There’s a romance to the act of getting stoned to eat a delicious meal. There’s an art to riding a gummy high to a creative dinner like Nicole at Dope Kitchen. These pastimes have led culinary creatives to new recipes, and some end up cultural staples. A recently published study that went super viral this week claims to have uncovered some science behind the cannabis munchies.
The munchies are a colloquial term for the way people get wicked hungry after smoking many strains of cannabis. However, it should be mentioned that there are some appetite suppressing varieties, particularly those high in THCV. But not every strain is Durban Poison and THCV isn’t an exceptionally common cannabinoid.
Despite the existence appetite suppressant strains, others might get the tummy grumbling, and study authors decided to decipher the biomechanisms behind the munchies.
Cannabis munchies are proven by science
In a rodent trial, clinical evidence shows a connection between vaping cannabis and mediobasal hypothalamus (MBH) neurons, which regulate food intake and energy expenditure. The rats looked for food more after inhaling cannabis vapor. More specifically, inhaling cannabis showed an increase of activity in MBH neurons.
This study was paid for primarily with grants and authors listed no conflicts of interest. It is one of the first to investigate what neurological processes are at play when people nosh on chips after smoking a bowl, a common habit that has given humanity some of the stoniest meals of all time.
Stoner food made possible by the cannabis munchies, probably
There is something that comes over a person half a joint deep when they experience even the slightest pang of hunger. Not all, but some will decide to play chef and concoct something with whatever they have in the fridge.
The Philly Taco
A while back, GreenState chatted with a Philly-born local about the gut-bomb that is The Philly Taco. Take a classic cheesesteak, wrap it in a slice of pizza, and go with god. Eating one is a right of passage to some, but definitely not all, who visit Philadelphia. Though there’s no proof it was born from a stoned mind, it fits the bill.
Ice Cream Trompo Special
Evil Food Co used a trompo, a vertical rotating spit used in Mexican cuisine, to make sweet dulce de leche tacos for a summer festival. This doesn’t make the list for being a weird combination, but instead a stroke of genius that anyone who has partaken in the ganja would appreciate.
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PB&J Burger
Another GreenState trip into the world of strange foods led us to the peanut butter and jelly burger, an odd marriage of two classic American sandwiches. Those that have eaten it swear by the combination, and those that haven’t can’t help but curl their lip at the concept.
That is where weed comes in, one hit and the lip curlers may be imagining how the sweet jam interplays with the natural salty fat dripping off of the meat. That’s just how the munchies work, it’s science.
Uncrustables revival
Let’s lovingly blame the grab-and-go stoners for the banger year Uncrustables is having. After a decade or so in hibernation the enclosed PB&Js are in influencer content and gracing store shelves like they never left.
Based solely on vibes, we’re going to say this revival is due in part to nostalgia shopping from newer generations of adults. Either way, adults eating Uncrustables is commendable cannabis consumer behavior.
Knowing that the munchies are science makes crunching away on barbecue chips post-sesh feel even more satisfying, and starts to pinpoint how the plant interacts with the brain. No matter the data, weed might have given us the world various culinary gifts, like strange food combos and resurrections in classic childhood snacks. Cannabis and appetite are definitely connected, and that’s not a bad thing.