Your Body Wants You to Smoke Pot and Eat Chocolate
BS
Substances similar to THC, the active ingredient in marijuana, are
produced naturally in our brains. They are called endocannabinoids
and are part of the body's endocannibinoid system, which include sweet
taste
receptors on the tongue. This might help explain the relationship
between smoking a joint and eating a pound of chocolate.
The discovery of the sweet effects of natural endocannibinoids were
revealed in a study conducted at the Monell Center in Philadelphia and
Kyushu University in Japan. The Monell Center is an independent
research institute focused on research in taste and smell.
Several experiments with mice were undertaken to determine the
behavioral, neural, and cellular response to sweet taste stimuli
before and after the administration of endocannibinoids. Researchers
found that only the sweet taste receptors responded in every case;
there was no enhancement of other taste cells.
When further experiments were conducted with "knockout" mice - - those
whose cannibinoid receptors were engineered out, there was no effect
as a result of introducing endocannibinoids.
"Modulation of sweet taste responses may be an important component of
the endocannibinoid system's role in regulating feeding behavior,"
said Robert Margolskee, a Monell molecular biologist. He also noted
that the well-known "marijuana munchies" may depend at least in part
on endocannibinoid stimulation of tongue taste cells.
There are also sweet taste receptors in the intestine and pancreas.
It is theorized that they may have a role in controlling obesity and
diabetes, because they help to regulate nutrient absorption, insulin
secretion, and energy metabolism
If further research determines that they too are stimulated by the
modulation of endocannibinoids, new therapies to combat obesity,
diabetes, and other metabolic diseases could be forthcoming.
