why do i get the munchies after i smoke?

Question

hey hey hey smoke weed everyday!

Answer 1

Last time the subject of the munchies came up, in 1977--I've been writing this column longer than a lot of you sumbitches have been alive--all I could tell you was that scientists had ruled out dope-induced fluctuations in blood sugar as a cause. Since then, I'm pleased to inform you, great strides have been made. As it turns out, far from being a mere curiosity, the munchies provide a clue to the workings of one of the body's primary methods of hunger regulation, the endogenous cannabinoid system.

Your body, it seems, contains specialized proteins called cannabinoid receptors. (Broadly speaking, receptors react to certain stimuli and produce certain results.) The best-known cannabinoid is delta 9-tetrahydrocannabinol or THC, the principal psychoactive ingredient of weed (aka cannabis). Far more important from the body's standpoint, however, are the endogenous (i.e., internally synthesized) cannabinoids, endocannabinoids for short, which work like neurotransmitters and are produced as part of the built-in apparatus by which peripheral parts of the body inform the brain that it's lunchtime. Endocannabinoids and cannabinoid receptors are abundant in the hypothalamus, the region of the brain that plays a pivotal role in appetite regulation. In 1992 researchers identified the first endocannabinoid and named it anandamide, from the Sanskrit ananda, meaning inner bliss. In other words, when you smoke dope, you're replicating (albeit with much greater intensity) an effect the body produces naturally for itself.

Hunger regulation isn't the only thing endocannabinoids do for the body. Though their action is still imperfectly understood, a 1998 research paper suggests that they help you "feel less pain, control your movement, relax, eat, forget, sleep and protect" yourself against stress. In fact, some scientists think they're an important part of the body's general stress-recovery system.

The significant role of cannabinoids in body chemistry has created great excitement about the therapeutic use of THC and related compounds. The most obvious beneficiaries are people who've lost the desire to eat--for example, late-stage cancer or AIDS patients. (In India, in fact, folks have used pot to treat loss of appetite since around 300 AD.) Though research is incomplete, it appears that (a) smoking marijuana is the best means of administering THC; (b) food consumption increases primarily in social settings; and (c) the foods consumed tend to be sweet. So it's possible that someday the recommended treatment for disease-induced anorexia may consist of lighting up a few joints, sitting around in a group, and munching Oreos. Lest you get the wrong idea, though, appetite-suppressed patients don't necessarily have to get high to enjoy the benefits of marijuana. At the lowest effective dose, test subjects report little or no euphoria, sleepiness, or dizziness.

Cannabinoids have a variety of other medical applications. The use of marijuana in the treatment of glaucoma is well-known. THC, under the name Dronabinol, has been used since 1985 to ease the nausea and vomiting caused by chemotherapy. Cannabinoid antagonists, which inhibit the effects of cannabis-type compounds, have been shown to suppress sugar and alcohol consumption in lab animals and are thought to hold great promise for obese humans, particularly those with a weakness for sweets.

While I'm not pointing any fingers, I'll bet that much of the research on cannabinoids has been conducted by investigators who were toking up in their dorm rooms 30 years earlier, which goes to show that vice can have its usefulness. Here our parents thought we were frivoling away our lives. Ha. We were on the frontiers of science

Answer 2

The same way you overcome the munchies in general: 1. you just stop 2. you realise you can't LOL

Answer 3

I hear ya brother-I'm just satisfying my munchies as we speak

Answer 4

You have been brainwashed into thinking this is normal, so of course it is. Try telling yourself your not hungry or your not tired when your stoned. Your inhibitions are lowered so you can convince yourself about just about anything. Above all, have fun and then go to work damn it!

Answer 5

when i get the munchies i eat slim jims with peanut butter

Answer 6

Maybe the weed not only burns your brain cells, but also it burns your stomach to. Just kidding.
I don't know, I've never smoked it but I have friends who have and been at my house at the time they ate all my snacks and I wasn't to keen on them eating my food.

Answer 7

Just one of the benefits(!) of the herb. Handy if you have CHEMO.

Answer 8

thats the way weed works

Answer 9

its not really a crave 4 food, just games with your physic ....

Answer 10

LMAO!!!