It’s estimated that 6% of the population suffers from a gluten sensitivity, but you don’t need any kind of diagnosis to know if eating gluten makes you feel the worst. Suffering could look like – severe stomach pain, bloating, migraines, and a range of other discomforts that all add up up to a lot of general confusion and fear around food. Brutal. This is a hot topic as more and more gluten-free options crop up on mainstream store shelves.

Regardless of product options, living a ‘normal life’ with a severe food sensitivity is tough. There’s no medication to treat celiac disease or non-celiac gluten sensitivity, aside from a strict gluten-free diet – and if you’re undiagnosed but know something’s not right, you’re likely left waffling around seeking answers, maybe trying cleanse after cleanse, seeking expert after expert to find solutions. There’s a better way. It starts with your stash.

A 2013 study out of Italy found that cannabis could play a key role in easing the symptoms of celiac disease. It was discovered that people with active celiac disease have more cannabinoid receptors in the gut (which play a role in controlling inflammation in the body) than those who had the disease and were treating it with a gluten-free diet. Hence, the therapeutic potential here. Scientific research is limited, but anecdotal reports support these findings.

One account via Reset.me actually described the effects of cannabis as a celiac cure: “After only 6 months of using cannabis, my disease was essentially non-existent… I was hoping for just a relief from my persistent symptoms. In addition to my endoscopy results, my anemia, protein deficiency, calcium deficiency, and iron deficiency had all vanished. Essentially, I was cured.”

So, cannabis, being the anti-inflammatory and anticonvulsant it is, has helped people in a major way with many other autoimmune diseases like IBS, lupus, epilepsy, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, so it’s not surprising that pot use could also transform the life of someone with gluten problems, the symptoms of which may be similar in some cases to some of these.

Even if you don’t have allergies, you’ve probably noticed that pot settles your stomach, and can stimulate appetite, right? Pot slows down muscle contractions that move food through the stomach and intestines – particularly indica strains. If you suffer from gluten intolerance consider whipping up a batch of cannabutter or infused coconut oil to drizzle a pre-meal app with.

Take it from Ashlae Warner, a Denver-based food blogger and founder of an edibles company (with gluten-free options), who discovered that ingesting pot before gluten made her symptoms negligible: “I can eat gluten without all the adverse side effects if I consume a little marijuana 20 to 30 minutes before chowing down.” If you’re an edibles fan, consider this your invitation to get experimental in the kitchen.

Whether it lightens up the effects of your symptoms, or ‘cures’ you entirely, it’s worth a shot. Take into account timing of your dose, what foods you’re consuming, and keep track of your results. Take your gluten sensitivity into your own hands and help pot help you.