Quitting smoking is a difficult task emotionally as well as mentally. Giving up smoking, however, benefits your health in multitudinous ways – reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease and other conditions, increasing life expectancy and improving quality of life.
Research shows that cannabidiol (CBD) can play a prominent role in treating different types of addiction, such as smoking, substance abuse, or alcohol addiction. CBD is found in cannabis and has been gaining popularity because of its multifarious health benefits.
How CBD Works?
CBD can help treat diverse health conditions, including multiple sclerosis, depression, anxiety, metabolic syndrome, neuropathic pain, seizure disorders, and more, according to numerous studies. Taking CBD boosts the endocannabinoid system, an internal system found across our immune cells, glands, organs, and brain. This specialized system helps modulate memory, pain-sensation, appetite, and other physiological processes. In the endocannabinoid system, CBD is involved in the regulation of the immune system, endocrine system, reproductive system, nervous system. Taking CBD activates the receptors of your nervous system.
CBD Helps With Alcohol Addiction
Excessive consumption of alcohol damages your brain and liver. In fact, heavy drinking can damage your nervous system or brain permanently.
When the liquor enters your body, it journeys from your stomach and intestines through the bloodstream to different parts of your body. Heavy drinking causes high spikes in blood alcohol content, which in turn reduces the ability of the liver to metabolize alcohol. Therefore, excess alcohol travels from the liver to the central nervous system and heart. Thereafter, alcohol transits the blood-brain barrier and directly affect the nerve cells.
Your central nervous system and brain houses more than 100 billion interconnected nerve cells. When you drink too much alcohol, it causes the death of nerve cells in your brain (neurodegeneration). This impairment leads to cognitive as well as behavioral changes that increase your likelihood of relapse into alcohol abuse. Further, research shows that consuming alcohol in large amounts for a long duration can shrink your brain. CBD acts as a neuroprotectant, protecting your brain from the damages caused by alcohol.
In one study, rodents treated with CBD injection or CBD gel before being given alcohol exhibited a significant reduction in alcohol-induced neurodegeneration.
CBD Reduces Cigarette Use
In a study reported in the journal Addictive Behaviors, scientists gave 24 subjects inhalers and asked them to use them whenever the desire to smoke strikes. After a few days, test subjects who inhaled a placebo reported no change in the number of cigarettes smoked and test subjects who inhaled CBD reported a 40% reduction in cigarette smoked. The study concluded that cannabinoid has the potential to treat nicotine addiction; however, additional investigations are needed. This is not all. Researchers theorize that CBD may help treat opioids as well as cocaine addictions.
CBD Helps Reduce Withdrawal Symptoms From Smoking
If you are trying to do away with smoking, taking CBD can help reduce withdrawal symptoms from smoking, such as irritability, insomnia, and anxiety. Further, CBD is renowned for its anti-inflammatory properties that can help ease the pain and headaches associated with nicotine withdrawal.
Apart from this, CBD can also help treat sleep disturbances, one of the nicotine withdrawal symptoms. According to many studies, CBD plays a pivotal role in ameliorating the quality of sleep and minimizing sleep difficulties. CBD has also been shown to increase sleep amounts and treat insomnia.
Repairs Brain Chemistry
The evidence is mounting that CBD may contribute to restoring the brain’s chemistry, preventing relapse. Addiction to nicotine prevents brain synapses from releasing the neurotransmitter dopamine that ferries information between nerve cells. The chemical helps control learning, attention, and movement. It also increases the feelings of rewards, pleasure, and motivation. CBD has been shown to bring these synapses to their pre-addiction state.
