CBD Dosage: How Much CBD Oil Should You Take?
Millions of people are using CBD to help with everything from anxiety to inflammation. Nonetheless, many individuals struggle with choosing the optimal CBD dosage.
There are many reasons for this, such as the lack of sufficient research evidence, government regulations, differences in absorption between CBD oil and other products, and individual body chemistry.
The bottom line is that there isn’t one CBD dosage that will work for everyone’s specific case.
Having said that, here’s what you need to know to figure out the CBD dose that works best for you or your pet.
If You’re New to CBD, Start Low
The most important guideline for CBD beginners is to start with the lowest CBD dose possible and increase it until you experience your desired effects.
This way, you can understand exactly what CBD feels like and find the most efficient dose that works for you.
With most CBD products, this will translate into doses of 1–10 mg of CBD. If you don’t feel anything, you can slowly increase your dose until you start experiencing relief for your particular health issue, whether it’s anxiety, pain, insomnia, or something else.
Use this method to find that dosage that works and stick to it. However, keep in mind that the effects of CBD are relatively subtle. It’s more about what you don’t feel when you take it.
CBD Dosage: 7 Key Factors to Keep in Mind
It’s good to be aware of the multiple factors that affect CBD dosage. These include how you’re taking the CBD, the type of CBD extract used, individual body chemistry, the benefits you’re hoping to gain, and the concentration of your product.
By understanding these factors, you will have a better idea of the optimal CBD dosage for your specific needs.
1. Method of Taking CBD
For starters, CBD is absorbed differently depending on how you take it. Scientists call this bioavailability — a term for how much of the substance you took reaches your blood where it can have its beneficial effects.
CBD taken sublingually (under the tongue), such as CBD oil, has decent bioavailability thanks to being absorbed directly into the blood through the capillaries in your mouth.
Similarly, CBD absorbed through the lungs via vaping or other methods has good levels of absorption that are equal to or greater than CBD oil.
By comparison, CBD that’s taken orally — such as in capsules and edibles — has low bioavailability because it first has to go through your digestive tract and liver before reaching the bloodstream.
For this reason, taking CBD in the form of a capsule will have weaker effects than the equivalent dose of a tincture.
2. CBD Extract Type: Full-Spectrum vs. Isolate
Another factor affecting your CBD dosage is the type of CBD extract used. Most CBD products use full-spectrum extracts that contain the complete range of beneficial cannabinoids, terpenes, and other compounds naturally present in cannabis plants. By comparison, CBD isolate products contain only pure CBD.
Full-spectrum products are more potent than CBD isolate formulas thanks to the entourage effect: the holistic synergy of whole-plant cannabis preparations compared to isolated CBD.
This means a dose of a CBD isolate tincture will have weaker effects than the equivalent dose of a full-spectrum CBD oil.
3. The Severity of Your Symptoms
In addition, the actual reason you’re taking CBD for will also affect the dosage.
For instance, someone taking CBD to support general health and wellness will require smaller doses than a person looking for relief from chronic pain.
As a general rule of thumb, the more severe your symptoms, the higher the CBD dose required to relieve them.
4. CBD Product Concentration
Another important factor is the CBD concentration of your product. For example, a drop of one CBD oil can contain only 0.5 mg of CBD, whereas another one can have 5 mg.
As you can imagine, the resulting CBD tincture dosages will be quite different.
Similarly, capsules and other CBD products come in a wide variety of strengths. For this reason, you have to check exactly how much CBD is present in your product and adjust the dosage accordingly.
If your CBD oil does not list the concentration, you can figure it out by dividing the total amount of CBD by the volume of the tincture.
For example, a CBD oil with 600 mg of CBD in a 30 mL container has 600/30 = 20 mg of CBD per mL.
Since one mL is equivalent to one full dropper, which contains roughly 20 drops, that means one drop of this oil will contain 20/20 = 1 mg of CBD.
5. Body Chemistry and Weight
Last but not least, your unique body chemistry has an impact on the optimal CBD dosage as well. As such, a CBD dose that works great for one person’s back pain may be insufficient for someone else with a similar issue.
One reason for this is bodyweight; individuals who weigh more will typically require higher CBD doses. But there are many other factors that affect how your body reacts to CBD.
Most notably, individual differences in the functioning of the endocannabinoid system — which is activated by cannabinoids — play a big role.
For example, a person with a sensitive endocannabinoid system would need to take less CBD to experience the same effect as someone with a less responsive one.
Variations such as these can explain why two individuals taking CBD for the same reason can require different doses.
6. CBD Dosage Recommendations
The information above should be a good starting point for figuring out your ideal CBD dosage. Having said that, concrete numbers are helpful too.
As a general point of reference, the average person takes about 10–40 mg of CBD 1–2 times daily in the form of full-spectrum CBD oil.
This amount is typically enough to deal with everyday concerns such as anxiety or insomnia.
Meanwhile, people with more serious issues — such as chronic pain — may require daily dosages of 100 mg or higher.
However, keep in mind that these are only general recommendations and should not replace the advice of a qualified healthcare professional.
If you want to get the best answer about how much CBD you should take, there’s no replacement for a doctor, and especially one who’s well-versed in cannabis.
7. Choosing the Ideal CBD Dose
As you can see, your optimal CBD dosage will depend on a number of factors, including body chemistry, the benefits you’re hoping to achieve, the type of CBD product you’re using, and its concentration.
As such, choosing how much CBD to take for your particular case will require some experimentation. But the good news is that it doesn’t have to be difficult.
The simplest way to figure out the best CBD dosage is to start with the lowest possible dose and increase it slowly until you experience the desired effects. For most people, a dose of 10–40 mg of full-spectrum CBD oil taken 1–2 times daily should be plenty.
Summary of CBD Dosage Techniques
To conclude, remember that the effects of CBD are not as obvious as some other wellness supplements.
Besides, some people find that they don’t feel any effects until they’ve been taking CBD for a few days or even weeks.
Just like you would when integrating any holistic supplement to your wellness routine. For this reason, it’s important to remain patient and take it slow.
If you’d like to try our hemp-derived CBD products, please shop online now for hemp CBD oil and our other health and wellness products.
