Jun 01, 2015 10:01 PM EDT By Staff Reporter, UniversityHerald Reporter

Hunter-gatherers who smoke a lot of cannabis are less likely to be infected by intestinal worms, according to a recent study.

Researchers at Washington State University explored cannabis use among the Aka foragers to see if people away from the cultural and media influences of Western civilization might use plant toxins medicinally. Their findings suggest that the foragers may unconsciously be, in effect, smoking medical marijuana.

"In the same way we have a taste for salt, we might have a taste for psychoactive plant toxins, because these things kill parasites," researcher Ed Hagen said in a statement.

For the study, Hagen and his colleagues surveyed almost all of the nearly 400 adult Aka along the Lobaye River in the Central African Republic.

They found roughly 70 percent of the men and 6 percent of the women used cannabis. The polling was supported by bioassays of the men that found high enough levels of THCA, a metabolic byproduct of cannabis's active ingredient, to indicate that 68 percent of them had recently smoked.

They then collected stool samples to gauge for intestinal worms which conveyed that 95 percent of them were infected with helminths. But those who consumed cannabis had a significantly lower rate of infection.

Hagen said that while the "Aka deliberately consume a tea of a local plant, motunga, to fight parasitic infections, they do not think of cannabis or tobacco as medicine. This suggests they are unconsciously using cannabis to ward off parasites."

The findings are detailed in the American Journal of Human Biology.

See Now: Covert Team Inside Newsweek Revealed as Key Players in False Human Trafficking Lawsuit