Things to Look for When Buying Your First CBD Product

Extracted from the Cannabis sativa plant, cannabidiol or CBD could have numerous potential health and wellness benefits and is currently being studied extensively. It is turning up in the list of ingredients for products in many industries, and its worldwide user base is quickly growing. But, going into a store and purchasing CBD oil is not that simple. There are many different strengths and more types of products than we have space to mention. All these options can make buying CBD for the first time confusing. Here’s a quick CBD buyers guide to help you find the perfect product for you.

Check the Concentration

Choosing the right concentration can be confusing at first. Not with our CBD buyers guide to help you. In order to figure out what concentration to buy, you have to first figure out what is the proper dosage you need. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not yet given a Recommended Daily Intake (RDI) for CBD. Without an RDI there is no official serving size.

Many factors need to be considered in order to figure out the right dose, including weight, body chemistry, and the issue you want to treat. This may take some experimenting, so start with the smallest dose and gradually increase over several weeks until you have the right dose.

This is where concentration comes into play. To find out the correct dose, you need to understand the range of concentrations available. Most product labels display how much CBD they contain in either percentages or milligrams.

Find Out How It Is Extracted

How the CBD oil was extracted from the hemp will also affect its quality, so you should check how it was extracted. Look for products with CO2 extraction. This method is by far the cleanest, in terms of impurities. Lower quality products are likely to be extracted with butane, which is cheaper, but also leaves the chemical in the end product.

Check the Purity

There have been cases of CBD products having little to no CBD in them, so it is essential to find out if the CBD oil product you are considering contains real CBD oil. In other instances, some products are being marketed as CBD whey they are actually hemp-based products. This is an expanding industry, and there are plenty of shady manufacturers out there ready to take your money.

So, how can you be sure that a product really contains CBD or if it is a fake? Compare what the label says with the product itself. The highest quality, triple-distilled CBD oil is a clear, gold color. The color will give you clues about how the CBD was extracted. The distillation method removes the chlorophyll (green color), CO2 extraction results in CBD oil that is amber in color, and butane or hexane method renders a clear, honey-colored concentrate.

Check How Much THC They Have

To be legally sold as a food supplement, CBD oil products must contain less than 0.3% of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Some manufactures may even claim higher doses of THC; be wary of these as they would be considered illegal. So be careful and avoid purchasing any oil that doesn’t have the full list of ingredients on the label.

Know the Types of CBD

There are three kinds of CBD oil that you can buy: CBD isolate, broad spectrum, and full spectrum, each with separate qualities.

CBD isolate is 99% CBD extracted from a hemp plant. Since you can’t extract just one type of cannabinoid from the plant, once all the cannabinoids are extracted, the CBD is isolated so that it is the only one.

Broad spectrum CBD contains all the cannabinoids except THC.

Full spectrum contains all the cannabinoids, including the THC. Because it contains THC, this product may not be legal in every state, so be sure to check the laws in your state.

Consider the Price

Everyone wants to save money, but when you are buying CBD oil it is best to focus on quality rather than price. There are a lot of different products, concentrations, and bottle sizes, so finding a price point that you like can be difficult. The best way to determine if the price is fair is to figure out the cost per ml of CBD. Once you figure that out, you can use it to compare products and see which is giving the most CBD for the price.

Keep in mind that factors such as ingredients, company reputation, and special features can affect the price of a product. Don’t go for the cheapest product from the first company you find with wild claims about curing everything under the sun. Instead, do your research and find a reputable product with a realistic price.

Check the Manufacturer’s Reputation

You may have to do a little research to find a trust-worthy company. Check up on a company’s product quality and transparency before deciding to buy from them. Read product reviews, which you can usually find via the brand’s website and social media platforms. This will help you find higher-quality CBD products.

Find Out Where the Hemp Was Grown

When buying vegetables, we rarely worry about where they’re grown, so why is it important to know where the hemp plants used for your CBD were grown? Hemp is a soil remediator, which means that it will suck up toxins from the soil in which it is grown. Clean soil and growing conditions result in a better end product.

The better manufacturers have built long-standing relationships with the farms that supply them with CBD isolate. Low-quality manufacturers often buy their isolate from wholesale suppliers who don’t know where their hemp was grown. They may get a really good batch one time and a bad one the next, so not only are you getting an inferior product, but there is no consistency in quality.

Only the best, legit CBD companies can honestly state that they use 100% organic hemp grown using best farming practices. Check the packaging and website, since they will generally say where their plants are grown. If you don’t see it prominently displayed, call the company.

Look for Third-Party Lab Testing

The next step in our CBD buyers guide is to test results should be easily found on the company’s website. If not, you can call the company and ask, they should readily give you this information. If you can’t find it on the website, and they won’t give you the information, go elsewhere.

Check the results to see if the report matches the manufacturer’s claims. Make sure the stated amount of CBD is correct and that the product has not tested positive for harmful contaminants.

Maybe the company just forgot to list the contents properly on their packaging, or perhaps there really is something shady going on. No matter the reason, pass on a CBD manufacturer that doesn’t have lab results to support their claims.

Now that you are armed with information, you know what to look for and how to identify red flags. Be sure to assess all the information from our CBD buyers guide and don’t be afraid to call the manufacturer and ask questions. This will also tell you a lot about the company. Then you can be sure you are getting the best CBD for the best price.