Appetite enhancement

Appetite enhancement is an increase in the desire to eat, felt as heightened hunger, a greater-than-usual interest in food, or an intensified enjoyment of its smell and taste.

As a drug effect it is acute and threshold-characteristic, appearing at low to moderate doses and easing as the substance wears off, which sets it apart from clinical appetite disorders or metabolic conditions. It ranges from a mild uptick in interest in food to an insistent, preoccupying urge to eat.

It is a commonly reported interoceptive effect across several drug classes. It is most commonly induced at low to moderate doses under cannabinoids such as THJ-018, JWH-018, and 5F-AKB48, and under depressants such as alcohol and 2M2B; it also appears under the antidepressant mirtazapine and, less predictably, under deliriants such as myristicin.

Appetite enhancement is felt as a pull toward food: attention drifts toward smells, flavors, and textures — whether nearby or only imagined. The stomach registers as actively empty rather than merely neutral, and food eaten recently can lose its sense of having been enough.

Food-related cues become sharper; aromas are more salient, presentation more compelling. Attending to the hunger tends to intensify it. At higher doses, particularly under cannabinoids, the urge becomes preoccupying and difficult to redirect.

Appetite enhancement arises through different pathways depending on the drug class:

• Cannabinoids — act on CB1 receptors in hypothalamic feeding circuits, directly stimulating hunger signaling and amplifying sensory responses to food.
• Depressants — reduce inhibitory tone and satiety signaling; appetite often emerges as a disinhibition of eating behavior rather than true physiological hunger.
• Antidepressants — mirtazapine blocks histamine H1 and serotonin 5-HT2C receptors, both implicated in appetite and weight regulation.
• Deliriants — the pathway through which myristicin promotes appetite is poorly characterized.

How much each pathway contributes in a given case is not fully understood.

Who experiences it, and how strongly, varies widely. Higher doses raise both likelihood and intensity, particularly under cannabinoids and depressants. Set and setting play a role — proximity to food, ambient aromas, and social eating cues can amplify it — as can disposition toward food and prior history with appetite-stimulating substances.

Going in expecting hunger tends to make it arrive sooner. Those who have recently eaten a large meal or carry a naturally low appetite baseline tend to experience it less intensely.