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Millions of people around the world are addicted to alcohol. Not only to the alcoholics, this condition is having negative impacts on the personal and professional lives of their families also. There can be many reasons for a person to start drinking. But when the drinking habit gets out of control, they will start to develop alcoholism.
Like most of the other diseases, alcoholism can also be treated. There are many medications available in the market that will help in managing alcohol dependence. Today, people are looking for natural remedies to treat alcoholism and they found CBD quite useful. CBD is an active cannabinoid found in the hemp plants and has several therapeutic properties.
Many of the health experts are recommending the use of different types of CBD products for treating alcoholism.
What Are The Benefits Of CBD For Alcoholism?
The antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties possessed by CBD is very beneficial in treating alcoholism and the health problems caused by it. CBD will help to normalize the functioning of your liver and protect it from liver diseases. Alcoholism will affect your memory and cognitive functions and the use of CBD will help to improve both. Most importantly, CBD will help to control your cravings for alcohol.
Let’s see the benefits of CBD for treating alcoholism.
Prevent Fatty Livers
The consumption of alcohol will lead to a higher intake of fat from your diet and its accumulation in your liver. This will disrupt your liver function and causes inflammation that can lead to hepatic steatosis, which is a very common liver disease caused due to alcoholism.
When compared to vitamin C and vitamin E, CBD has very powerful antioxidant properties. This property of CBD is very significant in reducing the oxidative stress of the liver. Several studies have also shown that CBD could increase autophagy, which helps to maintain the smooth functioning of your liver.
Related: What are some of the common therapeutic properties of CBD? Click here to find out more.
Reduce Blood Alcohol Levels
One clinical study has found that CBD could reduce blood alcohol levels when CBD and alcohol are consumed together. The study has found that blood alcohol levels are lesser in people who took CBD with alcohol than people who took alcohol alone. However, it is still not found how CBD reduces blood alcohol levels.
Most of the scientists believe that CBD has some influence in the absorption of alcohol into the blood from your intestines and stomach. It was found that CBD could disrupt drug metabolism in the liver. Therefore, it is highly likely that CBD could also disrupt the breakdown of alcohol in your liver.
Prevent Liver Injury
People who consume alcohol have different intolerance levels. the most obvious reason for this is the environment, but recent studies have shown that the genes also have a role to play in it. In some people, the alcohol is broken down way faster and they do not feel intoxicated as the others and keep on drinking, which will increase the risk of liver damage.
Studies have found that CBD is a robust immunosuppressant. This property of CBD will help in suppressing the pro-inflammatory responses and reduce oxidative stress. Thus, protecting the liver from injuries.
Provides Protection From Brain Damage
The people who are addicted to alcohol are at a higher risk of brain damage. Alcohol consumption can kill brain cells and can result in behavioral and cognitive impairment. The memory loss in the morning after you drink the previous night is because of the high alcohol levels blocking the memory formation.
The areas of the brain that are associated with attention, learning, behavioral control, memory, and problem-solving are the areas that are more susceptible to the effects of alcohol. The antioxidant properties of CBD help in fighting alcohol toxicity and prevent the damage of brain cells.
Helps With Addiction
Several studies have proven that CBD curbs the addictive behaviors related to drugs like marijuana and opioids. This one of the main reasons why scientists believe that CBD can also curb addictions related to alcoholism even though it is not tested on humans.
However, there are some animal studies that looked at the effect of CBD on alcohol addiction and mots of them showed positive results. These studies showed that the use of CBD reduces the motivation to consume alcohol. Normally, naltrexone is used to manage alcohol dependence. Recent studies conducted on mice showed that using CBD along with naltrexone makes its effects stronger.
CBD-Infused Alcoholic Beverages
The CBD industry is growing faster in the past couple of years and many countries, including the United States, have legalized the use of hemp-derived CBD products. Today, you can find CBD-infused alcoholic beverages in many bars and clubs across the country.
CBD-infused alcohol is a great way to control the blood alcohol level and avoiding the intoxicating effects of alcohol. CBD-infused beverages will also help in reducing alcohol dependence.
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