2. Experimental cannabidiol treatment reduces early pancreatic inflammation in type 1 diabetes.
3. Attenuation of early phase inflammation by cannabidiol prevents pain and nerve damage in rat osteoarthritis.
4. Antiseizure properties of cannabidiol (CBD) are attenuated in the absence of transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) receptors (S53.004)

Dr. Jeremy Riggle, Ph.D. a chief scientist for a CBD producers says, “Overall, the research literature indicates that cannabinoids, including CBD, could potentially be very effective anti-inflammatory agents for nervous tissue inflammation, inflammatory bowel disease, arthritis, vascular inflammation and certain types of cancers that are triggered by chronic inflammation,”

However he says there is a long way to go before scientists are fully able to understand how this whole CBD thing works with the body. It seems overall that more human studies need to be done.

Pharmacist and CBD product seller Stacie Woodcock has a few things to say about CBD. She believes correct dosing is important and that it may take time for positive results.

She also believes that combining both THC and CBD may provide better effectiveness. She speculates that THC and CBD will work faster due to THC’s direct effects on the receptors which control inflammation on the body.

Stacie also points out that this may be a safer alternative when compared to ibuprofen or other anti-inflammatory medications that have been known to wreak havoc on our bodies’ insides, like ulcers and blood thinning.

Concluding her article, Dr. Rae emphasizes that more research on humans and the effects CBD and THC needs to be done.

Also worth pointing out. The USDA has recognized cannabis as a treatment for epilepsy. There is a cannabis-derived medication called Epidiolex which is used to treat epilepsy in children.

Here’s the article:

USDA Approves Drug Made from Marijuana for Treating Epilepsy

Does The Carnivore Diet Help Inflammation?

Here are a few things to consider. The carnivore diet doctors and proponents are all pretty much in agreement that by going on a carnivore diet you may be able to alleviate or lessen chronic inflammation problems and diseases associated with it.

There is an enormous amount of anecdotal evidence on MEATRX which helps document testimonials from people struggling with chronic inflammation/diseases and how the carnivore diet has helped.

Check it out MEATRX Animal Based Nutrition.

Here is the link dedicated to “inflammation.”

So here are a few interesting questions:

• Is it safe to assume plant foods and anything within the plant kingdom we consume are capable of depleting our health by way of inflammation?

• If the carnivore diet is able to help fix chronic inflammation or anything the CBD/THC is supposed to fix then why would you need the CBD/THC?

• Could the carnivore diet be used as treatment as opposed to CBD/THC for inflammation?

Obviously more studies and clinical trials need to be done in order to help answer these questions.

Can you consume CBD/THC while on the carnivore diet?

You can do whatever you want. If you want to be a strict carnivore and go by the advice of Dr. Saladino then perhaps cutting it out of your routine of CBD/THC is a good idea. Perhaps a non-polyphenol diet will improve your health.

(If you are under the supervision and guidance of a doctor then do what your doctor says.)

If you find relief from CBD/THC then keep it in your rotation. The cool thing about carnivore is that there isn’t a carnivore diet police. From what I have found the community is open to new ideas and the common theme is to live a life full of good health. improvement and optimism.

If you are curious about this community then check out the Facebook group “World Carnivore Tribe”. It’s a great group of people from around the world and many are eager to share their stories and answer questions.

Disclaimer: I’m not a doctor. Consult with and ask your doctor about any diet or medical-related questions. No information on this site should be used to diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any disease or condition.

Resources

Low doses of widely consumed cannabinoids (cannabidiol and cannabidivarin) cause DNA damage and chromosomal aberrations in human-derived cells.

The Problem with Epidemiology

CBD Oil for Inflammation
Cannabidiol (CBD) and its analogs: A review of their effects on inflammation

Experimental cannabidiol treatment reduces early pancreatic inflammation in type 1 diabetes.

Attenuation of early phase inflammation by cannabidiol prevents pain and nerve damage in rat osteoarthritis.
Antiseizure properties of cannabidiol (CBD) are attenuated in the absence of transient receptor potential vanilloid 1 (TRPV1) receptors (S53.004)

USDA Approves Drug Made from Marijuana for Treating Epilepsy

The Carnivore Code by Dr. Paul Saladino

The Carnivore Diet by Dr. Shawn Baker