For thousands of years, people have smoked the dried flowers of the cannabis plant and noticed that it increased appetite. In the 70’s, a researcher at Stanford University identified THC as the cause of that appetite-increasing effect today known as the munchies.
Researchers in the UK later identified another cannabis constituent that had the opposite effect. THCV actually reduced appetite.
It wasn’t until the 90’s, with the discovery of the endocannabinoid system, that researchers started to understand how these two molecules have this opposite impact on appetite. The first endocannabinoid receptor (CB1) was discovered 30 years ago by researchers at the National Institute of Health. Since then, CB1 has been found in every part of our energy regulation system: in the parts of the brain that regulate food drive, the sensing of food smells, memories of feeding time, and food reward; even deep within cells, on the surface of mitochondria.
Compared to our endocannabinoids, THC is a much stronger CB1 activator. That’s how it causes the munchies – by increasing our hormones’ control over what we’re thinking and how we’re acting. THCV also acts using the CB1 receptor. But instead of activating CB1, it blocks it. Thereby reducing the influence of hunger hormones on our thoughts and actions.
Our product, Citravarin, contains the same THCV found in cannabis, but instead of being isolated from the cannabis plant, is made from citrus peel extracts. This process means that Citravarin is 100% cannabis-free and doesn’t get you “high.”
We make Citravarin available to the members of our metabolic fitness program to support their ability to sustain their fasting goals, and those fasts help them achieve their metabolic fitness goals.