Appetite Enhancing &
Anti-Nausea Properties

You may have noticed a strong relationship between inhaling cannabis and increased appetite. Until recently, the munchies were a bit of a mystery. Scientific Journal 'Nature' published a study in April 2001. Here's a (very) brief summary of what they said:

Endocannabinoids are natural substances produced by the body, which bind to the same receptors (in your brain) as cannabinoids from cannabis.

The main endocannabinoid is anandamide, the brain's chemical response to appetite. Cannabis mimics anandamide, thus activating anandamide receptors, and therefore making you hungry.

Several trials have established cannabis' ability to stimulate food intake and weight gain in volunteers.

It is possible that cannabis' anti-anxiety & appetite enhancing properties may have uses in treating psychological eating disorders like anorexia nervosa. However, one clinical trial performed on this patient group found that cannabis induced a negative psychological reaction in some participants. Researchers suggested that this reaction might be because "THC increases appetite and thus intensifies the mental conflict between hunger and food refusal." However, because anorexia has high mortality rates & a poor response to standard treatments, cannabis may still be an option.

AIDS wasting syndrome (involuntary loss of body weight) is a common and often fatal consequence of infection. It is vital for HIV and AIDS patients to keep up a healthy weight and appetite in order to avoid opportunistic infections. Cannabis appears to help counteract the pain, nausea and loss of appetite associated with HIV and AIDS and their common medications. Most physicians also agree that increased appetite and weight gain is at least psychologically helpful to HIV and AIDS patients.

A large amount of research also exists concerning the use of cannabis in treating chemotherapy- induced nausea and vomiting.