If you smoke or eat marijuana, you may have experienced “marijuana cravings” or a desire for foods rich in salty, sweet or fatty carbohydrates after consuming the substance.
But what exactly are those cannabis-related cravings? Why do they happen?
Well, you can blame the active ingredient in the drug, tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC. THC is responsible for the rush of many people when they consume cannabis. But it is also primarily responsible for the increase in food cravings that people feel when taking the drug.
The brain is divided into regions: some areas control our mood, while others influence our appetite, causing us to eat or stop eating. Every time we consume a drug, it is distributed everywhere, so when THC enters the parts of the brain that affect mood, it stimulates euphoria, explained Gary Wenk, director of undergraduate neuroscience programs at the University. Ohio State and author of Your Brain on Food. And when THC reaches the area of the brain that influences appetite, “it will stimulate you to eat,” Wenk said.
The science behind cravings after marijuana
Although research points to several possible mechanisms, cannabis’s ability to increase appetite is “very well documented,” said Ginger Hultin, a registered dietitian and spokeswoman for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.
Cannabis research has revealed that THC stimulates the endocannabinoid system, a complex area of the brain that regulates eating behavior and energy balance. “It is affecting some primitive areas of the brain, things that control appetite and emotions,” said Hultin.
“THC interacts with receptors in our brain that regulate emotions, pain, and the sense of smell and taste,” said Janice Newell Bissex, a registered dietitian. “It can also promote the release of the hormone ghrelin, which stimulates hunger.”
Several studies have documented that THC stimulates smell or that some neurons that normally ‘turn off’ when eating, are stimulated with cannabis. THC also increases the release of dopamine, which increases eating pleasure, Bissex explained.
Weight risk
The effects intensify among those who have extra kilos. “In obese people, when they see a chocolate shake, their dopamine system will be activated to a greater extent than non-obese people,” Wenk explained. As a result, “these people may be prepared to have a bigger binge response.”
“People will say they use marijuana to relax … but it will increase their appetite for chips and ice cream … and unhealthy foods they want to avoid,” he said. These people can link their weight struggles with marijuana use, he explained.
Using marijuana in food poses a unique challenge since food can aggravate the effects of THC on appetite and weight. For example, sugary groceries like candy, cookies, lollipops and brownies not only provide calories, which can lead to weight gain but can cause spikes and drops in blood sugar, which can increase cravings, he explained. Hultin.
The role of cannabis in reducing appetite
Research on the effects of cannabis on appetite has not gone unnoticed by the pharmaceutical industry.
“There is a really fascinating story involving the rimonabant drug,” said Wenk. “Many years ago, researchers thought that if cravings were due to THC-stimulating food receptors and induce us to eat high carbohydrates, then why can’t we design a drug to block those receptors?”
The researchers looked to test whether they could manipulate eating centers that play a role in determining our need to eat.
But they soon realized that it was not safe to block all of a person’s endocannabinoid receptors, which control mood and eating behaviors, all the time. “People became depressed and started committing suicide,” Wenk said. Clinical trials were suspended and the drug was withdrawn from the market.
The findings revealed that some endocannabinoid receptors cannot be selectively blocked and others cannot.
A man smokes marijuana during a demonstration in favor of the legalization of this substance in front of the Senate building in Mexico City, on September 28, 2016.The medical advantage of appetite stimulation
For people with diseases that decrease appetite, increased hunger from the drug can be therapeutic. “While some may find this as an unwanted side effect, appetite stimulation is exactly the result that many elderly or cancer or HIV patients are looking for,” said Bissex, who recently became a full-time cannabis practitioner after of seeing relief from his father’s chronic pain after using marijuana for medicinal purposes.
Hultin previously worked as a dietitian in oncology and saw the effects of the drug on cancer patients firsthand. “I’ve had patients literally tell me, ‘I can’t eat unless I’m using marijuana.'”
The final line
Whether you choose to use marijuana or not, perhaps the easiest way to summarize the role that marijuana plays in appetite control is that it helps the brain ensure our survival – that is, making sure we eat.
If you’re concerned about weight gain when using cannabis, Bissex recommends making sure that healthy food is available. Stocking up on popcorn, vegetable sticks with hummus, whole-grain crackers with low-fat gravy, and tortillas with gravy can satisfy cravings without ingesting too much sugar and calories. ”