You wake up with a huge, pounding headache after partying with friends. You try to get out of bed, but you are hit with a bout of dizziness so strong that you feel like you might throw up. You’re tired, and your body aches — it’s a bad hangover. It’s time to try the CBD hangover cure.
Hangovers are no fun, but it happens to the best of us. And we’ve tried it all: Eating a greasy breakfast. Drinking healthy drinks. Or just plain old barfing into a toilet all morning. Luckily there’s something you can use to ease an upset stomach. There’s something to make you feel more awake and relaxed. It’s CBD! This naturally occurring compound has many positive benefits that dim the side effects of a hangover — without getting you high.
Table of Contents
What Is A Hangover?
If you want to cure it, let’s first figure out what caused it. Surprisingly, not much is known about hangovers, including why they happen. But it’s believed that alcohol disrupts the flow of our biological functioning. Or it may be as simple as alcohol withdrawal. While nobody can agree to the exact cause, it’s undeniable that it starts in the liver.
First, alcohol travels through a series of pretty complex enzymatic pathways. An enzyme in the liver (cytochrome P450) makes the alcohol less toxic for the body. But if you drink too much alcohol, the toxicity increases and the liver has to work even harder to do this.
Chemicals produced during this process are mixed with metabolites by the liver’s cells. They become water-soluble compounds so they can be excreted safely from our bodies. This is the liver’s attempt to prevent increased toxicity.
During this process, we can feel the negative side effects of a hangover — the vomiting, the dizziness, the fatigue. People try to fight these negative effects with water, electrolytes, medications, sleeping, eating certain foods. The effectiveness of these methods vary from person to person, and none are a sure thing.
Does CBD Work For Alcohol Hangovers?
The most common hangover cure is eating big, gross, greasy meals and drinking a ton of water. But that can be tough to do when you’re feeling sick. The thought of a burger dripping with grease might make you want to throw up before you even get up and head out the door.
Luckily, there is another hangover cure that many people are starting to discover: CBD. Consumers of CBD report positive benefits from CBD, especially when dealing with headaches and queasiness. A lot of the symptoms of your hangover may be greatly reduced by CBD.
How Does CBD Help With Hangovers?
CBD is a non-psychoactive phytocannabinoid, meaning it doesn’t get you high. It’s one of many phytocannabinoids in hemp, a cannabis plant with 0.3% THC or less. While CBD won’t get you high, it supports your body’s endocannabinoid system (ECS) to positively affect various systems within your body and mind.
The ECS is present in all living mammals and encourages balance in the body’s essential functions— this is called homeostasis. Our ECS plays a critical role in maintaining homeostasis, which keeps our bodies and minds healthy despite outside elements. CBD boosts the ECS’ functions in a variety of ways by interacting with its receptors.
The endocannabinoid system supports the CB1 and CB2 receptors, found in different areas throughout the body. When the ECS interacts with these receptors, it provides numerous benefits to the body, including:
CBD Helps with Stomach Trouble
Studies have shown that CBD promotes gut health. When CBD meshes with the receptors in our dorsal raphe nucleus (located in the brain stem), it reduces the release of 5-HT, which activates the nerves that bring about the vomiting reflex.
CBD Helps with Restful Sleep
CBD promotes not only sleep but a deeper sleep. Getting a good night’s sleep can help you feel more rested and refreshed when you wake up the next morning. And with good rest may reduce the drowsiness and fatigue you’ll often feel the next day when you have a hangover.
CBD Can Reduce Headaches
Since CBD may soothe discomfort — headaches are a part of that. When the pounding in your head is reduced, so will the queasiness. With a good night’s rest, you’re more likely to be able to get out of bed and fight through a hangover!
How to Use CBD for Hangovers
Take CBD right before you go to bed. That way, the CBD will be absorbed in the body and suppress nausea in the morning. And feel free to take CBD again in the morning if needed. But don’t take CBD before you start drinking. CBD has been proven to reduce blood alcohol levels in a few studies.
So how much CBD should you take before bed? We recommend a regular dosage, which is 0.25 mg per 1 pound of body weight. This varies a bit based on your age, symptoms, metabolism, activity level, and more. It also depends on the CBD product you’re using and how potent it is.
Here’s a basic example:
- 120 pounds = 30 mg of CBD
- 130 pounds = 32.5 mg of CBD
- 140 pounds = 35 mg of CBD
- 150 pounds = 37.5 mg of CBD
- 160 pounds = 40 mg of CBD
- 170 pounds = 42.5 mg of CBD
- 180 pounds = 45 mg of CBD
- 190 pounds = 47.5 mg of CBD
- 200 pounds = 50 mg of CBD
- 210 pounds = 52.5 mg of CBD
- 230 pounds = 57.5 mg of CBD
If the regular dose isn’t enough, you can try a strong dose of CBD. A stronger dose is generally 0.5 mg per 1 pound of bodyweight. This means it’s double the amounts above. A 120-pound person would need 60 mg of CBD for a strong dose. A 200-pound person would take 100 mg of CBD.
How to Ingest CBD When You’re Nauseous
A lot of times, someone with a hangover might start to vomit at the thought of a pile of pancakes dripping with butter and syrup. They might feel bile rising if they picture a burrito filled with melted cheese and greasy meats. How should you take CBD when you’re feeling queasy?
CBD tinctures may be your best option. Digesting CBD will target the problem at the source, reaching your stomach and serotonin receptors faster. CBD oil is put under the tongue so you’re not taking mouthfuls of anything that might make you feel sick.
CBD oil often includes other types of oil, either coconut, olive, or hemp. Oils are great for the gut, making them the perfect addition to CBD when you have a hangover. This combo will help reduce the negative effects gut bacteria, and its toxins have on the body. Oil also makes it easier to digest CBD and gain the strongest benefits from it.
How Long Does it Take for CBD to Work?
CBD can take up to 30 minutes to take effect. Taking CBD sublingually is one of the fastest ways to absorb CBD and experience its benefits, taking as short as 10 to 15 minutes to kick in!
Right when you wake up, take the CBD so you can start experiencing its effects sooner. Before taking the CBD drops, rinse out your mouth and brush your teeth. This will get rid of any bacteria built up in your mouth as well as any leftover smells of alcohol.
You’ll experience stronger and longer-lasting effects if you take CBD regularly. Before your next party, start taking CBD every eight hours or twice a day. You’ll already be experiencing the benefits of CBD before the hangover begins, making it even easier to fight it when you continue taking CBD the following morning.
What Are The Best CBD Products For A Hangover?
CBD oil with hemp oil is probably the best product post-hangover. As mentioned previously, these oils are easy to digest thanks to its subtle earthy taste, and it works quite fast in the right spots. It has a taste people like and works without having to swallow large amounts. Perfect for someone who is queasy.
But there are a few other products you may want to try if you’re having symptoms of a hangover.
CBD Edibles
If you’re able to eat a light snack, you might want to swallow a few CBD gummies. They have a great flavor that’s sweet and fun. This will get the sour taste of the party and alcohol out of your mouth! Gummies will also enter your digestive system, hitting one of the areas you need the CBD to focus on.
CBD in Cooking
You can use CBD oil inside your favorite recipes if you’re feeling up for it. If you are the type who needs a big meal to cure a hangover, try adding CBD to whatever your go-to meal is. CBD is the perfect addition to pancake mix and can also easily be implemented into a stir fry.
CBD and CBD honey sticks are also great additions to tea, another drink that might help when you’re feeling a bit under the weather. Tea acts as a stimulant, improving feelings of fatigue. Black and green tea also have antioxidants that reduce some of the negative side effects of alcohol consumption. Mint tea can make you feel rejuvenated and charge your senses.
There are two ways you can add CBD to your tea in the morning. Place a ready-made tea bag into the mug along with the CBD honey stick. Or grind up some CBD flower and add it to your tea of choice. Put the mix into a tea infuser and place it back into the mug. Fill the mug with hot water.
CBD Bath Bomb
If you don’t have somewhere to go, the perfect way to relax after a night of partying is a bath. And no bath that is complete without a CBD bath bomb. This provides you with the rejuvenation and healing of the fizzy bath bomb ingredients and the deeper-hitting CBD, which will support the endocannabinoid receptors under your skin to soothe your aches. If you’re feeling sore and exhausted due to your hangover, this is one sure way to relax and get refreshed for the day ahead.
Final Thoughts – CBD Hangover
A night of drinking is fun. Being with friends, playing games, sipping your alcoholic beverage, dancing, talking, drinking. But this morning, you feel completely awful — rife with hangover symptoms. Your head is pounding. Your body is sore. You feel like you might throw up if you try to get up. You’re exhausted and in need of a CBD cure.
Even though scientists don’t know a lot about hangovers, specifically hangover relief, there’s no denying that they suck. But there are luckily a lot of ways to combat the symptoms of a hangover. Can CBD cure a hangover? Possibly.
CBD is a natural, organic, and legal way to fight your hangover healthily. Take it before you go to bed, and then take it again when you wake up to experience its effects. CBD fights headaches, queasiness, and drowsiness — all the worst symptoms of the worst hangovers. You’ll be feeling better in no time with the right dose of CBD in your body!
