You’ve done your research, and you’ve made the decision that CBD is right for you. You’ve read some CBDMD reviews – or maybe some reviews of a few different brands – and you’ve decided that CBD seems like the right choice to help you accomplish your wellness goals. Jumping into the world of CBD, however, isn’t so easy if you’re a complete beginner. Before you can even get started, you’ve got to decide which CBD brand you’re going to try first. Most CBD brands have several types of products available, though, so you’ll also have to choose whether you’re going to try CBD oil, gummies, lotion or something else.
Once you’ve selected the CBD product that seems right for you, it’s time to take the product – and even that may not be quite as simple as it seems on the surface. This article is your complete CBD guide for beginners. Reading it, you’re going to learn everything that you need to know in order to get started with CBD. You’ll learn how to choose a reliable brand and how to select the product that will be the best fit for your needs. Finally, we’ll explain how to use the most popular types of CBD products. Let’s get started!
How to Find a Reliable CBD Brand
When you start looking for CBD online and in local stores, one of the first things you’re going to see is that there are many, many CBD brands on the market today. There are probably dozens of brands that have national distribution, and there are a good many local and regional brands as well. You don’t just want to buy a product from the first CBD brand that you see. News agencies have randomly tested products from many different CBD companies, and they found that a significant number of those products didn’t actually contain any CBD at all. You wouldn’t want that to happen to you.
These are the four qualities of a reliable CBD brand that deserves your money.
- The company should make its CBD products from hemp grown according to organic principles in a region with strict farming regulations, such as the United States, Canada or Europe. This is important because most of the world’s hemp is grown in China, which suffers from severe heavy metal pollution in many of its growing regions.
- The company should extract CBD from hemp using a solvent-free carbon dioxide-based process. This is important because you wouldn’t want to ingest a CBD product that contains trace solvents. CO2-based extraction is the best way of obtaining CBD because it leaves no solvents behind. However, CO2 extraction is more expensive – and produces a lower yield – than harsh solvents such as hexane and butane. Some companies take the cheaper route.
- The company should offer a wide variety of different CBD products. Although CBD oil tinctures are the most popular CBD products and are offered by almost every CBD brand, CBD oil isn’t the ideal product for all CBD users. You can also find oral products like gummies and capsules, topical lotions and more. It’s a good idea to choose a CBD brand that offers products for many different needs and goals.
- The company should send product batches to an independent third-party lab for testing, and the test results should be available for you to view. Lab testing is important because it ensures that every product contains the amount of CBD advertised on the package. A good lab test, however, doesn’t just check a product’s cannabinoid content; it should also check the product for contaminants such as pesticides, microbes and residual solvents.
How to Choose the Right CBD Product for Your Needs
Once you’ve found a CBD brand that checks all of the right boxes, it’s time to choose which type of CBD product you’re going to try first. Most CBD products fall into one of four different categories, and we’ll describe some of the benefits of those categories next.
- CBD oil is the most common and most popular type of CBD product. That’s partially because it works well for a wide variety of needs and partially because it’s typically the least expensive type of CBD product for the amount of CBD that you get. Since CBD oil is taken sublingually, it absorbs into the bloodstream fairly quickly.
- Oral products like CBD capsules and gummies don’t require measuring with an eyedropper. They’re pre-measured to ensure that you’ll get exactly the same dose every time. Some people find these types of products more pleasant to use than CBD oil, but the absorption speed is much slower because the CBD doesn’t enter your bloodstream until it reaches your intestines.
- Topical products like CBD lotions are designed for direct application to the skin. They’re useful if you want to apply CBD to a specific area of your body – your elbow or your back, for instance – instead of waiting for it to circulate throughout your bloodstream.
- Vaping products produce a CBD aerosol that you use by inhalation. When you use a CBD e-liquid or disposable vape, the CBD enters your bloodstream through your lungs. Absorption is almost instant.
How to Use the Most Popular Types of CBD Products
Hopefully, the information above has helped you decide what type of CBD product will work best for your needs. Now, it’s time to learn how to use that product correctly. These general instructions will explain how to use the four types of CBD products described above.
- To use CBD oil, dispense a dropper of oil under your tongue and hold it there for at least 30 seconds before swallowing it.
- To use CBD capsules or gummies, eat or swallow one serving as directed on the package.
- To use CBD topicals, rub the product directly on your skin as needed.
- To use a CBD vaping product, inhale the vapor and hold it in your lungs for several seconds before exhaling it.
With any CBD product, remember that there’s little benefit to using more CBD once you’ve found the dosage that works for you. After you’ve had a gummy, a capsule or a dropper of oil, wait a while to gauge how you feel before taking more. Full absorption of the CBD into your bloodstream may take more than an hour.