Did you know? Worms can get the munchies just like humans

Those who use marijuana report a side effect: insatiable hunger for several types of food at once. This is popularly known as the munchies. Recently, scientists have discovered that this is not an effect unique to humans.

Recent studies have shown that worms of the species Caenorhabditis elegans they also starve to death after being exposed to cannabis.

It is not new that people feel that marijuana causes hunger. There are studies that indicate that the increase in appetite caused by Cannabis sativa has evolved for at least 500 million years.

This new information involving the worms it may even help scientists understand how cannabis affects the human nervous system.

But wait. What is munchies?

In the raw, it is what is at the beginning of this text: a very intense hunger, for several types of food at the same time. Literally. Like, beans with dulce de leche or chicken with candied fruit.

The scientific part of it goes something like this. We have molecules called endocannabinoids in our brain, which connect to the system that regulates some physiological processes in the body, such as sleep, memory, anxiety and the star of this article: the

appetite.

Some of the molecules found in cannabis are very similar in structure to the endocannabinoids in our bodies. Then they can bind to these same receptors.

Therefore, it is common for people who use marijuana to report that they are sleepy, are too relaxed, forget a few moments or have the munchies.

And this study, huh?

Calm! No one smoked marijuana to do this study. Furthermore, there is no authorization to expose the worms to cannabisreal.

Then, the scientists immersed the worms in a solution with anandamide, an endocannabinoid naturally occurring in mammals – and in this species of nematode.

After that, they put the animals in mazes with more or less appetizing meals. The "stoned" worms preferred the most delicious foods and, in addition, spent more time eating. As if they were “tasting” the offered bacteria.

The same happened when scientists did the same test with genetically modified worms. They had human endocannabinoid system receptors.

The research was published in the scientific journal Current Biology, on April 20.

Graduated in Social Communication at the Federal University of Goiás. Passionate about digital media, pop culture, technology, politics and psychoanalysis.