UNITED STATES (VOP TODAY NEWS) – In countries where marijuana is legalized, tourists are ready to offer a variety of products with it – from classic muffins to mayonnaise and drinks.
But if you are going to try coffee with cannabis, then you may be useful to know that in this case a relaxing trick is unlikely to work. Why? Scientists have found that coffee suppresses the effects of marijuana, including medical.
According to a study published in the Journal of Internal Medicine, caffeine provokes a decrease in the body’s level of certain substances necessary for an adequate response to cannabis. It is noted that the levels of these substances – metabolites found in the endocannabinoid system (ECS) – decrease in people who drink four to eight cups of coffee a day.
Recall that endocannabinoids are molecules that bind to cannabinoid receptors located throughout the nervous system, as well as in the immune and endocrine tissues. Our body produces its own endocannabinoids, which, however, does not prevent it from responding to others (for example, those contained in the leaves of marijuana).
“Coffee suppresses endocannabinoid chemicals that increase the effect of smoking marijuana,” says Live Science Marilyn Cornelis, lead author of the study and a fellow at the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. “This, in turn, may indicate that coffee causes in the body the opposite of marijuana action.”
The study found that coffee changed 115 different metabolites in the blood: 33 metabolites do not even have names or known roles in the body, while the remaining 82 metabolites play roles in 33 different biological processes. Selecting the five processes in which the maximum amount of metabolites participates, scientists saw that coffee affects things that have not been associated with it up to now.
“We were surprised to find that the systems affected by coffee and cannabis overlap each other,” Cornelis said. “It could mean that drinking coffee with marijuana can create interactive effects, although the nature of these interactions is not yet clear.”
The expert adds that all the same endocannabinoids that decrease with coffee consumption decrease when the body is in a state of stressful overload . So, perhaps, the amount of coffee that we drink causes additional stress, provoking a decrease in the level of endocannabinoids as a kind of protective measure.
Marilyn Cornelis and her team also found that coffee consumption increases the concentration of steroid metabolites in the blood (as an option, because coffee contains plant steroids called phytosterols).
What this means for a person is still a mystery. “Some steroid processes have links to some cancers, but the relationship between coffee and cancer is unclear, so our data, we hope, will help to understand whether coffee consumption affects the likelihood of its development,” adds Cornelis.
The fact that the survey raised more questions than the answers gave is not so surprising. Coffee is one of those drinks that have almost equal numbers of supporters and opponents in the scientific community. And this means that we are waiting for many more discoveries made in relation to a cup of “strong and fragrant.”