| Graphic: randazza.wordpress.com |
Dude… sweet. I knew there was something special happening last night when I obliterated those Hostess Cupcakes.
Some interesting research indicates that the active ingredients in marijuana “act directly on taste receptors on the tongue to enhance sweet taste.”
The results show the likely scientific underpinning for the well-known phenomenon of the pot “munchies.”
“Our taste cells may be more involved in regulating our appetites than we had previously known,” said study author Robert Margolskee, M.D., Ph.D., a molecular biologist with the Monell Center.
The Monell Center, based on Philadelphia, collaborated with Kyushu University in Japan on the research, which looked at the effect that endocannabinoids, present in marijuana, have on taste and appetite regulation in mice.
“Endocannabinoids both act in the brain to increase appetite and also modulate taste receptors on the tongue to increase the response to sweets,” said study senior author Yuzo Ninomiya, Ph.D., professor of oral neuroscience in the Graduate School of Dental Sciences and Kyushu University.