Even after your body is full, you still want more. You’ll only end up feeling sorry for eating so late if you haven’t had anything to eat in a while. We’ve all been there and will again in some manner; this desire to snack after smoking isn’t entirely your fault. In this part, we’ll examine why marijuana makes you hungry and why you get the munchies afterward. Looking to try something new? Check out this.
Why Do I Feel Hungry?
Cannabis contains two major compounds: cannabidiol (CBD) and tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). THC is the most psychotropic component in cannabis, and it’s thought to be responsible for the munchies. According to experts, there are two possible explanations for this.
Finding receptors in the body is the first stage in administering a medication. “THC interacts with receptors located throughout our central nervous system, notably the brain and areas of the brain that control hunger,” Rachna Patel, MD adds. THC activates your appetite whether you’re hungry or not.
According to Dr. Gary Wenk, a psychology and neuroscience professor at Ohio’s University of Akron and academic research representative for the state’s Medical Marijuana Advisory Board, marijuana has the ability to produce ghrelin. You might be feeling hungry due to marijuana’s impact on a hormone produced by your stomach known as ghrelin. This hormone instructs the brain that you are hungry and stimulates your appetite. According to Dr. Gary Wenk, PhD, a psychology and neuroscience professor at The University of Akron and academic research representative for the state of Ohio’s Medical Marijuana Advisory Board, cannabis has the potential to create ghrelin.
How Much Will I Want To Eat?
The amount of marijuana you consumed, as well as how you smoked it, has an influence on your hunger. When you smoke a joint, the THC level in your blood rises significantly, triggering increased hunger than if you ate an edible. Because edibles have to be digested before they can be absorbed into the system, whatever food is already in your stomach will delay the absorption of THC until it reaches the brain. Inhaling takes 5-10 minutes to take effect; eating takes up to 2 hours.
There’s a method to control how much THC you consume if you’re trying to reduce your appetite. The quantities of CBD and THC in various items sold at state-licensed dispensaries are laboratory-tested and labeled, according to Patel. “You must determine an appropriate quantity of THC for yourself,” she added. “You want to find the balance between the amount that delivers you the desired results without giving you the munchies.”
Why Does Marijuana Make You Hungry?
When it comes to why does marijuana make you hungry, there are a number of bodily systems that interact with cannabis and offer reasons for this. This is due to the many cannabinoids in cannabis, which influence the brain. When our bodies are full, 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 encourage hunger rather than preventing overindulging. THC binds to natural cannabinoid receptors in our brain known as CB1s, which are found in the olfactory bulb. This is the portion of the brain that allows us to smell smells like food aromas and taste them. When we eat cannabis, our brains pay more attention to odors and tastes, increasing those emotions while also making things appear and smell a lot better than they actually are, leading people to become ravenous when they get high.
When you smoke marijuana, the amount of THC in your brain rises. Dopamine is also boosted as a result of cannabis use, and inhibitions are reduced. This is why we make odd meal decisions when high; our inhibitions lessen, which is why we look at almost every cuisine when high and persuade ourselves to eat it. It also encourages us to overeat, which we always regret later on.
Cannabis also activates the ghrelin in our brain, which signals our brain that we’re hungry and tells us to start looking for food. The POMC neurons are another area of the brain that THC affects to stimulate hunger. The hypothalamus is a portion of the brain that regulates hunger, thirst, body temperature, sleep cycles, and circadian rhythms via communication between the nervous system and endocrine system. The hypothalamic pro-opiomelanocortin nerve (POMC) is a neuropeptide that induces satiety when cannabis is smoked and subsequently interacts with the sensation of hunger. Instead of triggering a hormone that makes people feel full, it begins to generate 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 such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution for cannabis and weight loss. Long-term cannabis use, on the other hand, may reduce obesity rates in the general population. “We still have a long way to go to figure out best practices for optimizing cannabis use for anorexia/cachexia and weight management,” said Dr. Bone, “but given how well things have gone so far, it shouldn’t be difficult to believe that there will be cannabinoid treatments for enhanced hunger and weight gain as well as those promoted to help you lose weight.”
