Taking a glass or two of wine after a stressful day has, for a very long time, been the norm for most people all over the world. To most, drinking wine is the ‘go-to’ solution to calm down and relax. Wine has been a part of life for thousands of years. According to modern research, drinking an occasional glass of wine, more specifically red wine, does provide some health benefits. However, with cannabis and cannabis-related products becoming legal in more and more states, the tide is slowly shifting. People are starting to gravitate towards cannabis products, some even ditching their favorite drinks while at it. As more information comes out on the potential benefits of cannabis, one particular product is taking the health and wellness industry by storm, CBD (cannabidiol).
With a long list of purported therapeutic benefits, long-lasting effects, and lack of side effects, people are now starting to make the comparison of using CBD vs wine for taking the edge off. These days, many people are claiming that CBD offers many benefits where wine fall short.
To answer conclusively the debate of CBD vs wine and which is better, we’ll look at how the effects of CBD consumption and compare them to the effects of taking a glass of wine.
However, let’s first take a look at what we know about wine and its purported health benefits.
Among the benefits of wine, red wine specifically, is its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and fat-regulating effects. Red wine is rich in resveratrol, an antioxidant found in the skin of grapes. Keep in mind that the difference between red wine and white wine is that red wine is fermented with the skins while white wine isn’t. As a result, red wine has more health benefits compared to white wine due to higher levels of the antioxidant resveratrol.
The presence of this antioxidant makes red wine heart-friendly as it protects the lining of veins and arteries in the heart. The alcohol in it also provides some protective effects when consumed in moderate amounts.
However, it’s still recommended you get antioxidants from foods such as whole grapes and berries. Do not rely solely on drinking wine; the potential health risks of alcohol are not worth it. Additionally, you may need to drink plenty of wine to get enough resveratrol to actually get the effect; thus, the risks outweigh the benefits.
With all this in mind, here are the potential health benefits of drinking wine:
According to several studies, drinking wine, both red and white, helps raise the levels of High-Density Lipid Cholesterol. This type of cholesterol is good cholesterol since it helps to get rid of fat on the arterial walls by transporting it to the liver. These fats are processed by the liver and then eliminated as waste.
When taken in moderate amounts, wine acts as a mild sedative. That means that it helps to calm you down and lower your heart rate. When experiencing stress, the heart tends to work harder and pump at an abnormally fast rate. This significantly increases the risks of developing cardiovascular disease or suffering a heart attack. Taking one glass of wine can help to relieve anxiety and tension.
The findings from a study carried out by the American Journal of Gastroenterology in 2003 indicate that regularly taking wine can help prevent the development of peptic ulcers. This is due to wine helping eradicate a specific type of bacteria that is responsible for causing them.
As you can tell, drinking wine has many benefits for the heart, from reducing anxiety to getting rid of fat on the arterial walls through good cholesterol. However, the benefits don’t end there. Drinking wine also helps prevent the build-up of proteins in the heart valves, which can cause them to thicken, a condition known as cardiac fibrosis. This thickening compromises the pumping efficiency of the heart.
Numerous studies have found that wine, in moderate amounts, has neuroprotective properties. A preliminary study conducted in 2006 revealed that people who drank moderate amounts of wine regularly reduced their risk of suffering memory loss and brain cell damage.
A study conducted in 2013 found that individuals who consumed two to seven glasses of wine per week had lower depression levels. However, the study also showed that individuals who drank excessively were at a significantly higher risk of suffering depression.
Numerous studies have revealed a link between drinking wine and improved gut health. One study found that compounds present in red wine may serve as prebiotics. These compounds help promote the growth of healthy gut bacteria inside of you.
Another study conducted in 2016 found that red wine helps to minimize the risk of heart disease through its positive effect on the gut microbiome.
Despite all these and many other potentially positive health effects, drinking wine has, consuming more than two 5-ounce glasses of wine per day is unhealthy. One of the main reasons behind the CBD vs wine comparisons lies in the side effects of excessive wine consumption.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that one in every ten deaths among people aged between 20-64 years relates to excessive drinking. That shows that alcoholism is a big problem in the U.S. Which is why abstaining from alcohol entirely is an option that many people choose to take.
Here are some of the adverse side effects associated with excessive alcohol consumption.
Now, the occasional glass of wine might feel deserved. But the potential long-term effects of abusing it regularly are clearly something you would want to avoid. That’s where CBD might help.
CBD has become immensely popular in the past few years. So much so that it has been slowly cutting into the wine market. Thanks to its supposed wide range of benefits and little side effects, CBD might be a worthy substitute to that daily glass of red wine. To get the full mind and body relaxation they need without suffering the risks associated with alcohol, many people are swapping their glass of wine for CBD. What’s more, CBD is an enticing option for people seeking the health benefits of cannabis without experiencing the high associated with tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main active ingredient in marijuana.
So, what are some of the reasons why you might want to choose CBD over wine?
While red wine can help calm you down when taken in moderation, there is always the risk of overdrinking. Once that pleasurable feeling starts to set in, people often tend to go for that “one more glass,” only to end up very intoxicated. When consumed in high amounts, wine leads to issues such as dehydration, hangovers, headaches, and increased caloric intake.
On the other hand, CBD helps make you feel calm and relaxed without any of the negative side effects of alcohol. In fact, it ostensibly offers additional benefits such as improved mood, reduced inflammation, reduced anxiety, and enhanced sleep.
While red wine has antioxidant properties, overindulgence in wine and other alcohols does more harm than good to your body. Consuming wine in excessive amounts can lead to cell damage as a result of alcohol. On the other hand, CBD actually helps protect your body cells from damage caused directly by the consumption of alcohol.
Additionally, alcohol consumption can be detrimental to inflammation in the body. Consider that uncontrolled inflammatory response is the cause of many illnesses and health complications. Thus, it is important to keep it in check. CBD seems to be highly effective in regulating inflammation. Therefore, it might help deal with conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and arthritis.
It is almost a tradition for people to drink alcohol when dealing with stress and depression. However, this only provides temporary relief, and it’s all downhill from there. Alcohol targets certain neurotransmitters leading to an increased feeling of depression.
On the other hand, numerous studies found CBD to have a fast and sustained antidepressant-like effect. Taking CBD may help you to feel better for longer. This compound alters the way the body responds to stress. Thus, it might help deal with other anxiety disorders such as social anxiety disorders, PTSD, generalized anxiety disorders, and OCD.
One of the main problems with alcohol consumption is its addictiveness. Alcohol addiction can significantly affect one’s mental and physical health, apart from causing social and financial issues.
On the other hand, CBD doesn’t intoxicate the user, and it isn’t addictive, which makes it one of the best products for relaxing you down.
As mentioned earlier, excessive and regular alcohol consumption can lead to many serious long-term conditions. Cancer, heart problems, chronic liver inflammation, and liver damage are just a few in a long list of alcohol-related health issues.
On the other hand, using CBD instead of alcohol would prevent you from risking developing them as a result of alcoholism. The use of CBD doesn’t pose any serious long-term effects apart from some rare mild side effects, including dry lips and drowsiness.
Assuming all the benefits of CBD are as good as enthusiasts say, it has the edge over wine in more ways than one. Apart from the listed, CBD might have many other health benefits that are worth considering. CBD works by interacting with the endocannabinoid system, which is responsible for regulating many functions within the body. As a result, CBD might so much more effects wine can’t hope to compete with. And that is without even taking into account the long list of health risks associated with alcohol. Thus, watch out wine, there’s a new product in town.
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