Getting Stoned Gives You The Munchies – Here’s how

You know that ferocious hunger that hits you soon after you’re done with the first joint. And that no amount of pies, Macs and cheese or perhaps chips and chicken wings are adequate to quench it! Well you now need to try something new.

Marijuana – yes, the famous and controversial herb supposedly has many effects on the body, including making you relax with a euphoric sensation. Among its most interesting facts is the ability to make you feel hungry and develop a sudden, almost uncontrollable urge to snack.

Stoners don’t require any scientific expertise to debunk how getting stoned and munchies go hand-in-hand. They probably don’t give a fuck; after all, getting high is the essential thing in their minds at that particular moment.

But wait a minute, what exactly causes such a robust and insatiable hunger that may force a person to drown an entire King-sized Pizza or a whole peanut butter jar in a single sitting?

Over to You, Neuroscientists!

In a bid to understand this, let’s turn our attention to neuroscientists and their damning studies on this. One such study, published in Nature, the munchies are triggered by neurons which bizarrely do work to suppress the appetite. And so, a person feels high and hungry at the same time.

According to Yale’s Tamas Horvath, “It is a lot like pressing an automobile’s brakes while accelerating.” The neurons responsible for stopping eating become activated, and the brain is made to believe that you are hungry, even when you’re already full. And once the mind is duped by these smart neurons, you feel starving that you can tear down a plate of chicken.

Ever Heard Of Something Called Tetrahydrocannabinol Or THC?

It is the active ingredient in cannabis and indeed the substance responsible for that hard-hitting stony feel. After you’ve puffed out a couple of fumes and THC is well and truly in your bloodstream, it merely heads to the brain. And since it resembles anandamide, a natural transmitter, THC quickly turns off the cells responsible for updating POMC neurons that you are full.

With the brain duped and the neurons instructed to send more “Huston we have a problem” signals, what do you expect? Lots of hunger, right?

Well, yes!

But it’s rather odd why this particular feeling doesn’t make the brain crave for healthy options like kale salads. Ryan Vandrey, a behavioural pharmacologist at Johns Hopkins, says the body automatically starts to process where tasty, impact food that will offer a quick energy boost is found.

And so, the Yo-Yo effect starts

As you continue puffing and feeling high, the ganja messes with your brain’s functioning, something that then creates a massive hole of hunger that’s almost impossible to fill. And there you go, back and forth for as long as your joint will last.