Can Eating Mangoes Give Pot Smokers a Faster, Better High?

Biting into a perfectly ripe mango is living proof of nature's goodness. The flesh is at once creamy, smooth, tart, and sweet. Plus they're incredibly good for you.

• Don't Miss: The Best Way to Peel a Mango

A study led by Dr. Edralin Lucas, an associate professor at Oklahoma State University not only confirms the well-known health benefits of mangoes (they're high in fiber, vitamins A and C, minerals, and phytochemicals), but they could also help with controlling body fat and blood sugar.

And if you enjoy marijuana for recreational or medical purposes (we're not judging), then the news just got even better.

Myrcene Is the Miracle Ingredient for Pot Smokers

Turns out that the chemical in mangoes that makes them smell so tasty, myrcene, contains terpenes, which are also inside cannibis. (Fun fact: mangoes also have a little bit of urushiol on their skin, stems, and leaves, the toxic allergen found in poison ivy, oak, and sumac!)

Mangoes and marijuana, the perfect mix for faster bliss.

Eating a mango (or drinking a mango smoothie) 90 minutes before smoking weed might increase the intensity of the high and halve the amount of time it takes for THC, the chemical in pot that intoxicates you, to get from your blood to your brain. Without mangoes, it would be about seven seconds. Other sources say you need as little as one hour between mango and marijuana consumption.

THC needs to cross the blood-brain barrier to create intoxication.

However, Salon points out that the time may need to be adjusted based on an individual's metabolism and size. They also note that certain varieties of mangoes (Cavalo, Espada, Paulista, and Rosa) have especially high levels of myrcene.

This is a Tommy Atkins mango, the most commonly seen variety in grocery stores.

The Alternatives to Myrcene-Rich Mangoes

What if you don't like mangoes? Well, there are other foods and herbs that contain this chemical. Celeb Stoner tried the mango method and gave a thumbs up to the results, and notes that lemongrass, hops, and black pepper extract also have myrcene.

Lemongrass, used commonly in Thai cooking, contains myrcene as well.

And if that weren't enough good news, research at Texas A&M university shows that mangoes can stop colon and breast cancer cell growth in laboratory experiments. So whichever way you slice (or smoke) it, eating mangoes is definitely a good thing.

Now that you know the benefits of eating mangoes, learn how to choose a ripe mango, cut those suckers open easier, cook mango pickle, and caramelize mango with rum and brown sugar, among other things.

Cover image via HD Wallpaper World