7 Ways to Take CBD: Which is the Best Method?

The CBD industry is getting bigger every day – and with it grows a bigger problem for consumers everywhere. How do you know which method is the best to take CBD? Today, we’ll be showing off the most efficient, convenient, and popular ways to take CBD, as well as which is the best method out of those ways.

With such a wide abundance of CBD products on the market, you know you have the power to choose the type of CBD that’s most appealing to you – but without knowledge, that power doesn’t do a lot of good. The choice of product becomes a confusing one when the range is so unbelievably vast. Let’s look at some of the top ways to take CBD.

As a short summary, CBD, or cannabidiol, is a compound extracted from the hemp plant. The 2018 Farm Bill made the new legal definition for hemp any strain under 0.3% THC; which means hemp by-products like CBD-rich extracts are good to go.

We’ll be looking at primarily CBD oil as a base today, though it can be extracted into a variety of different forms. For example, a pure CBD isolate can be extracted into a pure powder form that can be consumed directly, added to a drink, or even food. Most CBD oil bases, however, offer other cannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids, and a variety of other compounds also found in the hemp plant – the same for which can’t be said for a true CBD isolate.

Before we can get into the best way to take CBD, we first have to decide if you want to use a full-spectrum, broad spectrum, or, as we mentioned above, a CBD isolate.

Many believe a full-spectrum formula is superior as you’re getting the full potential that hemp strain had to offer, though some prefer it to be refined completely of THC and opt for a broad-spectrum option instead. Either way, we have to point to anything but an isolate for most problems.  

Possibly the most effective and most commonly used method for taking CBD, sublingual tinctures are an ingestible item that you can also place directly under your tongue for amplified effects. Highly concentrated, tinctures tend to provide relief in under 20 minutes. The key recommendation here, though, is to keep it under your tongue for at least 90 seconds before swallowing. This will optimize your chances of feeling the relief and benefits at their most intense.

Placing CBD oil directly under the tongue like this allows the CBD to reach the bloodstream faster rather than having to metabolize within the digestive system. When you dose sublingually like this, most start feeling relief after about 10 minutes.

Many find relief from trouble sleeping and anxiety when using gummies, as well as promoting general wellness throughout the day by taking it as a daily regimen. One of the easiest, tastiest ways to get your daily serving of cannabidiol, gummies are usually chewy, sweet treats that come in a variety of flavors, shapes and sizes.

Gummies don’t take effect as quickly as tinctures do, which is why tinctures are still one of the most popular types of CBD products. Gummies take anywhere from 15 minutes to over an hour before any relief might be felt.

Like gummies, and really any other edible, CBD capsules have to pass through the digestive system before they can hit the bloodstream for you to feel relief. The benefit of capsules is that you don’t have to chew them – simply take after a meal with water and move on about your day or evening. Capsules are quickly becoming a popular option in the cannabidiol communities, offering a convenient, easy-to-take option that washes down far easier than a tincture could.

As they’re like edibles, it can take over an hour before the effects kick in, and some don’t find relief until over 3 hours after taking it.

The world – or at least, the nation – is slowly becoming more accepting of smoking flower to feel certain kinds of relief. CBD-rich hemp strains are, specifically, helping users to find relief and promote general wellness without the high of THC. This is particularly helpful for those that are trying to stop smoking another substance, like cigarettes; you can simply smoke hemp flower, feel better, and not have as much of an urge to consume nicotine because you’re satiating that smoking fixation.

The difference between smoking hemp flower and the other methods we already mentioned is that you can feel the effects almost immediately – and they don’t last nearly as long. Where you might stop feeling relief in as little as 30 minutes, capsules and edibles usually last hours longer, and tinctures are known to last at least 2 hours with some formulas designed to last up to 12.

Like smoking, the relief is felt almost immediately – though for most people, it seems to last slightly longer than what they might feel from smoking. Offering an easy way to get a serving of CBD in a short amount of time, vaping is a viable alternative. There are also a few different ways to vape CBD. You can use a dry herb vaporizer to just vape CBD-rich hemp flower, get a CBD vape additive and add it to your favorite flavored vape juice, and more.

Creams, balms, and other topicals that go on the skin instead of being ingested are at the top of most popular CBD products. Skyrocketing across the industry, there are countless different skincare products for your face, hands, feet, skin, and other target areas across the body. CBD topicals are so popular because there’s no risk of consuming THC with this method – it’s hitting the cannabinoid receptors across the skin instead of getting into the bloodstream first.

The time it takes to feel relief when you use a CBD topical varies. Like tinctures, many seem to find relief in under 20 minutes, though others find it takes over two hours. Everyone is different, so there’s not a concrete answer to how long it will take. The good news is most topicals should be applied on an as-needed basis, so you can reapply every 30 to 60 minutes until you feel the optimal relief you’re looking for.

CBD isolate can come in a water-soluble powder form, or it can come in a shatter form, known as CBD wax. It can be smoked through a dab rig, free of THC and packed with a high concentration of pure cannabidiol. While not all types of CBD wax turn into shatter when frozen, they are all some of the purest, highly concentrated forms of the hemp extract.

So far, we’ve looked at the 7 most common and popular types of CBD products – but why does a CBD tincture sit at the top of the list as the most effective? With sublingual dosing, bioavailability plays the biggest factor. What is bioavailability, though?

When you look at a CBD product, it states how much CBD is in the container, as well as how much CBD is in each serving. When you take a serving, your body isn’t absorbing all the CBD per serving – it’s absorbing only a certain fraction. That fraction depends on the bioavailability of that cannabidiol product. The higher the bioavailability, the easier a time the CBD and other cannabinoids in the product have of getting into your system and reaching the cannabinoid receptors where they can interact.

Tinctures, generally, have the highest bioavailability out of all the products available in the industry. Some tinctures have a higher bioavailability than others by using nano-emulsion technology to make CBD and other cannabinoid molecules even smaller. This makes the molecules absorb much faster and easier. Likewise, sublingual dosing increases the bioavailability further by skipping the digestive system.

If you’re new to CBD, you may be wondering – what effects are we talking about? Non-psychoactive, CBD products should not get you high. Instead, they help promote general wellness by interacting with the endocannabinoid system in our bodies and helping that system function more efficiently. Instead of saturating our cannabinoid receptors like THC does, cannabidiol helps those receptors push other receptors into gear again, like our serotonin receptors.

Consistency is the key no matter what effects you’re expecting. Through routine use, many CBD users find themselves in a more stable mood with more energy, better and deeper sleep throughout the night, less pain, and much more. The stable mood promotes relaxation, freeing some from stress and even anxiety.

If you’ve never tried CBD before, you won’t know what it can do for you until you experience it for yourself. Experiment with the different methods we mentioned above and find what’s right for you.

What’s your favorite way to take CBD? Let us know down below!