Why Daily Hunger Peaks Around 3 p.m.

(Inside Science) -- Come 3pm you can’t concentrate. Around 3pm you are feeling sleepy, and at 3pm you are suddenly really hungry. It’s because at 3pm – you’re stoned!

Now, maybe you’ve never smoked marijuana before in your life. But come 3pm your brain is baked in cannabis chemicals. Cannabis contains two active compounds – Cannabidiol and THC.

And when you smoke a joint, these chemicals enter your brain. And in the brain, they stimulate certain neurons that govern your sleep, your hunger, and your sense of smell. Yes, food actually smells better when you’re high because cannabinoids activate the olfactory bulb.

But how do you get stoned without smoking dope and why at 3pm? It’s because our bodies produce natural cannabinoids. Cannabinoids made from the cell membranes of brain cells. These are called endocannabinoids and they are produced on a daily cycle.

And that cycle peaks around 3pm, filling the brain with endocannabinoids, turning on hunger, sensitizing smell, and giving you the munchies!