Food plays a huge role in how we experience life, our cannabis included. Over the years, stoners have made countless anecdotal reports of food altering their high. Now, we have the scientific information to back up these cannabis + food claims.
Below are several common foods known to alter your high.
Food Can Affect Your High?
Yes, it’s true there are many foods that enhance your high, and there are actually foods that can help relieve the uncomfortable effects of weed when you’ve had a little too much. We all know that feeling of getting a bit too stoned and wishing there was something you could do to sober up. The good news is that you can! Now, nothing totally erases a high, but you can lessen the discomfort a bit and find a state of zen while you wait for the weed to wear off.
The secret to this magic is found in terpenes. Yes, that’s right, the magical flavor-makers found in cannabis are also found throughout the entire plant kingdom. These volatile compounds mean business when it comes to our mood, and that’s a good thing. Terpenes are powerful components of aromatherapy and are used in a multitude of products to evoke a feeling or mood.
When combined with cannabinoids (particularly THC), terpenes work synergistically to alter their effect. Since many of cannabis’ dominant terpenes are also dominant in common foods, it makes sense that they can alter your high.
High Altering Foods
Some of these snacks lift you up, and some of them help you come back down to reality. Both are needed from time to time, so keep these munchies handy anytime you want to elevate your cannabis experience.
Foods that Enhance Your High
By no means a comprehensive list, here are our top picks for foods to pair with weed for an extra-stony high.
Mangoes
To intensify your buzz, eat a mango! Mangoes are reported to intensify cannabis effects due to the high concentration of the terpene myrcene. This spicy, musky terpene is also found in lemongrass, cardamom, and hops.
Studies from the 1970’s have found that myrcene improves the ability of cell membranes in the body to absorb certain compounds. This means that eating mangoes before you hit a bong prepares your body’s cells to absorb THC, thus bringing on a much stronger high faster than normal.
For an added myrcene boost, enjoy a mango smoothie with a high-myrcene strain like Grandaddy Purple.
Broccoli
Eating broccoli when you have munchies is not only a healthier snack than a bag of Cheetos, but it can also enhance your relaxation when it’s time to wind down. Broccoli contains high levels of a terpene called beta-caryophyllene, which has been studied for relieving anxiety and depression.
For a perfect pairing, crunch on those leafy green trees with a little GMO Cookies as you wind down for the night.
Nuts and Eggs
Aside from being crucial for your overall health, the omega-3 fatty acids found in nuts and eggs easily bind to the cannabinoids in weed. This helps the THC move through the blood-brain barrier more efficiently, making effects hit faster and stronger.
While any strain pairs well with eggs for breakfast, enjoy a sweet sativa like Super Lemon Haze the next time you wake and bake.
Sweet Potatoes
Trade the potato chips for a healthy alternative. Sweet potatoes are an excellent source of complex carbohydrates with many health benefits. According to findings published in the journal Obesity Research, it increases serotonin production, a “feel-good” brain chemical. They also contain high levels of mood-boosting vitamin B6, which helps regulate our emotions.
So, snacking on sweet potatoes before your sesh can enhance your mood and help you enjoy the effects of an uplifting strain, like Maui Wowie or Pineapple Express vape cartridge.
Foods that Decrease Your High
Black Pepper
As Neil Young once claimed on the Howard Stern Show, eating black pepper in unison with cannabis can help decrease paranoia.
“Try black pepper balls if you get paranoid,” he told Stern. “Just chew two or three pieces. I just found this out myself. Try it.”
How is this possible? Well, the main terpenes found in black pepper are beta-caryophyllene and alpha-pinene. Beta-caryophyllene is known for its pain-relieving effects and alpha-pinene is known as a “potent inhibitor,” meaning it helps walk you off the mental ledge when you start to feel a bit too high.
Simply put, the terpenes in black pepper work together with the THC to create a calming, therapeutic effect that helps lessen the effects you feel while high.
Pine Nuts
Like the terpenes found in black pepper, pine nuts include terpenes that consumers say lessen THC’s effects and offer greater alertness and mental clarity. However, it’s the pinene in pine nuts that help ward off the mind loops you get from giant dabs. Pinene is the fresh, astringent scent you’ll find walking among giants in a pine forest. Next time you get a little too lit in nature, nibble on a pine needle!
Snack On, Stoners
The next time you want to amp up your high, we hope you enjoy a few fresh, healthy snacks to help you get in the right mind space. Should that mind space feel like a scary space, grab some black peppercorns or pine nuts and munch the high away.
