Popeyes' New Munchies Menu Will Elevate Your 4/20 Experience
Go ahead. Treat yourself.
Popeye's
Popeyes is on a mission to make sure this is your best 4/20 holiday yet.
The fast food chain is elevating the cannabis-centric date with what it calls a "smokin'" deal (see what they did there?) and a new Munchies Menu that aims to satisfy all your cravings.
Starting today through Saturday, April 20, guests can order off the Munchies Menu, which includes a Chicken Sandwich however they want it (Classic, Spicy, Blackened, or Spicy Blackened) for just $4.20 (again, see what they did there?). No matter which version they choose, guests will still get the same whole chicken breast atop a toasted brioche bun with house or spicy mayo and pickles. Hungry guests can also snag sides, including Cajun Fries, Mac & Cheese, and Mashed Potatoes, for those "larger-than-usual appetites" that tend to happen on 4/20.
Related: Super-Crispy Pan-Fried Chicken
And just so you walk away from this story feeling like you learned something new, here's why cannabis actually makes you hungry.
A 2015 paper published in the journal Nature Neuroscience explains that cannabis essentially makes your brain think you're starving, even if you recently ate a meal, making your hunger signals go into overdrive.
Related: Popeyes Is Releasing an All-New Chicken Wing Flavor — Here's How You Can Get It before Anyone Else
“It’s like pressing a car’s brakes and accelerating instead,” Tamas Horvath, a neuroscientist at the Yale School of Medicine, and lead author of the study, shared in a press release at the time. “We were surprised to find that the neurons we thought were responsible for shutting down eating, were suddenly being activated and promoting hunger, even when you are full. It fools the brain’s central feeding system.”
Another 2023 study published in Scientific Reports, echoes this sentiment, noting that mice exposed to cannabis lead to increased "neuronal activity" that drove the tiny critters to eat more.
Related: Cannabis-Infused Rose and Lavender Tea
“When the mice are given cannabis, neurons come on that typically are not active,” Jon Davis, an assistant professor of neuroscience at WSU and one of the paper’s authors, shared in a statement. “There is something important happening in the hypothalamus after vapor cannabis.”
Now that you know why you want to eat more, you can go ahead and order that $4.20 sandwich, which is available through the Popeyes app or at Popeyes.com for mobile order pickup and delivery.
For more Food & Wine news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!
Read the original article on Food & Wine.
