It’s not a surprise at all that cannabis makes you hungry. Perhaps you’ve felt the pangs of hunger as well, after taking a couple of hits from your trusty bong. Whether it’s THC or CBD-based, cannabis brings hunger each and every time. Your appetite will explode with enthusiasm once you start smoking, so you better have some snacks around. Moreover, cannabis might also provide untold medical benefits with this increased appetite.
Colloquially known as the munchies, the increased appetite after smoking cannabis manifests differently than average hunger. In short, you feel an ever-present desire to wolf down everything and anything you have in your fridge. As long as its edible, you’ll obsessively think about savagely gorging on it. On second thought, it might not be a good thing for people trying to stick to a diet. Usually, uncontrollable eating habits tend to negatively impact diets.
However, the opposite can be said about people who suffer from decreased appetite as a symptom of something much worse. For instance, anorexic people can successfully use cannabis to improve their appetite and reach regular weight proportions in no time. We should first see how cannabis improves your appetite, though! After all, understanding how something works helps us gain more knowledge into potential uses, even for medical reasons.
The endocannabinoid system and endocannabinoids
Hunger is one of the many biological processes regulated by the receptors in your brain. These receptors are controlled by the endocannabinoid system (ECS for short). The ECS has endocannabinoid receptors that interact with biological endocannabinoids in your body, affecting these biological processes. You might know that cannabis has regular cannabinoids like THC and CBD.
Well, these cannabinoids can bind to the CB1 and CB2 receptors in your ECS, influencing these biological processes. This is how the hunger feelings start manifesting after you start smoking cannabis. The cannabinoids bind to the endocannabinoid receptors in your brain, releasing certain signals which make your body behave in certain ways. The same can be said about the feelings of euphoria and relaxation that set in – cannabis and the ECS work together wonderfully.
Phytocannabinoids like THC and CBD are similar in structure in function to the endocannabinoids found in the human body. That’s why they can easily interact with the endocannabinoid system. So, if there’s any irregularity in your body caused by a deficiency in endocannabinoids, cannabis can step in and fill the gaps. In fact, this wonder plant can treat conditions like anxiety, depression, cluster headaches, and may even help treat cancer and other neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.
How can cannabis help you by making you hungry?
It doesn’t appear as though the appetite-inducing effects of cannabis can help you in any reasonable way, right? Wrong! Some people suffer from certain conditions that decrease their appetite immensely. They lose their interest and cravings for food, which leads to anorexia or severe weight problems. A scientific paper talks about the most reasonable uses of cannabis considering its effects on appetite. Apparently, the herb was used back in the past to treat inflammation, which sparked an interest in its effects, leading to more knowledge on its appetite-inducing effects.
Various medical conditions like HIV/AIDS and cancer can lead to forced anorexia. Cancer can lead to severe anorexia, cachexia, and a lot of weight loss. HIV can do the same due to the weakening of the immune system and the individual’s loss of interest in common activities. By boosting the appetite of people suffering from these conditions, cannabis effectively raises their chances of survival and the quality of their lives. Anorexia is a problematic condition that many people deal with, and effective treatments are hard to find.
Using cannabis and other holistic remedies might prove to be invaluable in our fight against cancer, HIV, and plain anorexia. One of the most popular appetite-inducing cannabis strains is Royal Cookies. It fulfills this role wonderfully for no other reason than because it is an absolute THC monster. It boasts an impressive quantity of 23%, increasing your appetite and helping you relax big time. If you don’t feel euphoric and hungry after smoking this strain, nothing can help you!
While it’s certainly not a fully researched topic, the benefits of cannabis thanks to its appetite-inducing effects have great potential. All we’re left with is waiting for science to produce more studies and to pay more attention to cannabis. In a few years, we hope to have thorough documentation of its effects and potential benefits for people suffering from specific medical conditions!