Does Chocolate Enhance Your High?

Word on the street is that cannabis and dark chocolate are the ultimate power couple. Internet blogs and forums are claiming that chocolate can enhance the effects of THC, the compound that is largely responsible for the high you get from cannabis. But is it true?

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Cannabis and cacao are two plants that humans have cultivated since ancient times – so it makes sense that the street lore is ahead of the science. Cannabis has been used therapeutically since at least 2800 B.C., when it was first listed in the Chinese herbal pharmacopeia. Cacao was probably first cultivated as early as 400 AD by the Mayans, although it was already being consumed for health benefits before that. Do we really need to wait for science to confirm what we’ve learned from thousands of years of experience?

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But wait a moment - cannabis and cacao don’t necessarily have a history of being used together. It’s only recently that people have begun concocting dark chocolate and weed edibles, like cookies and brownies.

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This is important, because biochemically active compounds can interact with each other in unpredictable ways. You already know this, though. Think about drug-drug interactions. Just because two drugs separately exert a beneficial effect on the body doesn’t mean they can be mixed successfully. When mixed in the wrong combinations, some medications can stop working, become too powerful, or even dangerous.

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The same goes for the active compounds found in plants. We can't simply assume that the positive effects of dark chocolate will enhance the positive effects of cannabis.

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So which is it - does chocolate make you higher, or doesn’t it? What exactly are the effects of dark chocolate and weed, when combined?

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In this article, we’ll take a look at what’s so great about chocolate, and investigate the reasoning behind the claim that chocolate and THC can create a super-high. We’ll see what the internet gurus are saying, and whether or not those ideas hold up under biochemical scrutiny.

First of all, what’s so great about chocolate?

To the Aztecs, the tree that yielded cacao was a sacred plant. The Greeks called the tree Theobroma cacao, which means “Food of the Gods.” As it turns out, the ancient people were right about cacao – and now we have the science to prove it.

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If that Greek word Theobroma sounds vaguely familiar to you, you’re probably thinking of theobromine. Theobromine is the less-famous sister compound to caffeine. The only difference between the two compounds is a single methyl group. Both compounds are examples of methylxanthines, a type of alkaloid commonly found in teas, coffee, and of course, chocolate.

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Chocolate is the number one dietary source of theobromine, which helps explain why chocolate has so many benefits. Theobromine is a pretty powerful molecule. It is thought to have anti-inflammatory and even anti-tumoral properties. It has also been shown to have protective effects for cardiovascular health. It helps to slow down biological aging by preventing oxidative stress and even interacting with DNA and RNA to regulate gene expression. It has even been suggested to prevent degradation of tooth enamel.

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A 2017 meta-analysis showed that chocolate consumption is associated with reduced risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. Chocolate has also been shown to improve lipid biomarkers for heart health, like LDL and HDL cholesterol. It has been shown to have a neuroprotective effect, reducing risk for diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, while also improving short-term cognitive function.

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Like caffeine, theobromine interacts with the body mainly via adenosine receptors. Remember how we said that it differs from caffeine by just one methyl group? The difference of that one methyl group has slight effects on the way these chemicals interact with the body. Caffeine crosses the blood-brain barrier more easily than theobromine - so its effects are more potent. On the other hand, theobromine has a longer half-life – that means it lingers in the body longer before getting broken down.

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This may explain why theobromine shares many of the benefits of caffeine, but with fewer side effects. For example, caffeine has a stronger effect on alertness and contentment, while theobromine is more likely to increase motivation and calmness. In many cases, it is difficult to separate the effects of theobromine from caffeine, because theobromine is rarely studied in isolation. That isn’t such a bad thing, though, since they are usually found together in nature. Cacao beans contain about a 1-to-5 ratio of caffeine to theobromine. In fact, theobromine is even a metabolite of caffeine.

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Many other compounds found in cacao beans, like flavanols and polyphenols, are also contributing to the powerful health effects of chocolate. In fact, the antioxidant activity of chocolate exceeds even that of blueberries! Beyond that, there are additional compounds produced during fermentation that add to the health effects.

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Even so, theobromine is the one chemical in chocolate that has special interest amongst cannabis users. Why is that?

What does theobromine have to do with cannabis?

Some older studies have suggested that theobromine interacts with the endocannabinoid system indirectly by slowing down the breakdown of one of the body’s endocannabinoids. Let’s take a closer look.

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The endocannabinoid system is a system of chemical receptors that exist in your body from birth. Your body produces its own chemicals, called endocannabinoids, that bind to those receptors. You can also consume phytocannabinoids like THC and CBD, that bind to the same receptors. THC and CBD are not produced naturally by the body, but instead found in the cannabis plant.

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One of the body’s naturally-produced endocannabinoids is called anandamide. It is thought that theobromine can inhibit hydrolysis (or break-down) of anandamide. That means that the body is left with higher concentrations of this endogenous cannabinoid.

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Anandamide interacts with the same receptor as THC, the primary psychoactive compound found in cannabis. This has led some casual speculators to hypothesize that chocolate can enhance your cannabis high. Make sense?

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Well, unfortunately that’s not how it works. To understand why this logic is flawed, we have to understand two very important things.

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First of all, even though the anandamide and THC bind to the same receptor, they actually don’t look that much alike chemically. So, even though they are interacting with the same receptors, they are actually binding in different ways. Notice – you don’t get “high” from your body’s naturally-produced anandamide. Anandamide works to regulate your mood, your appetite, and other normal physiological processes. You get high from the exogenous chemicals found in cannabis.

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Secondly, phytocannabinoids have a MUCH higher affinity for cannabinoid receptors compared to our body’s own cannabinoids. In other words, THC binds so strongly to the receptors in our body that it easily outcompetes anandamide. It won’t matter if you have a little bit of extra anandamide floating around. THC is just way more powerful.

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To take it a step further, the effect of phytocannabinoids on your body is so strong compared to anandamide that it can actually down-regulate the activity of your cannabinoid receptors with repeated use. That means that you can become less sensitive to THC over time, which is why it is sometimes helpful to take a tolerance break. It also means you can change the normal functioning of your body’s endocannabinoid system under normal (sober) circumstances.

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Remember, biochemistry is incredibly nuanced. It’s difficult to draw conclusions about interactive effects of different bioactive plants without specifically testing them together in a controlled experiment.

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Even though humans have been consuming cacao and cannabis for thousands of years, we still don’t fully understand the mechanisms at play for either plant. We definitely don’t know enough to extrapolate how they will interact with each other.

So…does chocolate affect weed?

So far, it’s definitely sounding like a no…but hang in there, because there’s a plot twist coming!

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There are actually two ways chocolate can enhance your high, but they don’t have anything to do with the endocannabinoid system.

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The fat in chocolate can improve the bioavailability of THC.

‍THC is a hydrophobic or “water-fearing” molecule. It prefers to interact with lipids. Studies have shown that consuming oral THC (or edibles) alongside fat-rich foods can improve the bioavailability of THC in the body.

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Lucky for you, cocoa beans are about 55% lipids, found in cocoa butter. So white chocolate, dark chocolate, milk chocolate, or sub an avocado – it doesn’t matter. Any fatty food will enhance your high if you are consuming edible THC.

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Chocolate can improve the taste of cannabis.

‍Let’s face it, chocolate is just tastier than cannabis. So if you prefer to consume cannabis disguised as chocolate, have at it. A better high is a more delicious high.

So, it’s true, after all. Chocolate can enhance your high, just not the way you thought. If you like chocolate and you like cannabis, go ahead and indulge. Your experience is what matters the most.

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If you’re feeling disappointed by the potential of chocolate to enhance your high, take heart! There are plenty of other tried and true ways to have a more powerful high, which you can read about here.

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As always, if you have any questions, feel free to contact us for a free consultation.