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What Happens When You Eat Cannabis
THC edibles follow a 6-hour path once your liver processes them. Know your variables to plan experiences that feel smooth and predictable.
Written by Sipho Sam
August 19th, 2025
Here's what's happening: your liver is transforming THC into something entirely different than what you'd get from smoking.
This metabolic magic trick explains why edibles hit different, last longer, and catch even experienced users off guard.
Once you understand this transformation timeline, you can stop treating every edible THC experience like a gamble and start scheduling it like any other commitment.
This guide maps exactly when each phase hits, how long it lasts, and what variables you control.
Understanding your personal metabolic pattern often makes the difference between a perfect evening and calling in sick tomorrow.
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Table of Contents
Your Liver Turns THC Into Something Stronger
Why 45 Minutes Feels Like Forever
The Two Hour Peak Nobody Warns You About
When Your Body Burns Through THC Too Fast
What TSA Actually Looks For
Food Changes Everything About Your High
Planning Your Six Hour Window
Finding Your Personal Pattern
Your Liver Turns THC Into Something Stronger
When you eat cannabis, your liver performs a transformation that fundamentally changes the game.
It converts delta-9 THC into 11-hydroxy-THC, a metabolite that crosses the blood-brain barrier more efficiently and creates more intense effects than smoking ever could.
This first-pass metabolism through your digestive system and liver means that 10mg eaten hits completely differently than 10mg smoked.
Your liver essentially upgrades the THC into a more potent version, which explains why veterans who can face-smoke a joint sometimes find themselves overwhelmed by a single gummy.
Consider the Reddit user who accidentally consumed 264mg of THC-P, thinking it was regular THC.
They ended up "greened out in a diner," discovering firsthand how potency confusion combined with liver metabolism creates experiences that feel less like relaxation and more like an emergency.
The lesson? Those innocent-looking gummies pack a delayed punch that's biochemically different from any other consumption method.
This metabolic reality transforms edibles from snacks into timed chemical reactions. A 5mg THC amount means a 2-hour onset commitment.
A 15mg strength like Mood's consistent gummies represents a 6-hour neurochemical journey. Understanding this conversion helps explain why predictability matters more than potency when it comes to edibles.
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Why 45 Minutes Feels Like Forever
The journey from your mouth to your bloodstream follows a winding path through stomach acid, intestinal absorption, and liver processing. Unlike smoking's near-instant lung-to-brain highway, edibles take the scenic route.
Your stomach treats that gummy like any other food, breaking it down over 30-45 minutes before passing it to your small intestine.
Empty stomach? You might feel the effects in 30 minutes. Just finished a fatty meal? You're looking at 90 minutes to 2 hours. That burger doesn't just delay your high — it changes how much THC ultimately reaches your system.
This variable timeline creates the classic dose-stacking trap. You take 10mg, feel nothing after an hour, take another 10mg, then both doses hit simultaneously two hours later.
Now you're dealing with 20mg when you only wanted 10mg worth of effects, and there's no off button for the next several hours.
Smart users treat onset time like flight schedules — build in delays and never double-book.
Carbonated beverages can speed absorption slightly, while fatty foods create a slower, more sustained release.
But the golden rule remains: wait at least two full hours before even considering a second THC amount.
The Two Hour Peak Nobody Warns You About
Somewhere between hour two and hour three, your blood plasma concentration hits its peak.
This is when Reddit shares stories about intense experiences and posts about feeling "too high."
What's actually happening is completely normal — just intensely uncomfortable if you weren't expecting it.
Your body responds to peak plasma levels with increased heart rate, heightened sensory perception, and sometimes that distinctive feeling that time has become sticky.
These sensations feel alarming but are typically part of the standard experience. Everyone's comfort level varies, so knowing your limits matters.
When the peak hits harder than expected, simple interventions help. Fresh air and temperature changes help ground your sensory system. Hydration combats dry mouth and helps your body process.
Reminding yourself that this intensity will noticeably decrease within 90 minutes helps maintain perspective.
This is precisely why Mood's standardized 15mg THC amounts matter. When every gummy contains exactly the same strength, you can map your personal peak timeline without the variable of inconsistent potency throwing off your calculations.
Predictable products create predictable peaks.
Watch: All About Edibles
When Your Body Burns Through THC Too Fast
The frustrated veteran posting "nothing under 100mg works" isn't exaggerating or showing off.
They're likely rapid metabolizers whose bodies process THC with unusual efficiency, requiring amounts that would floor most users just to achieve moderate effects.
Genetic variations affect how quickly your enzymes break down cannabinoids.
Some people's bodies treat THC like a sprint, processing it so rapidly that standard amounts barely register. Others run a marathon, feeling the effects of a 5mg gummy for eight full hours. Neither metabolism is wrong — they require different strategies.
For high-tolerance users, the math becomes crucial. If you need 100mg to feel what others get from 10mg, you're looking at $10-20 per session using standard retail pricing.
This economic reality drives people to seek higher-potency options or alternative cannabinoids like THC-P, which brings its own risks and unpredictability.
The Math That Actually Matters
Breaking down cost-per-session reveals why consistency trumps mega-doses. Taking seven 15mg gummies (105mg total) from a reliable source costs more upfront but delivers predictable effects.
Hunting for sketchy 100mg single gummies might save money until you hit a hot spot or an underdosed batch.
The calculation is as follows: Standard 15mg gummies at $2 each mean $14 for a 105mg session.
A single 100mg gummy for $8 seems economical until inconsistent manufacturing means one barely works while the next sends you to space.
Reliable products with transparent testing become a better investment for high-tolerance users who can't afford guessing games.
This reality check helps reframe tolerance from a problem to solve into a factor to optimize around. Your metabolism is what it is — the goal becomes finding the most reliable, cost-effective way to work with it.
What TSA Actually Looks For
The concern around flying with gummies stems from conflicting information and urban legends. Here's the practical reality: TSA screens for security threats, not personal use substances.
They're looking for weapons and explosives, not your legally purchased hemp-derived products.
However, "TSA doesn't test for THC" doesn't mean "travel without risk." If security finds something suspicious and calls law enforcement, you're now dealing with local laws.
Flying from Los Angeles to Denver? Both states allow cannabis. Flying through Idaho or Texas? You're carrying a controlled substance across state lines.
The real risk windows extend beyond airport security. Employment testing can detect THC metabolites for 3-30 days, depending on usage patterns.
That vacation gummy could cost you a job weeks later. State borders present another hazard — what's legal in Oregon becomes a felony crossing into Idaho.
Smart travelers research both departure and arrival laws, understand their employment policies, and recognize that "getting away with it" doesn't equal "legal."
Mood's state compliance guide and automatic geo-blocking removes the guesswork, showing exactly where hemp-derived products can legally ship.
Food Changes Everything About Your High
Your stomach contents act like a THC traffic controller, dramatically affecting both timing and intensity. That same 10mg gummy creates three entirely different experiences depending on when and what you've eaten.
Empty stomach in the morning? Expect a rapid onset (30-45 minutes) with a sharp peak and shorter duration. The THC rockets through your system without food to slow absorption.
Just finished a fatty brunch? Now you're looking at a 90-120 minute onset with a gentler, more sustained experience as the fats help carry THC through your system.
Carbonation creates another variable. That THC-infused seltzer or gummy taken with soda can accelerate the onset by increasing intestinal absorption.
Some users intentionally pair gummies with carbonated beverages to shave 15-20 minutes off waiting time.
These biological realities explain why yesterday's perfect amount disappoints today or why the same product hits differently on weekends versus weekdays.
Your 6 p.m. after-work gummy on an empty stomach delivers a completely different timeline than your Saturday afternoon dose after lunch.
Recognizing these patterns lets you adjust timing rather than chasing different potencies.
Planning Your Six Hour Window
Treating edibles like a scheduled commitment rather than a spontaneous indulgence changes everything.
Once you swallow that gummy, you've blocked out the next six to eight hours, whether you planned to or not.
The timeline breaks down predictably: 30-90 minutes to onset, 2-4 hours of peak effects, then 2-4 hours of gradual decline.
A 5mg evening THC amount at 6 PM means feeling effects by 7, peaking around 8-9, and returning to baseline around midnight — clear for tomorrow's 9 AM meeting.
But take 15mg simultaneously, and you might still feel residual effects at breakfast.
Real-world planning gets complex. That runner taking 5mg before a 15k discovered timing matters when effects peaked mid-race, throwing off pacing and turning relaxation into concern.
Social events require similar calculation—nobody wants to peak during dinner with the in-laws or feel nothing during the concert they specifically prepared for.
This scheduling reality makes products like Mood's Social line particularly useful.
When you know exactly what amount you're getting, you can reliably plan when effects start and stop, turning unpredictable experiences into calendar entries.
Finding Your Personal Pattern
The path to predictable experiences isn't finding a magical universal amount — it's recognizing your individual response pattern and working with it consistently.
Your perfect Thursday evening amount might overwhelm you on Saturday afternoon, and that's completely normal.
Creating a simple log transforms guesswork into data. Track four variables: THC amount taken, time of consumption, stomach contents, and hourly effects.
After a few weeks, patterns emerge. Maybe you consistently need 20% more on a full stomach, or effects always peak at exactly 2.5 hours regardless of other factors.
This experimentation phase explains why Mood's 100-day guarantee makes sense. Finding your pattern takes time and multiple attempts.
Companies that understand this journey support it with policies that remove financial risk from necessary trial and error.
The end goal isn't perfection — it's predictability. Once you know that 10mg on an empty stomach gives you three hours of comfortable effects, or that 15mg with dinner provides the perfect evening wind-down, you've transformed edibles from unpredictable wildcards into reliable tools that fit your life.
Working with your biology instead of fighting it brings peace to the entire process. High tolerance isn't a failure — it's just expensive. Slow metabolism isn't a problem — it's economical.
Everybody processes cannabis differently, and discovering your personal algorithm turns frustration into understanding.
The next time you unwrap that gummy, you're not gambling on an unknown outcome. You're starting a timed experience you can predict, plan around, and most importantly, enjoy without worry.
Because knowing when each phase hits and how long it lasts transforms edibles from mysterious chemistry experiments into scheduled life enhancements that work with your unique biology.
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