CBD and Alcohol- hot or not?

Alcohol, especially in Germany, is more than just a psychotropic beverage; it's a cult! And CBD, or more in general, cannabis, is catching up, especially with the upcoming legalisation of cannabis in Germany. There's a rise in popularity. Both relax, so more people question what happens when you mix a glass of wine with CBD. 

That's what we are going to try to answer today!

Can I take CBD and drink Alcohol?

So, get set!

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What are the similarities between Alcohol and CBD?

Other than that, people drink or use CBD to unwind and relax. There aren't really many similarities between CBD and Alcohol drinking.

But there are a lot of differences.

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What are the differences between CBD and Alcohol?

First, there is a difference in the relationship between the effect and dosage of CBD and Alcohol. Whilst, with Alcohol, the more you drink, the drunker you get holds true (we all indeed have experienced our eyes closing after a heavy night out, entering a spinning second dimension followed by a feeling of sickness). CBD, on the other hand, follows a bell-shaped curve where the effect first increases, plateaus and then drops after some time. So, excess consumption is nearly impossible with CBD.

Cannabidiol is classified by the World Health Organization as an easily tolerable and not highly addictive substance.

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How does CBD interact with Alcohol?

There is one problem when talking about CBD and Alcohol interactions, cravings or benefits, which is that general CBD research is low. 

There is one even more significant problem influencing the general acceptance of CBD... little investment into research.

For research to be apprehended, a private company must sponsor the study. However, CBD studies cannot be patented, so companies do not see profitability in pumping millions into human trials.

Hence, at the time of writing, there have only been twelve renowned and reviewed studies on cell culture models showing concluding results that CBD potentially has a neuroprotective effect on the hippocampus against the damaging effects of Alcohol. 

The hippocampus controls most dominantly our memories!

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How does CBD influence alcohol addiction or withdrawal?

Here also, some studies have been published which underline the excellent tolerability and low addictive potential of CBD. In line with how the intake of CBD affects alcohol consumption, studies have shown that CBD did, in fact, help rats addicted to Alcohol. They also showed that anxiety, which often goes hand in hand with addiction, could be minimised, and the recurrence rate was lowered too.

The rats nurtured to be alcohol dependent were given CBD gel every 24 hours on their skin for seven days. CBD weakened the rats' cravings for Alcohol without causing a sedative effect.
The study showed that even though the CBD could only be traced in the rats' bodies for around three days, their addictive potential was influenced for up to five months.

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Can CBD cure a hangover?

However, whether this can also be applied to people has not been well investigated, so you should follow the well-known rule of less is more to avoid unpleasant side effects. 

Nevertheless, ingesting CBD to cure a hangover is another exciting topic. The natural wonder has several beneficial medicinal properties, such as an antiemetic effect, which avoids vomiting. As previously stated, it is also frequently used to treat headaches and migraines, essential for your greasy Sunday mornings.

To conclude, we can say that after a systematic review of all the published literature on the CBD bubble, studies attest that there are no hazardous interactions between Alcohol and CBD.

For a detailed review on the science part for all the scientists among you reading here is the study from which we have sourced our information:

https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fphar.2019.00627/full

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