6 Things to Consider When Buying a CBD Tincture
2020 is the best time to get in on the CBD craze and see what the hysteria is all about. CBD is easily accessible via online vendors, but as is true for just about every other popular cultural phenomenon out there, a good deal of misinformation has spread about CBD. In this guide, we’ll give you a crash course on selecting CBD tinctures to help you make an informed decision.
Here are 6 things you should consider when selecting a CBD tincture.
1. Always Look at the % of THC Content
Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, is known for inducing a euphoric high. CBD, on the other hand, elevates energy levels without causing the high. Make sure to read the laws in your state about CBD oil and cannabis. Most states have legalized CBD, but not without certain restrictions such as the THC content. CBD tinctures, for the most part, are legal so long as they are extracted from hemp plants and have less than 0.3% THC content.
2. Check Out the Ingredients
When buying full-spectrum CBD tincture, pay close attention to the list of additional ingredients included. These ingredients are designed to provide a synergy of therapeutic benefits in tandem with CBD. These ingredients could be terpenes, melatonin, calcium, etc.
Some CBD products contain harmful ingredients like vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol, which may be true in the case of certain CBD vape oils. It isn’t uncommon for manufacturers to lace their CBD edibles, such as gummy bears, with artificial flavors and colors that are not harmful to your health. However, any positive benefits you hope to derive from CBD might not manifest easily.
3. Learn the Basic Terminology
While it is possible to get an idea about the CBD tincture by inspecting the list of ingredients, it helps to have a good understanding of some common terminologies related to CBD. These are as follows:
CBD isolates: As the name suggests, this is pure CBD without any other ingredient tossed in. Following extraction from the hemp plant, the CBD is isolated from other compounds and cannabinoids in the plant, especially THC. The result is a CBD isolate that’s almost 99% pure.
Full-Spectrum CBD: The CBD in these products is extracted from hemp plants. Unlike CBD isolate, full-spectrum CBD has other ingredients making the bulk of its body, which are most likely cannabinoids from the hemp plant itself.
4. Learn to Read a CBD Lab Report
The market on CBD products is still relatively unregulated, which means you have to be on your guard when purchasing CBD tinctures from an unknown manufacturer. Not all CBD tinctures are created equal, and it’s a multi-billion-dollar industry with a lot of challenges. To win over customer trust, most manufacturers also send in a CBD lab report. Make sure to read up on this report.
In general, the report will contain the following information:
The Publishing Date: The report should not be more than a few months old. For obvious reasons, recent reports are far more reliable.
Matching Up the Numbers: If the tincture contains 200 mg of CBD, then the Certificate of Analysis should state the same.
Lab Accreditation: This is very important. The lab results are only as good as the accreditation they carry. It should be at least approved by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) and will carry its logo.
Look for Contaminants: You don’t want your CBD product to contain microbial contaminants and heavy metals in them. You’ll have to scroll towards the end of the report to find this information. The CBD tinctures should receive positive remarks such as ‘pass’ to indicate if it lies within the acceptable limits for contamination.
If the product receives a fail, then it probably contains harmful levels of contaminants.
5. Determine Dosage
CBD has many therapeutic benefits, but you have to first arrive at a rough estimate of your dosage requirements. Take too little and your body won’t absorb enough CBD to make a difference, take too much, and you’ll soon need another pricey tincture. That being said, there is no upper limit on CBD dosage because it isn’t toxic and hazardous to humans.
If you know that your ideal dosage is 10mg of CBD every 5 hours, you might want to look for CBD tinctures that contain exactly 10mg of CBD per drop. You will want to consistently take one drop every 5 hours to help you manage your CBD intake throughout the day. The bottle will indicate how much volume of liquid is stored inside (for instance 20ml), this also lets you create the ideal purchase schedule for you.
The bottle also indicates how many milligrams of CBD are in the bottle. Let’s assume there is 200mg of CBD. Simply divide the total CBD content (200mg) by the volume of the liquid inside (in this case 10mg of CBD per 1ml serving). Each drop usually amounts to 1 ml.
Now if you know you’re aiming for 20 mg of CBD per day, you’ll need to take 2 servings of CBD tincture daily. This also means you’ll finish the bottle in 10 days. (20ml divided by 2 every day).
This means if your dosage requirements are any higher, you will easily run out of CBD content relatively quickly. It is a good idea to choose a product with a higher concentration of CBD. While this will be more expensive, chances are, you’ll probably save more money thanks to the CBD-to-Price ratio over the longer term.
Finally, if you’re unsure what your dosage requirements are, or haven’t been able to figure this already by experimenting with it, get in touch with your doctor who knows about CBD.
6. Look for the Reviews
And as always, look at what the users are reporting. Consult YouTube videos from online reviewers, check out online forums like Reddit, and also check in with the Better Business Bureau. A glance will reveal if the product is worth buying or not, plus it will also provide you with some other useful information.
Interested in a CBD tincture?
Take a look at some CBD tinctures and find the one that’s a great fit for you.
