We’ve all had our Harold and Kumar experience, where you and your pals light up a few joints and then end up fighting off starvation as though you haven’t eaten in a week. Even after your body is full, you still want more, until you wake up the next morning feeling sorry for eating so late. We’ve all been there, and we’ll all be there again in some form or another; this desire to snack after smoking isn’t entirely your fault. We’ll look at why marijuana makes you hungry and why you get the munchies after smoking it in this section. You can buy this product in our store.
Why Do I Feel Hungry?
Cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) are the two most prevalent components in cannabis. THC is the most psychotropic component in cannabis, and it is believed to be the cause of munchies. There are two possible reasons for this, according to researchers.
The first step in administering a medicine is to find receptors in the body. “THC interacts with receptors found throughout our central nervous system, most notably the brain and parts of the brain that control hunger,” explains Rachna Patel, MD. Whether you’re hungry or not, THC activates your appetite.
Because marijuana may influence a hormone produced by your stomach known as ghrelin, you might be feeling hungry. This hormone signals the brain that your body is hungry and stimulates your appetite. According to Gary Wenk, PhD, psychology and neuroscience professor and academic research representative for Ohio’s Medical Marijuana Advisory Board, marijuana has the ability to produce ghrelin.
How Much Will I Want To Eat?
The amount of marijuana you had and how you consumed it affects how hungry you feel. When you smoke a joint, the THC level in your blood is considerably higher, resulting in increased hunger than if you ate an edible. Because edibles have to be digested, whatever food is already in your stomach will delay the absorption of THC until it reaches the brain. Inhaling can take up to 5-10 minutes to work, while eating may take up to 2 hours.
If you’re trying to curb your appetite, there is a technique—control the amount of THC you consume. Many goods at state-regulated dispensaries are laboratory-tested and labeled with the quantities of CBD and THC they contain, according to Patel. “You must figure out an appropriate quantity of THC for yourself,” she said. “You want to get a sweet spot in terms of the amount that provides you the desired effects without giving you the munchies.”
Why Does Marijuana Make You Hungry?
When looking for answers why does marijuana make you hungry, there are a variety of bodily systems that interact with cannabis and give us reasons why does marijuana make you hungry. This is due to the many cannabinoids in cannabis, which influence the brain. When our bodies are satisfied, neurons in our brains send waiting messages telling us we’re full, but when we smoke marijuana, those neurons begin to operate in reverse and promote hunger instead of stopping us from overindulging. THC tricks the brains’ primary feeding system by binding to natural cannabinoid receptors in our body known as CB1s, which are located in the brain’s olfactory bulb. This is the portion of the brain that allows us to smell things like food aromas and taste them. When we consume cannabis, our brain pays greater attention to smells and tastes, intensifying those feelings while also making things appear and smell a lot better than they really are, leading people to become ravenous when they get high.
When you smoke, you raise the amount of THC in your brain. Dopamine is also increased as a result of smoking cannabis, and inhibitions are reduced. This is why we make strange food selections when high; our inhibitions decrease, which is why we look at almost any cuisine when high and persuade ourselves to eat it. It also encourages us to overeat, which we always regret later on.
Cannabis doesn’t end there, though. It also activates the ghrelin in our brain, which signals our brain that we’re hungry and tells us to begin looking for food. The POMC neurons are another part of the brain THC interacts with to stimulate hunger. The hypothalamus is a portion of the brain that controls hunger, thirst, body temperature, sleep patterns, and circadian rhythms through interaction between the nervous system and endocrine system. The hypothalamic pro-opiomelanocortin nerve (POMC) is a type of neuron that produces satiety, which changes when cannabis is smoked and becomes involved with the sensation of hunger. Instead of triggering a hormone that makes people feel full, it begins to produce another hormone that stimulates appetite, forcing the brain to tell the body to be hungry when it doesn’t need to be.
Bottom Line
There is no one-size-fits all solution for cannabis and appetite control. Long-term cannabis use, on the other hand, may lead to a reduction in obesity rates in the general population. “We still have a ways to go to figure out best practices for optimizing cannabis usage for anorexia/cachexia and weight management,” said Dr. Bone, “but given the success thus far, it shouldn’t be a stretch to believe that there will be cannabinoid treatments for enhanced hunger and weight gain as well as those promoted to help reduce weight.”