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Can cannabis and CBD help you recover from your New Year’s Day hangover? If you’re over 40 years old like us, that question has likely been on your mind (and in your Google search bars) for decades.
While there doesn’t seem to be hangover silver bullet, there are many proclaimed hangover remedies and cures out there from eating a greasy breakfast and having a drink the next morning (also known as “hair of the dog”) to consuming ginger, zinc, B vitamins and, yes, cannabis and CBD. But do any of them help?
Since Three Wells is a CBD and cannabis education site, we’ll tackle the cannabis and CBD question- we’ll leave the other possible remedies to your own experimentation but let us know if you find the silver bullet! We asked our Chief Medical Advisor, Dr. Deborah Malka, what many of us have always wondered – “Can cannabis or CBD help people recover from their New Year’s hangovers?”
Hear from Dr. Malka below…
Relieving Hangover Nausea
Is there anything worse than waking up and feeling nauseous after a long night, making you ask yourself “Why did I do this to myself?!” and proclaiming “I’m never drinking again!” Ever said those things? While curled up on the bathroom floor? Yea, we may have done the same ourselves.
“Alcohol irritates the lining of the stomach, causing increased acid production, and may lead to nausea and vomiting during the hangover period,” Dr. Malka said.
Here is where CBD or any type of cannabis could help.
“Both THC and CBD are anti-emetic, they help reduce nausea and vomiting. THC in particular has been shown to reduce stomach acid,” Dr. Malka said. “Perhaps a few CBD or cannabis puffs from your vape pen or sublingual drops are best used here. They are fast acting and can reverse symptoms within 10-20 minutes. In these two instances, cannabis or CBD extracted from hemp could both be effective, although purified CBD requires a higher dose.”
Relieving Hangover Headache
One of the most common symptoms of drinking too much is the awful headache you wake up with the next morning. Why?
“Alcohol causes your blood vessels to expand, which can lead to headaches,” Dr. Malka said. “These are accompanied by an increase in inflammatory molecules, calling for anti-inflammatory treatment.”
Here is where cannabis or CBD comes in handy.
“Not only is cannabis and CBD anti-inflammatory, but as opposed to aspirin or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDS), they are protective of the gut, not irritating,” Dr. Malka said. “Actually, taking NSAIDS for a hangover-induced headache could lead to more gastrointestinal distress. So, taking a few vaporized puffs for nausea is already helping the headache as well.”
Promoting Hangover Sleep
Disturbance of your biological clock – like staying up waaay past your normal bedtime to watch the New Year’s Eve ball drop – could result in insomnia or sleeplessness. Combining that with late-night (and maybe too much) alcohol might leave you feeling fatigued and sleepy on New Year’s Day.
“This your body using a rebound mechanism, trying to make up for the lack of deep sleep you should have gotten the night before,” Dr. Malka says.
When we talk about alcohol-induced insomnia, it DOES matter what type of cannabis you use, according to Dr. Malka.
“Here, a THC-rich indica type of product with myrcene and humulene (sedating terpenes) will cover all of the above symptoms, nausea/vomiting, headache, and promoting sleep. CBD alone is a relaxant but does not put you to sleep,” she said.
Last, but not least is your mood during a hangover. “There is often some depression associated with this condition, contributed to by low blood sugar during the hangover,” Dr. Malka said. “Cannabis can help with appetite and depression, so eat, drink water and rest with the help of this useful herbal remedy. The hangover is likely to be gone in the morning!”
HAPPY NEW YEAR from all of us at Three Wells! And if you overindulge this year please do it safely – stay home, don’t drive and have both cannabis and CBD on hand to help you make through the next day.
