Which Is the Best Way To Consume CBD?
If you’re browsing for CBD, it’s easy to feel overwhelmed. It seems like there are no less than a hundred ways to consume CBD, and there probably are. Even though CBD comes in everything from vaporizers to cookies to lip balm, not all CBD works the same.
Every CBD product is intended to be inhaled, swallowed, applied to your skin, or held under the tongue. These delivery methods each come with different pros and cons. Here’s what you need to know about maximizing the potential benefits of CBD.
How Does CBD Work?
In order to understand the best way to consume CBD, you need to understand how CBD works. This will illuminate why some forms of CBD are more effective than others.
Throughout your entire body is your endocannabinoid system, a series of countless receptors specifically designed to produce, receive, and interact with cannabinoids. Your body makes a couple of its own cannabinoids, but medical research hasn’t yet reached the point where we clearly understand why and when the body produces them or how crucial they are for functioning.
Cannabinoids from plants are very similar to the cannabinoids your body knows and understands. Different cannabinoids will interact with your cannabinoid receptors in different ways.
CBD is a very friendly cannabinoid. It can stimulate every cannabinoid receptor in your body, including receptors that aren’t technically cannabinoid receptors.
Some cannabinoids bind to these receptors, but CBD doesn’t specifically seek to bind to anything. Instead, it interacts with receptors and encourages them to produce effects. CBD doesn’t override your body. It works with your body to help it do what it’s supposed to do.
This process is lengthy and complex. Depending on what form of CBD you use, you may be prolonging the process of introducing CBD to these receptors. This would delay the effects and benefits that CBD provides.
How Many Forms of CBD Are There?
Every CBD product you use will deliver CBD in a different method. It’s usually obvious how the CBD will reach your system.
CBD-infused drinks, foods, and softgels are intended to be swallowed. Topicals go on your skin, and vapor products are inhaled. Tinctures or CBD oil drops may be a little less obvious in the way they work, but they’re a class of their own.
How CBD Works When Inhaled
When you inhale CBD in the form of a vaporizer or hemp flower, it works by rapidly entering your bloodstream through the tissue of your lungs. It gets to work nearly immediately and produces very noticeable effects. On the surface, it seems like this would be the best way to use CBD. You should exercise extreme caution.
Anything you inhale has the potential to damage your lungs. In the past, respiratory ailments have been linked to unregulated CBD or cannabis vaporizer products due to the ingredients they contain.
Modern medicine currently doesn’t suggest that the benefits of inhaling CBD would outweigh the potential risks for most people. It’s best to avoid inhaled forms of CBD, especially when there are far safer ways to enjoy the benefits of CBD.
How CBD Works When Swallowed
CBD-infused foods, drinks, and soft gel capsules all work the same way. When you swallow CBD, your body receives it the same way it would receive a multivitamin, supplement, or nutrients from the food that you eat.
The CBD moves through your digestive system and eventually reaches your liver, where your body begins to metabolize it. Depending on your metabolism and the amount of food already moving through your digestive system, this process can take anywhere from an hour to 3 hours.
During this process, your body will start to receive the CBD you ingested. Your liver changes the CBD in a process called the first pass metabolism. As your liver breaks the CBD down, it diminishes some of its potency and slightly alters it.
The CBD that eventually reaches your body won’t be as potent as the dose you actually ingested. You’re going to lose a little bit in the process, and this can diminish the benefits.
How CBD Works When Applied Topically
Topically applied CBD is completely different from other forms of CBD. Topicals are good for treating localized discomfort and supporting healthy skin. The CBD in topical products doesn’t interact with your endocannabinoid system like the CBD you use internally.
While CBD products are great for skin health or relief from things like post-workout soreness, they’re effective in a different way. It’s best to use CBD topicals in conjunction with another form of CBD to experience the full wealth of benefits.
How CBD Oil Works
CBD tinctures or oil drops work differently. Inside the bottle is CBD emulsified with some kind of oil. We use coconut-derived MCT oil. Tinctures are highly concentrated, and just a few drops will deliver a substantial dose of CBD.
You place the drops under your tongue. The skin under your tongue is very thin and very wet. It soaks up the CBD and allows it to enter your system through the tiny blood vessels, bypassing your metabolism. You hold the drops in place for at least 30 seconds. Holding them for up to a minute will assure maximum absorption. Then, you swallow the remnants.
CBD tincture will start to work in less than an hour, and its effects will be more pronounced than CBD you ingest.
The Different Types of CBD
There are several varieties of CBD. It starts with whole hemp plant extract and works its way down to plain CBD, with no other cannabinoids in the final product. There are several reasons why someone might opt for an isolated CBD product over a full spectrum hemp extract.
Full Spectrum CBD
Hemp plants contain more than just CBD. They contain a full wealth of cannabinoids, including the intoxicating cannabinoid THC. The amounts of THC in full-spectrum hemp extract are so small that they won’t produce any psychoactive effects, but you’re still introducing them into your body.
Although the benefits of full spectrum CBD are wonderful, they may potentially pose consequences for some people. There’s always a possibility that the THC in full spectrum CBD products can appear on a drug test. If your job or athletic pursuits require drug testing, full spectrum CBD is a no-go.
Broad Spectrum CBD
Broad spectrum CBD is hemp extract that has had most residual THC removed. Even still, it’s possible that trace amounts remain that were unable to be isolated. Broad spectrum CBD will give you the modest benefits of other cannabinoids, but in most cases, CBD is the cannabinoid people are most interested in adding to their wellness ritual.
CBD Isolate
CBD isolate products don’t contain any other cannabinoids aside from CBD. If the isolate is hemp-derived, make sure to choose a lab-tested brand to ascertain that no levels of other cannabinoids can be detected.
What Is the Best Way To Consume CBD for Fast Acting Benefits?
It’s important to temper your expectations about how quickly CBD will work and what it will do. Many people find that taking CBD oil about 45 minutes before they go to bed or work out gives the CBD enough time to produce immediately noticeable benefits.
While CBD is good in the short term, it’s even better in the long game.
You’ll get some modest benefits soon after using CBD oil, but they don’t represent the full wealth of holistic support CBD can provide to your body. Taking CBD daily will produce a slow, subtle stream of consistent benefits that broadly improve how you feel.
How Can I Make My CBD Even More Effective?
The best way to make CBD effective is to drop it under your tongue every day, preferably with a meal. The benefits of CBD are cumulative. In order to fully experience improved mental focus, better sleep, and boosted workout recovery, you should take CBD daily for at least 30 days.
Although a significant amount of your CBD will be absorbed under your tongue, there will still be CBD in the oil that you swallow.
The best way to promote the absorption of that CBD is to consume it with a meal that has a little bit of healthy fat. Olive oil, salmon, and avocado all perfectly fit the bill.
Make CBD a Part of Your Ritual
Peels is fresh squeezed CBD. Rather than deriving our CBD from hemp, we use a proprietary process to rearrange the aromatic compounds in orange peels to create natural and bioidentical CBD.
Because the CBD comes from an orange peel rather than a hemp plant, there’s a 0% chance that Peels will contain cannabinoids other than CBD.
Best of all, Peels tastes like oranges. If you don’t like the earthy, nutty flavor of hemp-derived CBD, you’ll be pleasantly surprised with the way Peels tastes. When your CBD is tasty, it’s easier to commit to making CBD a part of your daily wellness ritual.
Sources
Frontiers | The endocannabinoid system: an overview | Behavioral Neuroscience
First-Pass Elimination Basic Concepts and Clinical Consequences | SpringerLink