Can CBD and alcohol be taken together? Is it safe to have a glass of wine or a cocktail if you’ve taken CBD? Do alcohol and CBD cancel out, or do they amplify the other’s effects?

These are just a few of the questions that many people wonder about the two. It’s a good idea to have an understanding of how they interact before you take them together.

As CBD gains popularity because of its many health benefits, more people are using it to experience its calming and restorative effects. Many people take CBD on a daily basis to help ease the symptoms of various ailments. Because it is taken frequently by many, a lot of people are concerned about any potential negative interactions CBD may have with other substances, including alcohol. To learn more about whether it’s okay to mix CBD and alcohol, keep reading!

How does CBD affect the body?

CBD (short for cannabidiol) is a naturally occurring compound called a cannabinoid found in the cannabis plant.

It is known for its potential to treat various ailments while also helping most people feel more relaxed. Many find that CBD helps them get better sleep, improves their mood, reduces pain, and helps them feel healthier overall. Although more research needs to be done before any of those claims can be proven conclusively, the research that has been done on CBD looks very promising.

In fact, CBD is even currently being used in an FDA-approved medication for epilepsy called Epidiolex.

To put it simply, CBD works by interacting with a system in the human body called the endocannabinoid system (ECS). This system is responsible for regulating various other systems in the body like the nervous system, digestive system, and more. The system also plays a big part in regulating mood, controlling pain signals, managing appetite, and more.

The ECS has two types of receptors, CB1 and CB2. CB1 receptors are primarily found in the nervous system and brain while most CB2 receptors are in the immune system and other organs.

CBD interacts with these receptors and ultimately helps to promote homeostasis, or balance, throughout the body. By doing so, it may do things like promote better sleep, reduce anxiety, decrease inflammation, and more.

Although CBD is similar in many ways to the other popular cannabinoid THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), it does not have any of the psychoactive properties that THC has. This means that no matter how much CBD you take, you will not experience a “high.”

How does alcohol affect the body?

Alcohol is absorbed into the bloodstream after being processed by the stomach and the small intestine. It is broken down by the liver before being eliminated by the body. The alcohol circulates in the bloodstream until the liver breaks it down – affecting the brain and all of the body’s other organs.

When the alcohol reaches your brain, you begin to feel drunk. This feeling varies quite a bit from person to person, and it even varies depending on the situation.

Alcohol slows your breathing, thinking, and heart rate, and also often causes you to feel giddy and/or relaxed. Many people find that a drink or two makes them feel sleepy.

What happens when you take CBD and alcohol together?

Alcohol and CBD are similar in that they both promote feelings of relaxation and they may calm your nerves. Because of this, it is thought that taking them together may amplify those calming effects, resulting in increased sleepiness.

The two may also amplify each other in other ways, like potentially causing more drastic changes in behavior and mood.

Not much research has been done on the effects of taking CBD and alcohol together. Scientists are still largely unsure of how the two interact in the human body.

One small study was completed years ago where participants were given CBD and alcohol together. The study found that when both CBD and alcohol were given, the participants experienced significant impairments to their motor performance and perception of time. Those impairments were not experienced when they took only CBD.

However, because the study used more CBD than most people take, and the participant pool was very small, we need more research to be done before we can draw any major conclusions.

The Bottom Line: Can CBD and alcohol be taken together?

In conclusion, there is still a lot that we don’t know about the interaction between CBD and alcohol. More research needs to be done before we get a better picture of how the two work together in the human body.

At the moment, it’s believed that taking both CBD and alcohol may result in increased sleepiness and impaired behavior, although the level of impairment will vary from individual to individual.

Scientists are also interested in studying how CBD may help manage some of the side effects caused by alcohol. A few studies have found that CBD may reduce the cell damage caused by alcohol consumption and may even help alcoholics curb their addictive behaviors.

However, much more research needs to be done before we know for sure how alcohol and CBD interact.

At the moment, it doesn’t appear that taking the two together causes any harmful effects, although it’s important to always drink responsibly in order to stay safe and healthy.

It’s important to note that alcohol and CBD have the potential to affect everyone differently, whether they’re taken together or separately. While some people find that CBD makes them feel very relaxed and sometimes sleepy, others don’t experience the same sleepiness. This can result in very different experiences for various individuals when both CBD and alcohol are involved.

Ultimately, it’s crucial that you pay attention to your body and how you feel when taking CBD and alcohol together. You may also want to speak to your health care provider about drinking alcohol while regularly taking CBD to see what he or she recommends.