Munchies: Why does weed cause me to reach for snacks, and what does this mean for future health research?

You want to know why you ate that whole jar of cookie butter after your last smoke sesh? Well, dear blazer, here is why; Marijuana flips a switch in the brain. This happens when THC tells certain neurons, called POMC, in the brain to release hormones that communicate with our digestive system. 

Huh?

Stay with us dear friend. These neurons control your ability to feel full (1). 

We recently discovered that these neurons in the brain also secrete a hormone that increases your appetite. When you smoke, a chemical enters parts of your cells which tell the POMC neurons to switch on and say you are hungry (1). This discovery might not seem super important, but actually could be huge for those who suffer from certain health problems. 

 For example, it could be used for cancer patients and anorexia patients to increase their appetite. In the case of anorexia, this could mean life or death. This discovery can also help us learn more about manipulating appetite for people in general, such as maintaining a healthier weight, providing benefits for weightlifting, and controlling nausea symptoms. 

What might increasing your appetite help you with, you ask? 

Maybe you have always wanted to try intermittent fasting or maybe you don’t feel hungry in the AM, but need to eat a higher protein/calorie breakfast before work so you don’t overindulge at night. Maybe you take medication that messes with your appetite and smoking helps you eat on a more regular schedule. 

 Also, although early in the research, there have been studies finding a connection between cannabis use as a diabetes prevention option (3). We think the researchers of that randomized, double-blind, placebo controlled study had some fun with their results as they said that weed “BLUNTED” the following insulin spike from the sugary treat (2). However, more research needs to be done on diabetes prevention to find  causal links not correlation. 

Hold up. You know what? Cannabis critics use correlation to make causal links all the time. Maybe we should do the same and say that cannabis can prevent diabetes! Haha

 Nah… we wouldn’t want to stoop so low. 

Isn’t it interesting how the research for appetite is FULL(😉) of benefits, but the research around mental health and physical health makes such bold claims about the negative consequences of cannabis? We here at The Green Blazer have many friends involved in the mental health community, and it is clear that there are some haters of our friend Mary Jane. Researchers just don’t seem to like her, and sadly it is a missed opportunity for the many people who could benefit from sitting down and enjoying the  occasional doob. 

Now we might have made you a little hungry, but before you reach for your next vice, be careful because the company of your vice could be supporting anti-cannabis agendas. The CADCA has a list of corporate partners who are lobbying against cannabis laws, one of which includes… *drum roll* 

Krispy Kreme doughnuts 

That’s right. You could have seen the list of corporate partners →here, but unfortunately the site took it down after twitter got their hands on the information. Luckily, the internet never forgets… 

https://web.archive.org/web/20210923012700/https://www.cadca.org/corporate-partners

Anyways back to Krispy Kreme, how many of us blazers have gotten high and had a craving for their classic fresh glazed doughnuts? We think Krispy Kreme underestimated how many of their customers are tokers 😉. With that, before you get blazed and head for a glazed, maybe head to your local donut shop and get some less basic shit.

References: 

1. Deng, B. (2015, February 18). Marijuana flips appetite switch in brain. Nature News. Retrieved July 29, 2022, from https://www.nature.com/articles/nature.2015.16957 
2. Farokhnia, McDiarmid, G. R., Newmeyer, M. N., Munjal, V., Abulseoud, O. A., Huestis, M. A., & Leggio, L. (2020). Effects of oral, smoked, and vaporized cannabis on endocrine pathways related to appetite and metabolism: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, human laboratory study. Translational Psychiatry, 10(1), 71–71.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-020-0756-3
3. Imtiaz, & Rehm, J. (2018). The relationship between cannabis use and diabetes: Results from the National Epidemiologic Survey on Alcohol and Related Conditions III. Drug and Alcohol Review, 37(7), 897–902. https://doi.org/10.1111/dar.12867

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