A quick guide to navigating your nibbles

Have you ever felt the need for fatty, sweet or salty food after a good draw or something edible? Welcome to a classic case of nibbles. But have you ever wondered why we get the nibbles after a good old-fashioned sesh? And, paradoxically, why do some smokers get sick rather than hungry? Finally, if you’re wondering whether to munch or not (that’s the question) then read on.

How cannabis makes us hungry and why we get the nibbles

The brain regulates various sensations and conditions in the body, including appetite. The hypothalamus controls the feeling of hunger. After consuming cannabis, THC interacts directly with this area of ​​the brain. Believe it or not, the science of how exactly they interact is still up in the air. However, there is a lot of interesting new research. For example, how cannabidiol could regulate the expression of genes associated with the HPA axis in response to acute stress, for example.

If we haven’t lost you, we know that THC also helps release ghrelin, also known as the ‘hunger hormone’, in the hypothalamus. Ghrelin is the hormone that stimulates appetite and regulates metabolism.

THC also activates the brain’s olfactory bulb, which improves our sense of taste and smell. Basically, it not only stimulates the appetite, but also makes food more attractive and enjoyable. It explains, at least in part, why, as a stoned teenager, I once thought that adding creamer to cereal was God’s gift to humans.

Chew or not chew

For many people struggling with nausea and loss of appetite, the nibbles can be a good thing. Whether you are using cannabis for medicinal purposes or just want to enjoy a feast, here are some recommendations for cannabis strains that you can use to increase your appetite.

Conversely, excessive appetite is an undesirable side effect for some people. If you don’t want to feel cravings after smoking, you can try a strain of cannabis that can suppress your appetite, known as THCV.

Some of the strains that are high in THCV are: Jack the Ripper, Cherry Pie or Durban Poison.

What if weed makes you puke?

I’ll never forget a buddy from high school clearing a volcanic sack, then promptly leaning over and blowing chunks on the carpet. The phenomenon is not exactly rare either. The New York Times even reported on it a few years ago. It’s called cannabinoid hyperemesis syndrome (CHS). Some suspect that at some point CHS affected up to a third of heavy smokers in the United States, and somehow they all came up with the same strange solution: hot showers.

So what is there? Cannabis is known to stimulate appetite and relieve nausea, so why does it make some people throw up? That’s because endocannabinoid receptors don’t just live in the brain. In fact, these receptors are particularly concentrated throughout the digestive system. Too much THC can disrupt these receptors, changing bowel motility – the normal movement of the bowel – and causing severe abdominal pain or vomiting. If you encounter warning signs of CHS, slow down your usage or maybe even take a T-break. Symptoms will go away quickly once you take a break from your ECS.

Please, I could have ordered Domino’s

For the hungry stoner with the nibbles and nothing in the pantry sucked into that rabbit hole, why not try these five recipes that you can make with just about anything? Or for the adventurous cannabis lover looking to transform the edible experience, check out our 101 series for cooking with cannabis.

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