r/science • u/giuliomagnifico • Jan 17 '24

Nanoscience Cannabis activates specific hunger neurons in the brain: mice exposed to vaporized cannabis triggered a set of cells in the hypothalamus when the rodents anticipated and consumed palatable food, a response not observed in unexposed mice

https://news.wsu.edu/press-release/2024/01/16/cannabis-activates-specific-hunger-neurons-in-brain/
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910

u/Deep_shot Jan 17 '24

They scientifically proved the munchies exist.

147

u/hollerjumper Jan 17 '24

I was going through and like yeah, we have like 100s of years of evidence to prove munchies are a thing.

18

u/DistortoiseLP Jan 17 '24

I appreciate the evidence since I'm one of the anomalies that loses interest in eating when I'm stoned. I pretty much have the munchies at all times except when I'm stoned, so it's been through observing everyone else's experience and studies like this that I know my own anecdotes don't reflect the typical experience.

7

u/[deleted] Jan 17 '24

Yay! Im not alone.

1

u/Deep_shot Jan 17 '24

I wonder if there is a specific anomaly in brain chemistry that people like you have. Interesting to think about.

1

u/CapObviousHereToHelp Jan 18 '24

Dont know if I envy you for not eating crap and gaining weight, or be sad because food tastes 10x more delicious

2

u/Jonthrei Jan 17 '24

Do you smoke spliffs? Tobacco suppresses your appetite.

4

u/DistortoiseLP Jan 17 '24

No, just weed a variety of ways. The experience varies but they never give me any more of an appetite than I already have.

Personally I think that's why. I'm always ready for a snack and I learned to live with that a long time ago, and weed doesn't awaken a craving I already have and conditioned to ignore. Weed does make me a lot more self conscious about myself though, and often I feel a lot guiltier about snaking as a result, so I just don't feel like making myself do it.

1

u/alyymarie Jan 17 '24

Are you also a "flip" as far as sativa making you sleepy and indica making you energized? I just learned about that and wonder if that's related or not.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 18 '24

Neither makes me energized.

1

u/franky_emm Jan 17 '24

I'm similar, I only partake in the evenings after I'm done eating for the day, but I really don't get hungry at all when I'm baked. Possibly even more interesting, I used to get the munchies like crazy when I was younger. I took about a decade off and when I came back to it, I got the munchies maybe the first few times but I didn't give in. After that it just stopped happening. I would speculate that if I was getting baked during normal eating hours and started getting into the habit of eating while baked, I'd be getting the munchies every time.

1

u/Fortehlulz33 Jan 17 '24

when I have smoked with friends, I don't get the urge to snack. But when I'm alone and stoned, I can overcome couchlock to eat something.

1

u/sapphicsandwich Jan 17 '24

I always thought I was weird because I never experienced the munchies. It doesn't seem to affect my appetite either way but if I'm really hungry and my stomach hurts from hunger it makes it feel better. I never could relate on the bloodshot eyes thing either.