How many of us look forward to a drink at the end of a hard work week? Some even look forward to it after a particularly hard day. From going out for drinks with friends or healing a broken heart, we all have our reasons to partake. Sprinkle a little bit of Covid into the mix and you have the majority of people who drink alcohol, turning to the bottle a whole lot more.
Even though alcohol may help you feel good for a short period of time, it can affect your health in the long run. More people are turning to the benefits of cannabis from stress, anxiety, and feelings of isolation. Research reveals that cannabis can have the same relaxing and uplifting effects as alcohol without the potential risks and side effects.
Here are six reasons why people are choosing cannabis over alcohol:
1. Cannabis works with your body, not against it
The list of negative effects alcohol can have is not a short one. Our bodies can effectively process alcohol, but too much, too often is not good for our bodies. The liver can process one ounce of liquor, or one standard drink, in one hour. If you consume more than this, your system becomes saturated, and the additional alcohol will accumulate in the blood and body tissues until it can be metabolized.
Consuming cannabis in any form activates receptors in the body’s endocannabinoid system, a network of cell receptors that responds both to natural cannabinoids produced by the body and to compounds in the cannabis plant. This system plays a role in moderating pain, regulating mood, and keeping the body balanced. But the body has no natural ethanol receptors, so when someone consumes alcohol, the tissues and cells respond to it as a toxic substance.
2. You don’t gain weight
Alcohol is one of the worst contributors to “empty calories”. Most cocktails are full of sugar and beer is very high in calories. A night of drinking could easily turn into thousands of calories. Over time, you are bound to gain weight.
Cannabis doesn’t have calories and won’t make you gain weight. Sure there is the long-running joke of getting the munchies, but not for everyone and not everyone turns to unhealthy foods when they have a craving.
3. Minimal side effects
If you have experienced a hangover, you know they are not fun, and when you have one, there isn’t much you can do to relieve it but suffer through it. Hangovers are the body’s reaction to poisoning and withdrawal from alcohol. Hangovers symptoms can include fatigue, depression, headache, thirst, nausea, and vomiting.
Although it can take some experimenting to discover the right products and dosage, cannabis generally has minimal side effects for most people. People have been known to have some unwanted side effects when consuming too much THC, but if you moderate and know the right dosage for yourself, you can avoid that. Of course, those under the age of 18 can also have harmful effects, but that is why there are age limits, as the same goes for alcohol.
4. You can’t overdoes from cannabis
Overdoing your alcohol intake can put you in serious danger, whether you need to get your stomach pumped from alcohol poisoning or even death related to too much alcohol. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, there has been no report of an adult death solely caused by too much cannabis consumption.
5. Cannabis aids with sleep
Alcohol affects your sleep in a few negative ways. It could make you to toss and turn, wake up more often during the night, stayed awake longer and sleep for less time overall, not to mention you will wake up more frequently to urinate.
Cannabis is the opposite in which cannabis, especially products that are high in CBD, can promote relaxation and restful sleep because they work with the body’s natural regulatory systems.
6. Aids with stress and anxiety
Alcohol is considered a depressant, which means you feel pretty down after, not only the effects of a hangover, but you emotionally feel blue.
Cannabis promotes the release of the brain’s “feel-good” chemicals, such as dopamine and GABA, which support calmness and a positive mood.
Everyone copes with their hurdles differently. There are many ways to use cannabis effectively and different combinations can help to relieve stress or anxiety, and there are obvious reasons it’s better for you than alcohol. What are the different ways you use cannabis to cope with stress, anxiety, or for your own reasons? Let us know in the comments.