When Buying CBD, Milligrams Don’t Matter

For the past few years, new research about the myriad benefits of CBD has been flooding headlines, news reports, and social media. Maybe you’ve even been bombarded with anecdotal evidence from friends and family that have discovered how useful CBD has been to them.

No matter the case, it can be confusing to discern which products have the highest potential for bringing you to optimal health. If you only look at the number of milligrams of CBD in an extract, you’ll miss other important factors that impact and influence the efficacy of a product.

Here are a few things to take into consideration and look for when exploring CBD extract.

1) Bioavailability

Bioavailability refers to the proportion of a given substance or drug that, when introduced to the body’s circulation, is able to have an active effect.

Oil based CBD products have an average of 10-20% bioavailability when taken orally due to a physiological phenomenon known as first pass metabolism. Also known as the first pass effect, this metabolic function significantly reduces the concentration of an orally ingested drug (or in this case, plant derived compounds) before it can reach systemic circulation. This is due to the liver metabolizing the majority of the compounds.

On the other hand, water based tinctures and extracts deliver 90-100% bioavailability, depending on the manufacturer. Water based formulas have gone through a process to break down the CBD oil into such small particles that they become water soluble, thereby increasing the surface area of the oil, it’s absorbability in the body, and bypassing first pass metabolism.

For example, an oil-based extract may have 20 mg but only 2-4 mg are circulated and absorbed in the body whereas with a water-based extract, the bioavailability of the extract would leap to 18-20 mg! It’s not the milligrams that matter, it’s how they are delivered.

Since an adult body is composed of roughly 60% water, choosing a water soluble CBD extract works more naturally with the body and allows for quicker, more potent absorption.

2) Quality

When there are so many options available on the market, what should you look for and choose? Taking only the highest quality CBD will inevitably give you the greatest benefit. Opting for organically grown CBD that has not been sprayed with toxic pesticides or fed chemical ridden fertilizers is the first step. Buying from companies that use sustainably harvested ingredients helps support this budding industry to take precautions to grow plants that are healthy not just for people, but for the planet as well.

3) Testing

Make sure that whichever CBD extract you choose has been through rigorous in-house testing and third party testing. Look for purity, quality, and consistency of batches that are tested -- that way, you’ll rest assured knowing that you’re choosing the highest quality CBD rich extract.

When choosing a CBD tincture or extract, making the right choices can not only be beneficial to your health, but also to your wallet. By choosing high quality, organic, water soluble CBD tinctures and extracts, you can consume less and get more.