Anyone who has used marijuana has no doubt experienced the “marijuana munchies” and the fact that it can make food taste better. Now it appears this fact has not gone unnoticed by medical researchers and they are using THC to induce hunger in an effort to help cancer patients on chemotherapy.

This is the first study done on the “marijuana munchies” and the effect of THC on the appetite of cancer patients. Although the initial study was small the results were promising and researchers want to conduct a larger scale study. The study was published in the European medical journal Annals of Oncology.

It is common for those on chemotherapy to lose their appetite and many foods no longer taste good to them. This can cause severe weight loss in some cancer patients and impair recovery.

Canadian researchers studied the effects of THC on 21 patients who had advanced cancer and were subjected to chemotherapy. During the 18 day study the participants were given either capsules containing THC or a placebo.

Following the study 73 percent of those who took the THC said they liked food better and more than half agreed that the food taste better too. Not surprisingly this group also reported sleeping better and being more relaxed.

Those on the THC reported eating more protein than before. Meat is one of the foods that commonly tastes bad to those on chemotherapy. Most cancer patients for this reason are intentionally put on a bland diet and until now no one thought there was anything that could be done about the taste and smell altering effects caused by chemotherapy.

The study concluded that doctors should consider using this treatment to help restore the appetite of cancer patients as the study showed THC was well tolerated by cancer patients and no differences were observed between the two groups.

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