Many people wonder “does weed cure hangovers?” The smoking hangover cure is famously known around the world, but does marijuana help hangovers in actuality, according to science?
Research is limited, but more light is being shed on how marijuana can help relieve various medical symptoms. It just so happens that a lot of those benefits also apply to the side effects of a nasty hangover. Common symptoms that cannabis can cure include nausea, headaches, fatigue, and hunger (just to name a few).
As an added bonus, marijuana tends to make you hungry and thirsty, encouraging you to get the nutrients you need. Even if all you want to do is throw up, a quick dose of cannabis can have you hankering for a hearty breakfast and a glass of water in no time.
So, does weed cure hangovers? And is there merit to this smoking hangover cure? If by cure you mean “helps fix symptoms,” then yes absolutely!
Read on for more insight into the popular question “does marijuana help hangovers?”
What Causes a Hangover?
Thanks to science, we’ve learned many things. However, the connection between drinking and head-pounding regret the next morning continues to elude us.
The most obvious culprit behind every hangover is dehydration. Alcohol is a diuretic, meaning it makes you have to urinate, draining your body of fluids. People waking up with a hangover have also likely spent the night (or morning) vomiting their guts out. Not literally, of course, but the loss of fluids through vomiting does dehydrate us further.
However, according to science, our level of dehydration doesn’t directly affect how hungover we feel. You can be the same amount of hungover but more or less dehydrated, for instance. That explains why chugging water doesn’t always bring instant or long-lasting relief.
In addition, alcohol contains traces of things called “congeners” that are tough for our bodies to break down. Some drinks, like red wine and brown liquor, contain higher levels of methanol for instance.
Unlike ethanol, which we can break down safely in decently large amounts, methanol is poisonous to our bodies. Our livers process alcohols and methanol, changing it into acetaldehyde – a highly toxic chemical, before breaking it down into safer substances.
The side effects of acetaldehyde include: feeling flushed and nauseated. This leads to vomiting, sweating, and headaches… Sound familiar?
How Does Weed Cure Hangovers?
Fortunately, cannabis can help make most hangover symptoms less intense. If you’re wondering “does marijuana help hangovers”, look to the following types of relief available by consuming some of the plant.
Is There a Smoking Hangover Cure To Help With Nausea?
Nausea is one of the worst and hardest-to-shake-off symptoms of a hangover. Alcohol tends to mess with our inner balance. It can also make us feel like we have something in our stomachs we need to get rid of, which if you’ve drunk far too much is often the case!
But even 12 hours later, you can still feel like any sudden movement or gross smell will make you want to vomit. People who have spent hours throwing up will also have higher sensitivity that makes them feel like they want to throw up again.
Weed can help! Cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy have long known that marijuana can help us feel less intense nausea. The sense of being high can also help us ignore any lingering sick feelings, especially when you choose the best weed strains for nausea.
So even though the last thing you feel like doing when you’re feeling nauseous is smoking… it will help you feel better almost instantly. So light up or consume cannabis through edibles or capsules to stop that hangover quickly.
How Does Marijuana Help Hangovers with Pain Relief?
The THC in marijuana leads to the plant’s famous “high” effects. Getting high both relieves pain directly and helps distract our minds from pain.
While hangovers don’t cause the intense pain of, say, getting hit with a blunt object, we do feel minor sensations of pain all throughout our bodies. We also tend to get killer headaches.
Consuming weed helps relieve pain and headaches better than many over-the-counter drugs like acetaminophen (Tylenol) and ibuprofen (Advil). Marijuana can also provide pain relief effects comparable to many prescription painkillers like Vicodin and Codeine.
All of the benefits of pain relief come with the added bonus of pot not being acidic to our stomach linings nor toxic to the liver nor dangerously habit-forming like opioids are. It’s an easy choice to make!
Does Marijuana Help Stimulate Appetite and Thirst?
Among weed’s most notorious side effects are the munchies. Marijuana stimulates our appetites by turning off hormone pathways that normally make us feel full. In fact, these neurons kick into reverse, stimulating our appetite.
Since marijuana also enhances our sense of smell and taste, our hunger gets coupled with cravings. Foods that would normally make our stomachs turn after a night of heavy drinking suddenly become appetizing again.
These side effects benefit both people with chronic illness and those who have trouble working up an appetite because they’re hung over. Since being hungry makes your hangover symptoms worse, eating even a light meal can help provide some much-needed relief.
Marijuana, therefore, solves the catch-22 of having an empty stomach but being too nauseous to eat. Indica-heavy hybrids are some of the best weed strains for stimulating appetite.
Smoking weed also reduces the amount of saliva our mouths create, giving you dry “cotton mouth.” This encourages us to drink more water, helping replenish fluids we urinated or threw up the night before.
How Does Weed Cure Hangovers by Helping Us Sleep?
The best hangover cure is time. Our bodies need time to recover from the chemicals we consume and the general stresses of the day. This is why a good, long sleep after a drunken night can help you wake up feeling like new.
The only snag is that having a hangover can make it tough to sleep, or even relax! Your stomach feels like you want to throw up, your head is pounding, and your entire body is fatigued.
The first few magical tokes when you wake up can make everything better. Suddenly, the world seems less cruel. You can enjoy a warm fuzzy feeling all over your body and in your head again.
And — if you’re like most people — you can drift back to sleep anticipating a filling, greasy breakfast a few hours later.
Smoking Hangover Cure
Now you know the answer to “does weed cure hangovers” is, definitely! But it also takes some time, food, drink, and sleep.
So, remember to know your limits, drink in moderation, and to keep your stomach happy with plenty of food and drink when you decide to consume alcohol.
But if you wake up the next morning feeling like you went through the wringer, keep some cannabis nearby. It could be your smoking hangover cure and savoir. Also remember that you can consume weed in many different ways. If you prefer not to risk any damage to your lungs, try consuming edibles or taking capsule pills instead.
