CBD oil has taken the world by storm in the past couple of years. This amazing supplement’s health benefits seem to exceed our expectations, but only if you know what to buy and how to use it right. 

On a market that grows as fast as the CBD market does, it is easy to get confused when researching products, especially if it is your first time using this supplement. You must have a myriad of questions waiting to get answered, and we understand how that much information can be puzzling at times.

How does CBD work? Is all CBD the same? What is THC? How do I know which brand to trust? Can I take CBD if I don’t have any health issues?

These are all legitimate questions that need to be clarified before you make your first CBD purchase. In the following guide, we aim to clear out the air and help you gather enough knowledge to make an informed decision when buying CBD oil.

How does CBD work?

By now, you probably already know one or two things about CBD, but we will do a quick recap. CBD is one of the 108 chemical compounds found in the cannabis plant and has been used for centuries in holistic medicine. 

Few people know that your body has an endocannabinoid system responsible for regulating a range of functions in your brain, such as appetite and reaction to pain, helping your body maintain homeostasis. CBD works by it interacting with the endocannabinoid system, boosting its functions, and encouraging it to produce more endocannabinoids. This helps reduce anxiety, pain, and inflammation.

Another great benefit of CBD is its ability to bind to an individual’s neural receptors, which are responsible for controlling inflammation and temperature. This gives the supplement its anti-inflammatory effects. 

When to take CBD

Many people take CBD to deal with issues such as anxiety, chronic pain, inflammation, and loss of appetite, but its usage is not limited to these situations. Given the fact that it is a natural supplement with very few adverse reactions, you can take CBD as a supplement even if you don’t have any known medical issues. Think of it as a vitamin complex, which boosts your immune system and helps you stay healthy.

Still, if you are interested in using CBD for its proven medical purposes, here are some of its known benefits:

  • Painkiller: studies show CBD can help reduce chronic pain, as well as inflammation, by interacting with neurotransmitters. 
  • Anxiety treatment: CBD seems to be a much less harmful alternative to pharmaceutical drugs in treating anxiety and insomnia due to having very few side effects.
  • Reducing cancer-related side effects: cancer treatment can have a range of side effects, such as pain, nausea, and vomiting, which can be reduced by taking CBD oil. 
  • Neuroprotective properties: although research in this area is still in its infancy, CBD may have a positive impact in the sphere of neurological disorders. Additionally, CBD is currently used in treating seizures caused by two forms of epilepsy. 

The perfect CBD dosage

There is no one-size-fits-all answer when it comes to how much CBD you need to take. Finding the perfect dosage depends on a variety of factors, including the intake method, your individual biology, and the nature of your symptoms. High doses of CBD, usually over 600mg a day, are more effective when it comes to severe conditions such as epilepsy or multiple sclerosis, whereas lower doses are just as effective for insomnia or anxiety. 

There is something called a sweet spot when it comes to CBD oil, which means you need to find the right dosage to feel its full effects. Technology may be able to help us in the near future, but until then, it is a trial and error kind of situation. Start small, with a low dose, wait an hour to observe the effects, and increase your dosage if you feel necessary. 

Start with a bottle of 1500mg CBD oil, which contains about 50mg of CBD per serving (1 ml), and experiment with the dosage depending on your current symptoms. Don’t worry about taking too much, because, until now, there has been no such thing as a CBD overdose. 

CBD vs. THC

If you’ve heard about CBD, you most definitely also heard about THC. The two compounds come from the same plant, but they have many differences. The most significant one is the way each of these compounds interacts with your body. Unlike THC, which is known to have intoxicating effects, CBD has different kinds of psychoactive effects.

It is wrong to say CBD is not psychoactive, as it does provide some relaxing feelings, but what you can say for sure is that CBD does not have any intoxicating effects on your mind or body. In other words, THC is responsible for making you high, whereas CBD is known to actually block some of THC’s intoxicating effects.

You will often find small traces of THC in CBD products, but that is too little (usually no less than 0.3%) to have an altering effect. THC is needed to boost the effects of CBD, which is why some brands add it to their products. 

Learn to read the label

To get an idea of how reliable a CBD brand is, you need to learn to read the labels. A reputable brand should have all the important information about their product on the label to make it easier for consumers to understand the products they purchase. 

Ideally, you should be able to find the following information written on the label:

  • Dosage: the label should tell you the total mg of CBD in the entire package, as well as serving size, number of servings, and mg of CBD per serving. 
  • Source: it is important to know where your product is coming from so that you understand how the plants are grown and what type of CBD you are about to purchase
  • Warnings: CBD can interact with certain medications, which is why it may not be recommended for everyone. Read disclaimers and warnings to understand more.