There has been continued debate regarding marijuana’s effect on testosterone and cortisol levels. I am by no means a marijuana aficionado, but a close friend of mine (and a contributor here at AM) insists that its appetite stimulating effects outweigh any decreased hormonal effects when trying to gain muscle. He refers to weed as “smoke and grow.” This has been a continuing debate between the two of us. It got me thinking, so I figured I would do some research. I ran a search on pubmed under the keywords “marijuana” and “testosterone.” I will attach the relevant studies. I was surprised at the results.
From Study One:
“Chronic marijuana use showed no significant effect on hormone concentrations in either men or women”
From Study Two:
“Plasma LH was significantly depressed and cortisol was significantly elevated after smoking marijuana. Nonsignificant depressions of prolactin, FSH, testosterone and free testosterone and elevation of GH also occurred…. all the hormone effects were within normal basal ranges”
From Study Three:
“A reanalysis of existing data established that testosterone levels are depressed both after smoking one marijuana cigarette and after intravenous infusion of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol…”
From Study Four:
“No significant relationships were found between antecedent or concurrent marihuana smoking and integrated plasma testosterone and luteinizing hormone levels”
From Study Five:
“All values were within the range of normal …. These data suggest that the casual marijuana smoker may have plasma testosterone levels which are normal for the time of day and the laboratory”
The only study I could find that definitively stated that marijuana lowered test levels (Study Three) gives no details as to how much, how the data was collected, etc. It looks like marijuana may indeed increase cortisol, but it is very debatable from the research as to whether or not it decreases testosterone. So, given its appetite stimulating effects, is marijuana all that anti-anabolic?
From Study One:
“Chronic marijuana use showed no significant effect on hormone concentrations in either men or women”
From Study Two:
“Plasma LH was significantly depressed and cortisol was significantly elevated after smoking marijuana. Nonsignificant depressions of prolactin, FSH, testosterone and free testosterone and elevation of GH also occurred…. all the hormone effects were within normal basal ranges”
From Study Three:
“A reanalysis of existing data established that testosterone levels are depressed both after smoking one marijuana cigarette and after intravenous infusion of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol…”
From Study Four:
“No significant relationships were found between antecedent or concurrent marihuana smoking and integrated plasma testosterone and luteinizing hormone levels”
From Study Five:
“All values were within the range of normal …. These data suggest that the casual marijuana smoker may have plasma testosterone levels which are normal for the time of day and the laboratory”
The only study I could find that definitively stated that marijuana lowered test levels (Study Three) gives no details as to how much, how the data was collected, etc. It looks like marijuana may indeed increase cortisol, but it is very debatable from the research as to whether or not it decreases testosterone. So, given its appetite stimulating effects, is marijuana all that anti-anabolic?