We’ve been joking about it for decades, but there is actual scientific grounding for the munchies, the seemingly bottomless pit of hunger that can open up after getting stoned. According to researchers at the University of Calgary, the phenomenon isn’t just stoner comedy fodder. It’s a real biological response, and the research team used rats to prove it.

In a new study conducted in conjunction with researchers at Washington State University, neuroscientist Dr. Matthew Hill and his team exposed rats to cannabis vapor, and for about an hour after getting high, the rats ate like college kids on 4/20. The weed so sparked their appetites that they ate even after a full meal. The rats that weren’t exposed to weed vapor ignored all the extra food. But the high rats ate like they hadn’t eaten in days.

The Munchies Are Real, and Scientists Just Learned More About Why 

With that observation noted, the researchers then fully expected the rats to gravitate toward those fattier, junkier snacks loaded with carbs and fats that we pop culturally associate with the munchies, but the rats didn’t seem to show a preference. They ate whatever was there. They weren’t picky.

The findings line up with a parallel human study involving 82 people who inhaled vaporized marijuana and experienced increased cravings. In that study, the researchers found that beef jerky was one of the more popular snacks.

It’s all well and good, and rather silly, but there’s some real-world benefit to all this. Marijuana is already being used to help manage chemotherapy-related nausea, and the research team believes that a better understanding of how cannabinoids affect appetite could eventually help patients who struggle with eating while undergoing cancer treatment, along with possibly helping people who have developed disordered eating habits.