Why Does Medical Marijuana Affect Munchies

Why Does Medical Marijuana Affect Munchies
 

‘Kumar and Harold Get the Munchies’ is common among most stoners. You may have a lot of enjoyment if you’re a stoner but haven’t seen this movie. The theme of this movie revolves around two dynamic duos who consume marijuana to kill off stress. Instead of destressing, the duo gets a bad case or craving for munchies. The storyline continues as they set the sight and make their way to the White Castle. However, after arriving at the location, they find numerous strange events. These events include bumping into Patrick Harris, high on cocaine.

White castle slider is a common brand or type of marijuana. If you’ve consumed the ‘slider,’ you can easily relate to how the movie found its name. The whole storyline drives us to the major question; why do you get so hungry or experience an increased appetite after smoking marijuana? Many individuals have raided their food stores and fridges after several sessions of consuming marijuana. Experts reveal that the response to this question lies in the body’s science and biology. Read through this post to get an insight into why you tend to raid your fridges or food stores after an epic marijuana session.

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What Triggers Hunger?

Hunger is common in every normal and healthy individual after a particular duration without food. However, scientists and researchers are yet to fully understand the different mechanisms the body uses to regulate and trigger the sense of hunger. Remember, the body has an involuntary mechanism regulating and triggering the feeling of eating. Nevertheless, various studies show that hunger comes as a two-way process. Thus the process changes or the urge to eat changes after the body system senses a decrease or increase in energy stores.

When your body system senses a deficit in the energy stores, your GI tract will release a special hormone, ghrelin. Ghrelin stimulates the hypothalamus in the brain to increase the sensation of hunger or urge to eat. This hormone will also impact your brain’s ventral tegmental area. It’s a vital part of the brain that helps to release a special neurotransmitter that enhances a feel-good experience (dopamine).

Remember, the body will also react to excess food in energy stores. In excess foods, the fat cells in the body system will release leptin. Leptin is a vital hormone in relation to hunger, as it stimulates the brain’s hypothalamus. The hormone helps to prevent or inhibit hunger during this time. Furthermore, it inhibits the secretion or release of dopamine and VTA. Studies also reveal that this hormone will also help to counteract anandamide effects. Anandamide is a vital bliss molecule that binds receptors similar to THC.

THC is one of the popular cannabinoids in marijuana. Studies reveal that THC is responsible for making you feel ‘high’ and the other effects. Thus, the less leptin your body produces or releases, the more the urge to eat. The above explanation provides a straightforward response to why you get munchies after consuming marijuana. THC stimulates the body to realize more leptin, which increases hunger sending you to the fridges or food stores.

Let's look at why medical marijuana affects munchies:

The body responds to the thought of starving

THC is a very special cannabinoid in Cannabis Sativa. This cannabinoid is responsible for initiating those numerous insane hunger pangs. In 2014, researchers conducted a study to check information on the effects of weed or marijuana on appetite and the human brain. The finding showed that after consuming marijuana, THC would target your brain’s olfactory bulbs. Targeting the brain's olfactory bulbs heightens the sense of smell and taste. Besides heightening your tasting and smelling senses, targeting the olfactory bulbs also enhance your appetite, increasing the urge to live.

Afterward, there have been numerous studies to check the relationship between marijuana and hunger. For instance, in 2015, researchers at the Yale Institute of Medicine conducted a comprehensive study to look at the effect of marijuana on mites’ appetite. The research team found amazing results, which they related to human beings.

THC worked by tricking the mite's hypothalamus. Instead of producing the hormone or chemical indicating that you’re full, the tricks make the neurons trick the hypothalamus that you’re hungry. Ultimately, consuming marijuana increases your urge to eat as THC in the marijuana products tricks the brain’s hypothalamus into thinking you desperately need food due to hunger. Remember, THC will affect this trick regardless of whether you’re full or you’re feeling hungry.

When conducting the study in mice, Tamas Horvath got involved in the study. This researcher used a basic but powerful analogy to sink to the point while discussing the results. Tamas related the concept to pressing the brakes on your car and accelerating instead. The researchers were amazed at their findings after completing the study. After taking marijuana, the neurons that are usually responsible for showing that you’re full or to show the end of eating became activated and signalled the mites were hungry. Despite the mice being full, these neurons send signals to the brain, promoting more hunger.

Enhance the sense of smell

Your sense of smell is a key biological sensation relating to munchies. Studies link the increased sense of smell to a higher urge for hunger. Remember, when you’re high, you tend to have increasing smelling ability, which translates to better food taste.

Studies show a huge relationship between an increase in smell and increased hunger. As you chew your food, the process forces food through the nasal passages or airways. Furthermore, this process carries more food scents and enables you to grasp various complex food flavors. Due to the body's belief that you’re starving and require food, the body will begin looking for appropriate food that’s rich in calories. These calories help to enhance and burst your energy levels. This concept partially explains why Kumar and Harold found themselves at the White Castle in the movie.

Studies also link the THC’s action on CB1 receptors to hunger. THC in cannabis increases the urge to eat by acting on the body’s CB1 receptors. As THC acts on the receptors, it forms an attachment. The attachment enhances sucrose taste, with little to zero effect on salty or bitter foods. The increased taste of sucrose explains why after consuming marijuana, you’ll be opting for junk foods rather than processed or natural meals. Junk foods contain additives and more sugar, making them tastier and more attractive to the body. Remember, the action of the CB1 receptor is vital in producing dopamine from a particular part of the brain.

What Reasons Makes You Consider Marijuana as an Appetite Stimulant?

Many individuals have been viewing marijuana as an appetite stimulant due to the increased urge to after consuming a few joints. By 2015 many individuals were using marijuana to enhance their appetite, increasing the chances of seeing marijuana as a stimulant. With its effect on alleviating your appetite, many states include medical complications like wasting syndrome and anorexia as conditions that can qualify you for medical cannabis.

Researchers carried out numerous studies to determine if marijuana can be useful in enhancing appetite, especially in individuals with pre-existing conditions. For instance, researchers carried out a study in 2011 to determine the effect of marijuana on appetite among cancer patients. The findings provide promising results supporting the use of marijuana in alleviating your appetite.

During the study, the researchers provided the participants with THC-infused pills daily for eighteen days. After the study period, the results were encouraging; 73% of the participants recorded an increased appetite for food. Importantly approximately 63% of patients revealed a spike in their appetite level. One of the study authors revealed that medical marijuana would be vital for cancer patients. Elevating their hunger and making them enjoy meals was a significant step in improving their quality of life. Besides improving their quality of life, using medical marijuana in cancer patients allows for dealing with the various side effects resulting from cancer treatment, like chemotherapy.

Wasting syndrome is a common symptom among most patients in the advanced stages of cancer. The stage results due decreased appetite and adverse effects of the chemotherapy treatments. During this stage, many individuals or patients usually lose lots of weight. Besides severe lack of appetite being the major cause of wasting syndrome, the patient loses weight due to burning more body fats and calories. In a certain study, the research team provided 11 patients with a THC-infused pill while ten patients with a marijuana placebo. These participants were to consume 2.5 mg of the pills 2-3 times daily for 18 days.

Not Everyone Gets the Urge to Eat

After consuming marijuana, there is no guarantee that it’ll result in a spike in appetite. Studies show that if you’ve got few endocannabinoids or cannabinoid receptors in the olfactory region, you’ll be less likely to have a spike in your appetite.

Remember, it’s also not true that using cannabis results in weight gain. However, some studies reveal that consuming medical marijuana can lead to weight gain. For instance, the Antony and Alshaarawy study in the ‘International Journal of Epidemiology’ in 2019 shows the three-year prospective study showed that individuals taking marijuana were likely to add more weight.

This study found a unique inverse marijuana-BMI association after the study, where regular cannabis users had no risk of having obesity, unlike the non-users. Additional research indicates that cannabis users usually record lower body fats despite eating more calories.

So, does the relationship between marijuana and appetite allow you to smoke and eat whatever food you like? No, it’ll be wise to healthy stock snacks if you know that's smoking marijuana will predispose you to search for munchies. Experts advise that you consider cannabis rich in THC and CBD.

With the importance of marijuana in alleviating appetite in cancer or wasting syndrome patients, it’ll be vital to get a medical marijuana card to allow legal possession and purchase of the products. Let’s at what the medical marijuana card is and its benefits:

What is an MMJ Card?

It’s an essential identification card allowing qualified patients to buy or possess medical marijuana legally. Patients can use these products to treat physical or mental illnesses. Besides allowing you to purchase and possess medical cannabis, you can also include your caregiver. Different states have varying processes and qualifying conditions you must consider before applying.

Benefits of an MMJ Card

Besides allowing you to purchase and possess medical marijuana legally, MMJ cards come with a wide range of benefits. These benefits include:

Higher possession limits

Despite the legalization of recreational and medical marijuana in most states, you must only possess up to one ounce of marijuana. However, the MMJ card allows you to increase the limit by up to eight ounces.

It offers a cost-effective alternative

In most states having the MMJ card allows you to purchase these products at a lower price. State authorities waive all the taxes on medical marijuana products, making it a cost-effective alternative for your marijuana product purchases.

Allows you to grow your marijuana

Growing marijuana in your home makes achieving your preferred marijuana strains easy and convenient. Some states allow MMJ cardholders to cultivate a certain number of marijuana stems in an enclosed space for personal use.

Enhances access to high THC content marijuana

Using your MMJ card, you can obtain marijuana products with higher THC content, as you require more protective products to alleviate your conditions. Remember that most states provide marijuana products with limited THC content.

Offers legal protections

Despite legalizing medical marijuana, many states consider possessing marijuana products without the MMJ card illegal. Thus, having the MMJ card allows you to buy and possess these products without worrying about legal implications.

Bottom Line on Weed and the Munches

The theory of cannabis giving you munchies has a scientific backing. Therefore, if you have a strict diet, avoiding cannabis strains with high THC content or percentages will be vital. Consuming these strains will result in a craving for tastier, sweetest, and unhealthiest foods within your proximity.

Remember, smoking marijuana will enhance your sense of smell and taste. Furthermore, it enhances fantastic feelings due to the body secreting or producing large dopamine quantities. The hormones make you believe you're hungry due to the release of ghrelin and the different THC attachments to the anandamide receptors.

Despite being full, these hormones make you feel hungry and increase the urge to be hungry. With the above information, you’ll understand why after consuming marijuana, you'll raid the drawers and fridge searching for junk foods. It also helps you understand the relationship between marijuana and tastes or smells.