What is CBD Oil?
When it comes to the most popular CBD product on the market, there is really no competition: CBD oil. This oil is derived from an extraction of the cannabis plant, more specifically hemp. It is then combined with common binding agents to allow for increased absorption within the body.
Some of the most common of these binding agents include:
- Fractionated coconut oil, or MCT
- Hemp seed oil
These two binding agents in particular offer a natural addition to your CBD oil formula, increasing the bioavailability and efficacy of such products.
What is a CBD Oil Tincture?
CBD oils are also commonly called tinctures. The term essentially means that the CBD is suspended in a binding agent such as hemp seed oil or MCT. Tinctures are often packaged in dark glass, which shields the oil from the sun and preserves it for longer durations of time. This tincture contains the CBD oil of your choice, and is usually fitted with a convenient dropper-top to allow for easy dosage.
CBD oil tinctures are versatile products, and it’s no surprise why they’ve become a key treatment tool for CBD users everywhere. They can be taken under the tongue, which targets sublingual capillaries that possess a direct line to the nervous system, streamlining your CBD ingestion. They can also be added to food or beverages, making CBD oil tinctures a versatile product with various uses.
What Milligram Strength of CBD Oil is Right For You?
The strength of CBD products is measured in milligrams (mg), denoting just how much CBD is found in a particular product. Like most supplements, the mg strength that is right for your treatment depends on a variety of factors, including:
- Your body weight and size
- How experienced you are with CBD
- What you are trying to achieve through CBD treatment
In order to find the right strength for you, you first need to know exactly how much CBD your product offers per serving. At CBD Choice, we put the strength per serving right on the product page, but if you want to determine this for yourself, divide the total CBD content by the number of servings. If you have a 3000mg CBD oil tincture with 60 servings (typically 60ml), you’ll receive 50mg of CBD per serving.
When determining the dosage size with a CBD oil tincture, it’s also important to note the size of the dropper. For most 30ml tinctures, the entire dropper represents 1 serving, but for most 60ml tinctures, the entire dropper represents 2 servings, so only half of the dropper is needed for one serving.
And because the appropriate milligram strength of CBD for you is determined by the aforementioned factors, we cannot make a singular, one-size-fits-all dosage recommendation — but here’s a nifty guide for what is considered a low, medium, and high dose:
- Low Dose: 7.5mg of CBD per serving — ideal for minor stress, aches, and pains, as well as new users without much experience in the CBD world
- Medium Dose: 15mg of CBD per serving — ideal for moderate to severe stress or pain, as well as digestive problems and inflammation
- High Dose: 40+mg of CBD per serving — ideal for intense pain, severe stress, sleeping disorders, and chronic, ongoing pain
How are CBD Oil Tinctures Made?
CBD oil is manufactured using an array of processes. However, it all starts with one thing: the agricultural growth and harvesting of hemp plants. Many manufacturers harvest exclusively from organic hemp partner farms because these hemp plants have not been adulterated with harmful chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, or residual solvents.
The hemp plants are then dried, and the dried plant material is then treated to extract the CBD and/or other desirable compounds. This is done through one of a variety of extraction methods; the most common of these is known as supercritical CO2 extraction. This extraction utilizes pressurized carbon dioxide, which removes the phytocannabinoids from the plant, including CBD.
Sometimes, instead of isolating the CBD particles, extractors will use a “Full Spectrum” extraction, meaning they take extracts from the entirety of the hemp plant. This seizes all of the essential cannabinoids, phytocannabinoids, terpenes, amino acids, essential fatty acids and other compounds naturally found in the hemp plant.
Supercritical CO2 extractions are key in creating CBD oil because CO2 does not carry the same associated risks as other standard manufacturing solvents, such as ethyl acetate or chloroform. Here’s how a supercritical CO2 extraction works:
- CO2 is run through a chamber and is subjected to extremely low temperatures and extremely high pressure
- This changes the CO2 into its fluid state
- The CO2 is reheated, entering its “supercritical” state — in a supercritical state, CO2 behaves like both a gas and a liquid, filling space like a gas while maintaining a liquid density
- The supercritical CO2 is then run through another chamber containing the raw, dried hemp material
- The CO2 dissolves trichomes found on the hemp plant, a process that captures all of the active compounds (like the phytocannabinoids and terpenes, as mentioned above)
Once the active compounds are obtained, the remaining oil is filtered and fused with binding agents, which is then packaged as a CBD oil. Of course, we cannot forget third-party lab testing, which takes place prior to packaging in order to ensure the potency, purity, and safety of these products.
