Ah, the kebab store…a sight for drunken eyes.
The other day I was thinking about beer and kebabs.
Most beer drinkers have put the two together at one time or another. Usually after a big night, while waiting for a taxi or just because there was a kebab store on the way home.
And they taste oh so good at the time. Lots of other things taste extra good after a few beers – chips, pizza, hamburgers (but not KFC, though that seldom tastes good before a few beers either).
At the end of the day it seems that a few beers has a tendency to bring on hunger. Down half a six-pack and you’ll start to root around the pantry looking for something to eat (I’ve been known to hoe into those kid-sized packs of my daughter’s chips). Or, if you’re of the MasterChef brigade you might whip up something on the stove.
And that got me thinking. Cannabis and hops are botanically related. So, if you get the munchies from cannabis, do hops in beer have the same effect? Does drinking enough of them give you the munchies too? Does drinking some highly-hopped beers make you hungrier than light lagers?
It’s entirely possible that some botanist will shoot holes in my theory but, until then, it sounds like a half-decent theory.
And if it ends up being true, remember, you read it here first.
BEER IS YOUR FRIEND 
Genius theory Glen. Also, I wonder what the effects of toking on a ‘fat one’ loaded with hops would be? Surely somebody must have tried it?
They must have “Oh man, this joint tastes like pine needles, but with a hint of stonefruit.”
Haha! Nice theory, but here’s the truth.
SPOILER ALERT! Our default state is hungry, it’s a survival mechanism. When we have eaten enough, actually about 20 minutes later (explaining why we often overeat – another survival mechanism as we may not find food again for a while), the stomach sends a ‘not hungry’ signal to the brain. Alcohol blocks this signal, making us think we are hungry when we’ve actually ingested more than enough calories in the booze. It’s probably another survival mechanism to avoid alcohol poisoning by diluting it or eating so much that we spew up some of the alcohol.
END SPOILER!
Don’t let this stop you from your important research though. Peer reviews are very important.