Can Eating Reduce Your Cannabis High?

Does smoking up give you the munchies? That’s part and parcel of smoking up (or consuming) many cannabis strains. But what if eating reduces your high — that’s another question many people have when they get the munchies after smoking up.

No one likes it when their high is reduced too soon — it not only dampens the mood but can also cost you in the long run. We know how expensive cannabis is! But does food affect the high? Does it make you more high or does it reduce it?

The answer is not that simple. Foods are just as varied as cannabis strains, and some foods affect your body in one way and other foods affect the body in other ways. So, let’s dive a little deeper into the relationship between cannabis, food, and the human body. 

Learn whether or not food reduces your cannabis high in this article below.

What are the Munchies?

Before we get to the food, let’s first taste the concept of munchies — what is it and why it occurs.

Munchies are what you get after you smoke a thick doobie and your mind starts looking for the cheesiest pizza in town (or any other food, in general). To put it simply, munchies make you super hungry and it occurs after consuming some strains of cannabis.

And scientists are beginning to realize why this is happening.

Your body is full of endocannabinoids — the body’s internal cannabinoids, similar to the phytocannabinoids in cannabis. These endocannabinoids are a part of the body’s endocannabinoid system (ECS), which maintains bodily functions like mood, appetite, sleep, and a lot more. It lets your mind know what your body needs to live a healthy life.

If you eat food when sober, certain endocannabinoids are released in the body that signals your brain that it’s no longer hungry. But when you consume cannabis, cannabinoids like THC can signal your brain that you need more food, even if you have just had a five-course meal.

This happens because THC stimulates the ghrelin hormone, which sends a message to your brain signaling hunger. 

Plus, some cannabinoids can also impact your olfactory bulb — the primary smell portion of the brain — which enhances your smell senses. And this sense of smell is directly related to hunger. 

Another reason why this may happen is that cannabis speeds up your metabolism, so you digest food a lot faster than when you are sober. 

Some strains are famous for giving munchies, like Pineapple Kush and Sour Diesel, and knowing why munchies occur is crucial to know how food can affect your high.

Food vs Cannabis: Hunger Games

Will all food affect your high? Not really. It’s difficult to say which food will and which food won’t, but we do know that certain foods are more prone to affecting your high (and some have the opposite effect entirely).

It all depends on what the food you eat is made of — its chemical composition, which may affect how it reacts to your body and brain. 

When you consume cannabis, the blood sugar levels in your body drop, which triggers hunger in your body. This will make you want to eat more, but this is not what’s killing your buzz. If you eat food with high sugar levels, your body’s sugar levels rise, letting your body know it’s no longer hungry.

The same food can also dampen THC’s blood-sugar-lowering effect on your body, reducing the high overall. 

This doesn’t mean sugar-free foods won’t affect your high. You will still feel a little less high after eating many other sugar-free foods, but they probably won’t kill your high. 

Another reason why some foods can ruin your high is due to their terpenoid content. According to the British Journal of Pharmacology, some foods’ terpenoids can counteract a cannabis high by serving as an antidote. 

Another study found that eating food before consuming cannabis can also affect the duration of the high. The study also found that eating high-fat meals delayed the onset of the high while enhancing the effects. In addition, it states that high-fat meals can even increase the intensity of the high. 

However, the study lacked data on how much food was being consumed and whether eating a certain amount would be better than eating more or less. 

But there is still a lack of adequate clinical studies to determine exactly what makes food affect the high and in what way. Until then, it is best to listen to your body and avoid foods that are known to reduce the high (more on this below). 

What Foods Can Get You Higher?

If you are hungry but worried about losing your high, worry not. There are some foods you can eat that can enhance your high, not diminish it. Here are some of them.

Mango

Mangoes contain a lot of terpenes, too, just like cannabis. And these terpenes are quite similar to the compounds that give cannabis its signature smell and flavor. One of the mango terpenes is myrcene, which speeds up the onset of cannabinoids while extending your high for longer.

Myrcene essentially helps cannabinoids pass the blood-brain barrier more easily, making you feel high quicker. 

Chocolate

Chocolate is known for enhancing cannabis high, but for the wrong reasons. Many cannabis users think it’s due to its sugar content, but end up eating sweet chocolates that reduce their high entirely.

Instead, chocolate has an impact on your brain, which is why you often feel euphoric after eating chocolate. Chocolate contains anandamide, the happy compound, which gives you this euphoric feeling. 

And when you combine anandamide of chocolate with THC of cannabis, that’s a recipe for blissfully intense highs. This is why hash brownies are so popular in the cannabis community.

Just remember to choose chocolate with at least 70% cocoa, otherwise, this technique may not work.

Broccoli

While broccoli is the last thing that would come to your mind during munchies, you would be surprised to know that it can enhance your high, too. This veggie contains beta-caryophyllene that works with cannabinoids to reduce inflammation and pains in your body. 

If you consume cannabis for medicinal purposes, you should consider consuming it with broccoli to enhance the pain-relieving benefits of cannabis. 

Sweet Potatoes

Sweet potatoes can also improve your cannabis high due to their vitamins B and E, which boost the serotonin levels in your brain. When paired with cannabis, sweet potatoes can give you a happy high with 0% existential crisis.

What Foods Reduce your Cannabis High?

What if you smoked a little too much and want to reduce your cannabis high? Will eating food help you get your brain back on track? Yes. Here are some foods you can try if you want to reduce your cannabis high.

Black Pepper

One of the most effective ways of reducing your high is to try some black pepper — either eat it or sniff it (sneeze alert!). Essentially, peppercorns contain caryophyllene, which is a potent CB2 antagonist and works as an antidote to THC. 

Lemon

On the other hand, you can also try some lemon. Just squeeze some lemon juice into your mouth. Lemon contains limonene, which counteracts the effects of cannabinoids, reducing your high.

Pine Nuts

Another great food to reduce your cannabis high is pine nuts. Pine nuts contain pinene, which has a calming effect on your body. This can help ease your high and help you think more clearly. However, avoid this if you have a nut allergy.

Remember, these techniques are effective, but not always. If you want to quickly ease your high, you should combine these techniques with others. Take your mind off — go for a walk, take a bath, try CBD, drink a lot of water, or work out. Doing these things will help you gain more clarity, calm down, and even help your body metabolize THC faster.

Summary: Can Eating Reduce Your Cannabis High?

To summarize, eating can reduce your high, but not always. Some foods are more prone to reducing your high, especially the ones that have high sugar levels. On the other hand, some foods can even increase your high, like chocolate and mangoes.

If you are worried eating will ruin your high, you should stick to foods that don’t contain a lot of sugar or terpenes that may counteract THC in your ECS. And if you want to quickly reduce your high, try foods like black pepper or pine nuts. These can help ease your high quite effectively. 

Lastly, know that all bodies are different. Everyone reacts to cannabis and foods differently, and what worked for your friend may not work for you. That is, some foods that are known to reduce the high may not do so for you or vice versa.

You should know your body and try to understand how it reacts to food, both when sober and stoned. This will give you a deeper understanding of which foods reduce cannabis high and which ones don’t, based on your body.