Below are the 10 factors to consider when buying cbd oil. We'll take you through each one and as always, if you still have questions, give us a call during business hours at 847-905-0391.
1. Always choose a cbd oil that is organic and batch tested by a third party lab (not the manufacturer of the product)
The certificate of analysis (COA) from the batch test should show that the bottle actually contains what the label says it contains. This is important for accurate and consistent dosing. For a consistent experience, you don't want the bottle to have more or less CBD, THC, CBG or other minor cannabinoids than the bottle says it has. Many high quality manufacturers have QR codes right on the label that , when scanned with your phone's camera, will take you to the certificate of analysis by a third party lab.
2. Manufacturer Certifications
In order to obtain certifications, manufacturers have to go through a rigorous vetting process to ensure a number of quality factors. Below are also some certifications that you may want to look for when searching for a high quality CBD or Full Spectrum Hemp Oil including:
3. Products that meet your dietary requirements
In addition, you may want to choose products that are vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, kosher, low glycemic index, etc. based on your specific needs. Keep in mind that many products include other dietary supplements and additives such as valerian root, turmeric, l-theanine, 5-HTP, chamomile, melatonin, etc. Often these additives are included in products in order to comply with FDA and FTC requirements allowing manufacturers to use certain words on the packaging such as “SLEEP Product”, “PAIN RELIEF”, etc. Be sure to check the packaging for ingredients to ensure that you are getting the right product for your needs and that you are not getting any ingredients to which you are allergic. Note that CBD s an emerging market and many companies change their formulas regularly so continually check the ingredients list. As an example Manufacturers of stress products may use the same hemp extract in a product but may change other ingredients such as lemon balm, ashwaganda or L-theanine. They may also adjust the concentration of different ingredients in a serving size so stay sharp and continue to read the labels. .
The truth is that there are many high quality manufacturers of cbd oil. The question is not necessarily which cbd product is best, but which cbd product is best for you? There are 1000s of cbd and hemp extract oils available and it can be hard to understand the differences between the products. Read on to discover more of the factors that differentiate products.
4. Extraction Method
There are a number of methods for extracting the Hemp Extract from the plant mass including alcohol extraction, Supercritical CO2 Extraction, Lipid Infusion Extraction and cold fermentation extraction, and others. There are ongoing debates about which method is best. In general CO2 extraction allows companies to extract more CBD from the plant, but this method also leaves behind a large amount of other cannabinoids (CBD is one of many cannabinoids in the hemp plant- others include CBG, CBN, CBC, THC, etc), beneficial phytochemical, and terpenes. Most studies show that a full spectrum hemp extract is more effective because of the entourage effect. The combined effect of the many different compounds found in cannabis work together as a whole to produce a greater magnified therapeutic effect than results when using a single compound in isolation. Most of the reading we have done indicates that alcohol extraction pulls out more of the full range of compounds in the plant.
5. Carrier Oil
Most companies take concentrated hemp extract or cbd isolate and add it to a carrier oil to make their full spectrum hemp or cbd oil. Some companies like endoca concentrate on purity and use hemp oil (from hemp seeds), others use olive oil, mct oil, almond oil, etc. Receptra's Relief Oil contains 7 different healthy oils which bind with the cbd and are absorbed into the system at different rates resulting in a slow release product.
6. Flavorings
Many companies add flavorings to make the full spectrum hemp oil more palatable. Some companies, such as Endoca, Bluebird, and Fufluns opt for purity and add no flavorings, others do add flavorings. For the best results, hemp extract oil should be taken daily so flavorings can be important to ensuring compliance. Charlotte’s web comes in olive oil, lemon, orange and chocolate mint, Receptra has a berry mint flavor for their relief products and vanilla mint for their relax products. If you don’t like the flavor, you will be less likely to take the product. We generally start new customers with a flavored product. Some eventually move to a more pure product with no flavoring but others stick with a flavored product.
7. Other Additives
Some of the tinctures that are targeting certain therapeutic effects add more terpenes, isolates of minor cannabinoids that naturally occur in the hemp plant and other ingredients to boost the effects of the full spectrum hemp oil. Some of these may include natural anti-inflamatory additives such as black seed oil, circumin or turmeric, anxiolitic (anti-anxiety) or calming ingredients such as L-theanine, ashwaganda lemon balm and Linalool, mood lifting additives such as CBG, Pinene, limonene, black pepper, caryophyllene, Frankincense, etc. or sedating ingredients such as CBN, Myrcene, Valerian root and chamomile. These may make the products work better, but the truth is that many companies add these ingredients so they can comply with FDA and FTC regulations and still call their product a “sleep” “calming” or “pain relief” product. CBD has not undergone all of the clinical trials required for this and it will be many years before such studies can be completed so in order to make claims about products or label products in a certain way, manufacturers have to add proven ingredients.
8. Concentration of CBD or Hemp Extract.
This can be a bit confusing, but a 1 oz bottle (30 ml) of hemp extract can have different concentrations. Some have as little as 100 mg of cbd/oz (none that we carry have that little) some have as much as 9000 mg of hemp extract /oz. Concentration is generally given in milligrams of cbd per milliliter of fluid. The least concentrated product that we carry has 7 mg of cbd/milliliter of fluid. The strongest tincture we carry has 300 mg of cbd/ milliliter of fluid. The more concentrated the product is, the more the bottle costs. However, the cost of cbd/milligram generally drops as the product is more concentrated. As an example Charlotte’s web’s least concentrated oil is 7 mg of cbd/ml of fluid and a 30 ml bottle has 210 mg of cbd, andcosts $29.99/ bottle or about 14 cents per milligram of cbd. Their strongest concentration is the max strength, which has 60 mg of cbd/ml of fluid. The maximum strength has 1800 mg of cbd per bottle and costs $119 per bottle or about 6.5 cents per milligram of cbd. With that said, we think Charlotte’s Web Original Oil (1500 mg/ml)is a better product than the Maximum because it is made with alcohol extraction and contains a lot more of the other cannabinoids, phytochemical and terpenes present in the hemp plant. The most concentrated oil we carry is Endoca 30% oil which has 3000 mg in a 10 ml bottle. This would be the equivalent of 9000 mg in a 1 oz bottle. It costs about 7.5 cents per milligram and has 10 mg of cbd in a single drop. As a comparison, 30 drops of charlottes web maximum contains the same amount of cbd as 6 drops of the Endoca 30% oil. If you’re confused, don’t worry, we can help you do the math and the in store signage for all of our tinctures provides the cost/mg of each cbd oil so you can easily comparison shop by price. In general we recommend people purchase a smaller or less expensive bottle to start. You can get the same results with a less expensive less concentrated oil as with a more expensive concentrated oil, you just have to take more of it. As an example, if you wanted to start by taking 30 ml a day, you could buy a 10 ml bottle of Endoca 3% hemp extract for $28 and take 1 ml of fluid every day for 10 days. That would last you 10 days. You could get the same results by taking 3 drops of the 30% Endoca oil and the 10 ml bottle would last you 100 days but it would cost you $225. In other words, we can help you find a way to learn if a product will work for you without breaking the bank.
9. Strain of Hemp used to make the hemp extract.
Most companies have a proprietary strain of hemp that they use and they do not divulge what strain it is. It is not necessarily that one is better than others, although some do seem superior and we have tried many products (which we don’t carry) that don’t seem to work at all. It is more that some strains are better for some people than others. Some strains of hemp have more CBG in them. Some have more beta caryophylene, limonene, myrcene or pinene, and some have more CBN. Each of these compounds have different therapeutic effects and depending on your body’s needs one may be better for you than another. Our bodies are all different just as hemp strains are all different and some strains work better for some people than others.
With that said, we are starting to see strain specific tinctures on the market. You can find reviews of different strains, how they make you feel and how they taste on Leafly, a cannabis review site. Click on this link for Leafly . Leafly was originally set up as a review site for high THC strains of cannabis, but they are getting more and more reviews of High CBD strains of hemp.
10. Plant parts used in extraction – some companies use just the flower of the plant, others use the whole plant including the stem and leaves. Most of the beneficial compounds are found in the flower, however stems and leaves have some trace amounts of these compounds. Generally speaking, companies that
Have more questions? Click on the Links below for more answers :)
How Much CBD Oil Should I Take?
CBD 101
What is the difference between Hemp Oil and CBD Oil?
How about Full Spectrum Hemp Oil vs. Broad Spectrum Hemp Oil ?
What is the best delivery method for taking cbd?
1. Always choose a cbd oil that is organic and batch tested by a third party lab (not the manufacturer of the product)
The certificate of analysis (COA) from the batch test should show that the bottle actually contains what the label says it contains. This is important for accurate and consistent dosing. For a consistent experience, you don't want the bottle to have more or less CBD, THC, CBG or other minor cannabinoids than the bottle says it has. Many high quality manufacturers have QR codes right on the label that , when scanned with your phone's camera, will take you to the certificate of analysis by a third party lab.
2. Manufacturer Certifications
In order to obtain certifications, manufacturers have to go through a rigorous vetting process to ensure a number of quality factors. Below are also some certifications that you may want to look for when searching for a high quality CBD or Full Spectrum Hemp Oil including:
- Hemp Authority Certified
- Realm of Caring certified (includes a 14 page checklist to ensure that products are of the highest quality and that manufacturers have product tracking, complaint procedures, recall procedures, etc. in place,
- Certified Organic
- Certified B Corporations (Certified B Corporations are businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability to balance profit and purpose). Many of our products have one or all of these certifications, however, some high quality boutique manufacturers do not because it can be expensive to jump through all of the hoops required to gain certifications.
3. Products that meet your dietary requirements
In addition, you may want to choose products that are vegetarian, vegan, gluten free, kosher, low glycemic index, etc. based on your specific needs. Keep in mind that many products include other dietary supplements and additives such as valerian root, turmeric, l-theanine, 5-HTP, chamomile, melatonin, etc. Often these additives are included in products in order to comply with FDA and FTC requirements allowing manufacturers to use certain words on the packaging such as “SLEEP Product”, “PAIN RELIEF”, etc. Be sure to check the packaging for ingredients to ensure that you are getting the right product for your needs and that you are not getting any ingredients to which you are allergic. Note that CBD s an emerging market and many companies change their formulas regularly so continually check the ingredients list. As an example Manufacturers of stress products may use the same hemp extract in a product but may change other ingredients such as lemon balm, ashwaganda or L-theanine. They may also adjust the concentration of different ingredients in a serving size so stay sharp and continue to read the labels. .
The truth is that there are many high quality manufacturers of cbd oil. The question is not necessarily which cbd product is best, but which cbd product is best for you? There are 1000s of cbd and hemp extract oils available and it can be hard to understand the differences between the products. Read on to discover more of the factors that differentiate products.
4. Extraction Method
There are a number of methods for extracting the Hemp Extract from the plant mass including alcohol extraction, Supercritical CO2 Extraction, Lipid Infusion Extraction and cold fermentation extraction, and others. There are ongoing debates about which method is best. In general CO2 extraction allows companies to extract more CBD from the plant, but this method also leaves behind a large amount of other cannabinoids (CBD is one of many cannabinoids in the hemp plant- others include CBG, CBN, CBC, THC, etc), beneficial phytochemical, and terpenes. Most studies show that a full spectrum hemp extract is more effective because of the entourage effect. The combined effect of the many different compounds found in cannabis work together as a whole to produce a greater magnified therapeutic effect than results when using a single compound in isolation. Most of the reading we have done indicates that alcohol extraction pulls out more of the full range of compounds in the plant.
5. Carrier Oil
Most companies take concentrated hemp extract or cbd isolate and add it to a carrier oil to make their full spectrum hemp or cbd oil. Some companies like endoca concentrate on purity and use hemp oil (from hemp seeds), others use olive oil, mct oil, almond oil, etc. Receptra's Relief Oil contains 7 different healthy oils which bind with the cbd and are absorbed into the system at different rates resulting in a slow release product.
6. Flavorings
Many companies add flavorings to make the full spectrum hemp oil more palatable. Some companies, such as Endoca, Bluebird, and Fufluns opt for purity and add no flavorings, others do add flavorings. For the best results, hemp extract oil should be taken daily so flavorings can be important to ensuring compliance. Charlotte’s web comes in olive oil, lemon, orange and chocolate mint, Receptra has a berry mint flavor for their relief products and vanilla mint for their relax products. If you don’t like the flavor, you will be less likely to take the product. We generally start new customers with a flavored product. Some eventually move to a more pure product with no flavoring but others stick with a flavored product.
7. Other Additives
Some of the tinctures that are targeting certain therapeutic effects add more terpenes, isolates of minor cannabinoids that naturally occur in the hemp plant and other ingredients to boost the effects of the full spectrum hemp oil. Some of these may include natural anti-inflamatory additives such as black seed oil, circumin or turmeric, anxiolitic (anti-anxiety) or calming ingredients such as L-theanine, ashwaganda lemon balm and Linalool, mood lifting additives such as CBG, Pinene, limonene, black pepper, caryophyllene, Frankincense, etc. or sedating ingredients such as CBN, Myrcene, Valerian root and chamomile. These may make the products work better, but the truth is that many companies add these ingredients so they can comply with FDA and FTC regulations and still call their product a “sleep” “calming” or “pain relief” product. CBD has not undergone all of the clinical trials required for this and it will be many years before such studies can be completed so in order to make claims about products or label products in a certain way, manufacturers have to add proven ingredients.
8. Concentration of CBD or Hemp Extract.
This can be a bit confusing, but a 1 oz bottle (30 ml) of hemp extract can have different concentrations. Some have as little as 100 mg of cbd/oz (none that we carry have that little) some have as much as 9000 mg of hemp extract /oz. Concentration is generally given in milligrams of cbd per milliliter of fluid. The least concentrated product that we carry has 7 mg of cbd/milliliter of fluid. The strongest tincture we carry has 300 mg of cbd/ milliliter of fluid. The more concentrated the product is, the more the bottle costs. However, the cost of cbd/milligram generally drops as the product is more concentrated. As an example Charlotte’s web’s least concentrated oil is 7 mg of cbd/ml of fluid and a 30 ml bottle has 210 mg of cbd, andcosts $29.99/ bottle or about 14 cents per milligram of cbd. Their strongest concentration is the max strength, which has 60 mg of cbd/ml of fluid. The maximum strength has 1800 mg of cbd per bottle and costs $119 per bottle or about 6.5 cents per milligram of cbd. With that said, we think Charlotte’s Web Original Oil (1500 mg/ml)is a better product than the Maximum because it is made with alcohol extraction and contains a lot more of the other cannabinoids, phytochemical and terpenes present in the hemp plant. The most concentrated oil we carry is Endoca 30% oil which has 3000 mg in a 10 ml bottle. This would be the equivalent of 9000 mg in a 1 oz bottle. It costs about 7.5 cents per milligram and has 10 mg of cbd in a single drop. As a comparison, 30 drops of charlottes web maximum contains the same amount of cbd as 6 drops of the Endoca 30% oil. If you’re confused, don’t worry, we can help you do the math and the in store signage for all of our tinctures provides the cost/mg of each cbd oil so you can easily comparison shop by price. In general we recommend people purchase a smaller or less expensive bottle to start. You can get the same results with a less expensive less concentrated oil as with a more expensive concentrated oil, you just have to take more of it. As an example, if you wanted to start by taking 30 ml a day, you could buy a 10 ml bottle of Endoca 3% hemp extract for $28 and take 1 ml of fluid every day for 10 days. That would last you 10 days. You could get the same results by taking 3 drops of the 30% Endoca oil and the 10 ml bottle would last you 100 days but it would cost you $225. In other words, we can help you find a way to learn if a product will work for you without breaking the bank.
9. Strain of Hemp used to make the hemp extract.
Most companies have a proprietary strain of hemp that they use and they do not divulge what strain it is. It is not necessarily that one is better than others, although some do seem superior and we have tried many products (which we don’t carry) that don’t seem to work at all. It is more that some strains are better for some people than others. Some strains of hemp have more CBG in them. Some have more beta caryophylene, limonene, myrcene or pinene, and some have more CBN. Each of these compounds have different therapeutic effects and depending on your body’s needs one may be better for you than another. Our bodies are all different just as hemp strains are all different and some strains work better for some people than others.
With that said, we are starting to see strain specific tinctures on the market. You can find reviews of different strains, how they make you feel and how they taste on Leafly, a cannabis review site. Click on this link for Leafly . Leafly was originally set up as a review site for high THC strains of cannabis, but they are getting more and more reviews of High CBD strains of hemp.
10. Plant parts used in extraction – some companies use just the flower of the plant, others use the whole plant including the stem and leaves. Most of the beneficial compounds are found in the flower, however stems and leaves have some trace amounts of these compounds. Generally speaking, companies that
Have more questions? Click on the Links below for more answers :)
How Much CBD Oil Should I Take?
CBD 101
- Does CBD come from marijuana?
- What’s the difference between Marijuana and Hemp?
- More on CBD & THC
- What is CBD?
- How does CBD maek you feel?
What is the difference between Hemp Oil and CBD Oil?
How about Full Spectrum Hemp Oil vs. Broad Spectrum Hemp Oil ?
What is the best delivery method for taking cbd?
