How to Use CBD
Popular Ways to Use CBD
There are many different ways a person can take CBD — hemp extract can be used to produce a variety of products, including tinctures, capsules, vape additives, edibles, drinks, and topicals. These methods may have different advantages that make them favorable, depending on the user’s lifestyle or needs. In some cases, a person might choose to utilize more than one method; for instance, some people take tinctures in the morning and capsules in the afternoon, as it may be more convenient to travel with. Another very popular method of ingesting your daily CBD is to add it to your favorite recipes.
Sublingual CBD Tinctures
CBD Tinctures typically consist of raw hemp extract that has been blended with a carrier that keeps the oil from going bad; these carriers can be anything from coconut oil, hemp seed oil, or propylene glycol. Tinctures are typically taken orally — we have a gland under our tongue called the sublingual, and when compounds are absorbed through the sublingual gland they bypass the digestive process and go directly into the bloodstream. This means that when CBD is ingested through the sublingual gland, it goes into the blood much faster than if it had been eaten. Also, when compounds are digested, many things are dissolved by the enzymes that help us process our food.
Oral Softgels & CBD Capsules
CBD capsules can take a little longer to get into the bloodstream because they are ingested, and this also means that some of the compounds are dissolved by digestive enzymes; however, cannabinoids store themselves in fat cells so as time goes on, the user will build up these compounds in their fat storage, where they will release gradually each day. Capsules are also great for convenience as they are easy to take at work or at school. Some people also have a hard time with the taste of raw hemp extract, which is why capsules may work better for them.
Sublingual or Vaporized Additives
CBD Additives are commonly used by adding the CBD rich hemp extract oil to your liquid. This is the fastest way to get it into the bloodstream; the hemp extract is typically mixed with propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin. Pens are also conveniently easy to carry around and be used discreetly when needed.
Ingested Gummies & Drinks
CBD drinks and gummy products are pretty popular! Some people like to eat or drink products that have CBD in it, such as fruit flavored gummy candies or CBD-infused water, tea, or energy shots. CBD is not water soluble, so in order for it to be added to a water-based product, it is usually purified into a CBD isolate powder.
Topical Skin CBD Creams
An interesting thing to note is that topically applied CBD is not absorbed into the bloodstream; rather, it interacts with the CB receptors that are found just under the surface of the skin. This means that a person who uses a cbd cream that contains full spectrum hemp extract would not have to worry about failing a drug test due to the trace amounts of THC that can be found in hemp. Many people may opt to add hemp extract to a variety of different types of lotions and salves.