CBD Food Products & Infused Beverages
CBD oil and CBD food products are booming in popularity. Millions of people throughout the world are using this non-psychoactive cannabis product to enhance their overall health and wellness.
But CBD oil is not the only way to enjoy the benefits of cannabidiol. CBD is also sold in many other forms, including capsules, vape e-liquids, creams, and even CBD infused foods and beverages.
Indeed, CBD can be added to a wide range of edible and drinkable products, including gummies, chocolate, cookies, coffee, tea, and even water.
What are the advantages of these products? How do they compare to CBD oil?
Let’s take a closer look at this new trend.
CBD Infused Foods
Given the immense popularity of THC-rich cannabis edibles, it’s not surprising that the CBD market is expanding into CBD food products as well.
CBD-infused gummies are particularly popular, but other CBD food products, such as chocolate and cookies, are also becoming increasingly available.
The major difference between CBD-infused foods and standard products such as CBD oil is the route they take inside your body.
Whereas sublingual CBD oil is absorbed directly into the bloodstream through tiny capillaries found under the tongue, edibles first go through the digestive system and the liver before reaching the bloodstream.
Despite this difference, cannabidiol in edible products interacts with the body’s endocannabinoid system in the same way as CBD oil.
As such, you can use CBD gummies and other food products for anxiety, pain, sleep, and any other issue that you’d normally take a CBD oil tincture for.
So, what are some reasons to choose (or avoid) CBD edibles?
Advantages and Downsides of CBD-Infused Foods
CBD-infused foods have several advantages. For starters, the effects of ingested CBD, such as edibles and capsules, tend to last for four hours or longer—the longest of any CBD administration method.
By comparison, CBD oil tinctures typically last for about three hours.
In addition, edibles typically come in precise doses, making it easy to control and know exactly how much CBD you’re taking.
More importantly, CBD-infused food products such as gummies are incredibly easy and pleasant to use. You don’t need to count drops, hold oil under your tongue, or follow any other instructions: simply eat them and go about your day.
You don’t need to count drops, hold oil under your tongue, or follow any other instructions: simply eat them and go about your day.
Moreover, they can be used discreetly at work or in public, whereas doing the same with CBD oil tinctures is likely to get you puzzled looks and plenty of questions.
It also helps that CBD edibles come in tasty forms like gummies and chocolate. By comparison, using CBD oil or capsules can feel like gulping down medicine, especially if you’re using unflavored tinctures with a strong, earthy hemp flavor.
Having said that, CBD edibles do have some downsides. Most notably, oral CBD products have poor absorption because they have to go through the digestive system and the liver before the cannabidiol can enter the bloodstream and produce its beneficial effects — a phenomenon known as the first-pass effect.
As such, you may need to take higher doses to get the same therapeutic potency as CBD oil.
This is also the reason why edible products take a while to start working: while you may feel them within 30 minutes on an empty stomach, it can take an hour or longer if you’ve recently eaten.
This means they’re not the best option if you need immediate relief, such as when dealing with an anxiety attack.
On the whole, however, CBD-infused food products are an excellent option for getting a subtle boost of wellness that will last for a good portion of the day.
For example, you can easily incorporate CBD gummies into your daily regimen by eating a few before heading to work and again in the evening before you head to sleep.
CBD-Infused Drinks
Another product category that is currently gaining ground is CBD-infused beverages. Similar to CBD foods, CBD-infused drinks offer an alternative, consumable option to tried-and-true CBD oil.
Although CBD beverages are a new development, their popularity is highlighted by the growing health and wellness trend of CBD-infused coffee.
Adding CBD to coffee is quite ingenious because it helps counteract the jittery side effects of caffeine, such as anxiety and increased heart rate.
At the same time, it helps further enhance coffee’s already long list of health benefits.
Indeed, many major cities across the United States are beginning to see the appearance of CBD-infused coffee shops and the same trend may soon appear in Canada thanks to the legalization of cannabis.
However, CBD-infused coffee is just the beginning. Many companies in the United States, the UK, and other countries are already selling CBD-infused water, sodas, and even beer and wine.
Much like the case with CBD-infused foods, the only thing stopping these products from being more widespread is the tighter laws governing the sale of edible CBD preparations.
Advantages and Downsides of CBD-Infused Drinks
Seeing how they’re also ingested, CBD-infused beverages have many of the same advantages (and downsides) as CBD-containing food products.
They’re easy to use, portable, and in the case of flavored beverages, enjoyable to drink.
For example, you could take CBD-infused water with you to the gym to help with post-workout recovery.
At the same time, CBD-infused drinks take longer to be felt and have lower absorption than sublingual CBD oil because of the first-pass effect.
The central issue with CBD-infused beverages remains the problem of mixing CBD and water.
Cannabinoids such as CBD are fat-soluble compounds, which means they dissolve in fat but don’t readily mix with H2O.
This is precisely why CBD oil, a preparation that mixes hemp extract with other plant-based oils, remains the most popular way to take CBD.
Companies are attempting to solve this problem by using nanotechnology to break down CBD molecules into a tiny size and suspend them in water.
However, the effectiveness of this technology remains to be seen and more research is needed before CBD-infused beverages can be supported with claims of enhanced absorption.
CBD-Infused Foods and Drinks vs CBD Oil
Generally speaking, we’d still recommend using tried-and-true CBD oil as your main source of CBD, especially if you’re taking it for significant health issues, such as insomnia or chronic pain.
Sublingual CBD oil is popular because it’s cost-effective, has good levels of absorption, and provides relatively long-lasting relief.
Another great thing about CBD oil is that it’s usually made with full-spectrum CBD extract, which means it contains the complete range of beneficial cannabinoids, terpenes, and other compounds found in hemp plants.
In contrast, most CBD-infused foods and beverages are formulated with CBD isolate — a purified form of CBD that’s been shown to be less effective.
In addition, CBD oil is a versatile preparation that can be added to foods and drinks instead of buying separate products.
Having said that, edible CBD products such as gummies and chocolates have their advantages.
In particular, they work great as a small, convenient boost of wellness for the daily stresses of our busy modern lives.
Shop For CBD Edibles Online
So now that you know more about CBD food products than you did before you got here, are you ready to shop and/or browse our selection of the best CBD edibles in Canada?
Check out CBD Chocolate bars, CBD peanut butter cups, or these CBD gummies.
As Canada’s ultramodern holistic brand, our goal is to help you find a place for holistic wellness in your life. Shop edible online now!
