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Weed or alcohol: Which is worse for your brain?
Are you generally careful about what you put in your body?
Do you eat right and get the exercise you need to stay healthy?
Would you never even consider using drugs like marijuana because of the damage they could do to your health, especially when it comes to your brain?
If so, you may think that you’re safe…
You may think that you’re as healthy as you can be and that you’re at lower risk for things like dementia and Alzheimer’s than someone who regularly lights up a joint. After all, alcohol is legal and if you consume it responsibly, what could you have to fear?
But, if you regularly consume one type of drink, you might be wrong… you just might be at higher risk than you would be from using marijuana…
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Just a drink to unwind
What exactly do we know about marijuana’s effects on the body? Many people proclaim its medicinal effects, while others are just not so sure.
But one thing is for sure: With more and more states legalizing marijuana, researchers are scrambling to uncover how much damage the drug could be doing to the brains of its users.
So, in regard to your brain health, they’ve come to a startling conclusion…
When it comes to the brain, alcohol is more damaging.
Yes, that’s right…
Related: The drink that ages you 12 years
That drink you might have at the end of a long day to unwind, or to celebrate with friends on occasion, could be harming your brain more than a drug that used to be illegal everywhere.
Scientists at the University of Colorado Boulder conducted a review of imaging data that looked at the effects of both alcohol and marijuana on the brain.
What they found is this…
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Alcohol consumption is linked with long-term changes to the structure of white matter and gray matter in the brain. (Gray matter is the tissue on the surface of your brain, consisting of all your nerve cell bodies — while white matter is your deeper brain tissue… the myelinated nerve fibers that transmit electrical impulses to all of the other cells and tissues in your body.)
This is significant because any reduction in the size of your white or gray matter or a loss in their integrity can lead to impairments your brain functioning.
Related: Why alcohol is cancer in a cup
So, you would imagine that if alcohol has such an extreme effect on your brain, a drug like marijuana is surely worse right?
Wrong…
After analyzing all the data, the team found that the use of marijuana seemed to have no significant long-term effects on brain structure.
Amazing right?
Marijuana has no effect on brain structure, while alcohol that we often see as harmless can literally shrink your brain.
In fact, the researchers said this, “While marijuana may also have some negative consequences, it definitely is nowhere near the negative consequences of alcohol.”
Sources:
- Alcohol ‘more damaging to brain health than marijuana’ — Medical News Today
By Dr. Adria Schmedthorst
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