Friday Q & A – Everytime I smoke Pot, I binge eat- Help!

Question: Everytime I smoke pot, I binge eat. I really wish that I didn’t, is there something I can do to prevent this?

Answer:

Your brain contains cannabinoid receptors, which are specialized proteins that react to particular stimuli to produce results such as pleasure, pain relief, and hunger. The THC in marijuana is the number one stimuli that acts on cannabinoid receptors. Your body produces endogenous cannabinoids, receptors inside your body which send a signal to your brain that it’s time to eat. Those endogenous cannabinoids are abundant in your hypothalmus, which is the part of your brain that regulates appetite.  So, when you smoke marijuana, you don’t just think you’re hungry, you are really, really hungry and you really want to eat. And, because your inhibitions are suppressed, using your tools to deal with binge eating is close to impossible.

So, that being said, you might want to limit or quit your marijuana use. As with binge eating, you might want to look at why you are choosing to smoke. Is it because you are trying not to deal with some very difficult feelings? Are you hiding from something? Is it recreational- done for fun? Is it social- something that you do to bond with friends? Is it something that you believe you need for a medical purpose?

So, the quick answer is, if you want to prevent the binge eating that comes with smoking pot, you should probably not introduce the binge eating trigger. Some triggers are hard to avoid, ie: talking to you Mom on the phone, passing by a certain bakery that’s right next to your apartment. Some are easy, ie: smoking marijuana, looking at your ex-boyfriend’s facebook page.  If you decide that you want to stop using marijuana, but are finding that it’s hard to avoid it, even if you want to, you might want to check out an MA meeting and get the support that you need from others who have gone through it.

Magically, I have several clients who suffered terribly with binge eating and found that as soon as they quit using weed, the bingeing just stopped. They later realized that it wasn’t the binge eating that was a problem, it was the marijuana. Best of luck to you.

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