The munchies lie in the mystical land betweenstoney - bologna urban legend , perforate line , and " Dude , I ’m definitely feeling something . " In the goal , it ’s hard to tell if it ’s an actual forcible response to the drug , or just something we conceive to be honest because of eternal viewings of the originative 2004 film , Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle .
But according toDr . Tamas Horvath , the munchies are a legitimate and very literal side effect to smoke weed . Horvath helped author one of thepreeminent studies on the munchies in advanced music , and it turns out the munchies do n’t just keep Funyuns in business … they also save life .
But first, why does smoking make you hungry?
" There are nerve cell in your nous that subdue hunger after you ’ve corrode . When coming into tangency with marijuana , the cannabinoids make these neurons flip , they exchange over , terminate upcausinghunger , rather than eliminating it , " Dr. Horvath allege .
" Say you run through anentire Thanksgiving dinner party , then come into contact withmarijuana , and amount back 45 minutes by and by ready to eat again – this is not normal , from a systemic standpoint , " he said . " But the reasonableness is quite simple , really . " Simple for a prof of comparative medicine and neurobiology at Yale University School of Medicine , possibly .
You’re hardwired to get the munchies
Think of it like this : the cannabinoids are re - wiring the lap in your body that tell you you are full . It ’s like if a automobile mechanic went under the hood of your cable car and switched your brake and gun .
How exactly , it makes your hunger - pangs all topsy - turvy , is still a mystery for the most part . The research has lead Horvath and his co - authors to the determination that munchies are strictly a physiological reaction , without any psychological influence , which was initially suspected in some munchies inquiry .
The munchies can help cancer patients
Using marihuana in dissimilar formsfor medicinal intent is nothing new , but Horvath hope , that through further research , doctors can avail isolate the cannabinoids that activate hunger , and harness them to avail patients with appetite issues . " Many someone undergo cancer handling develop Cancer the Crab cachexia – they discover themselves ineffectual to eat on , to bury , to even look at food in some cases . So many genus Cancer patients die from this – they blow aside . implement what we learned here is authoritative for medicament . We can habituate cannabinoids to switch these feelings , and make their bodies experience real hunger . It could saves lives , " Dr. Horvath said .
So the next time you ’re done smoking , and feel an overwhelming urge to eat – recall , it ’s not your fault . It ’s just your body . And in the class 2016 , if you want to overindulge your person withtwo McGriddles and a Big Mac , that ’s your prerogative .
Sign up herefor our daily Thrillist e-mail , and get your fix of the dependable in food / crapulence / sport .
Cole Saladino/Thrillist
ABC/Youtube
Brian Goodman/Shutterstock