These days everyone’s talking about cannabis, marijuana, hemp and CBD. If you believe all the hype, cannabis is a miracle plant that will cure everything from stress headaches to cancer. And while there are plenty of things cannabis (or marijuana or dagga or whatever you want to call it) won’t help you with, it does have an impressive list of healing qualities. It helps with inflammation, chronic pain and anxiety. It’s even used to help cancer patients improve their appetites and feel less nauseous from the chemo.
Why CBD?
Of course, cannabis makes you high… which may be exactly what you want when you’re alone on a Saturday night. But it’s a problem if you need to drive – or make good decisions.
That’s where CBD comes in. CBD (cannabidiol) is one of the cannabinoids found in the cannabis plant. Cannabinoids interact with the endocannabinoid system, which is found all over the brain and the body. Unlike TCH (tetrahydrocannabinol, another cannabinoid), CBD doesn’t make you high. And although it’s early days for the research, it looks like CBD has many of the benefits of cannabis.
It can’t hurt, can it?
So why not jump on the CBD bandwagon? It’s easy enough. You can just get on the internet (or go to your local pharmacy or health shop) and try it out. After all, it can’t hurt… can it?
The answer to that is unclear. Some of the products you’re seeing right now probably don’t have enough CBD in them to go beyond the placebo effect. Others may be contaminated – which means they can hurt you. And others are making all kinds of claims, giving people with real problems false hope. The South African cannabis market is a crazy place right now, and that includes CBD.
On top of all that, CBD isn’t cheap. How do you make sure you’re getting your money’s worth?
Your CBD Checklist
If you know what you’re doing, you can avoid the shady characters and hook yourself up with some quality CBD. Here are the questions you need to ask before buying CBD oil or CBD-infused products:
Is this a quality brand? Since cannabis went viral, all kinds of companies have popped up to sell it. The fact that CBD is legal doesn’t mean that everyone who’s selling it can be trusted. Check out brands; see if they’re selling anything else. Are their other products good quality? Do they have a good reputation?
How much CBD is in it? Once you know you’re dealing with a quality brand, it’s time to look at how much CBD you’re getting, per dose and per bottle. Compare a few quality brands to make sure you’re getting your money’s worth.
What kind of CBD is this: full-spectrum, broad-spectrum or isolate? Full-spectrum CBD comes from hemp, which is naturally low in THC. (The amount allowed varies from country to country, but it’s generally below 0.5%, not nearly enough to get you high.) Full-spectrum CBD contains all the cannabinoids and other phytochemicals (like terpenes and flavanols) found in hemp. This gives you the benefit of the famous “entourage effect”, which is just a catchy name for synergy. In other words, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. With full-spectrum CBD, you get the benefits of the whole plant, not just one part of it
CBD isolate is CBD that’s been completely isolated from the rest of the plant. Everything else is gone. Although you shouldn’t expect any nasty side effects, it’s more like a drug than a plant extract.
Broad-spectrum CBD can contain all the phytochemicals found in cannabis except for the THC, which must be removed. You can think of it as a jacked-up isolate, as it’s often made by adding other cannabinoids and terpenes to the isolate.
We recommend full-spectrum CBD because it’s a whole-plant extract. Broad-spectrum products may give you extra benefits, but a full-spectrum product is as close to nature as you can get. That tiny amount of THC won’t get you high, but it can give you better results.
Is it organic? You might not think this matters much. After all, South Africans are used to the fact that organic food is hard to find. So why worry about CBD from organically grown cannabis?
Cannabis is a bio-accumulator. This means that it holds on to everything from pesticides to heavy metals in the soil. It takes a lot of cannabis to make CBD oil – which means a lot of toxins if it isn’t grown properly.
Make sure your CBD comes from organically grown plants. There are enough pesticides in your food; you don’t need them in your natural medicine.
How was it processed? If you’ve never thought about how cannabis is processed – whether it’s for medicine or recreation – you’re in for a shock. To extract the cannabinoids (and the other good stuff), producers often use solvents like propane and butane (as well as ethanol and alcohol). Some of them remove those solvents properly, while others don’t. If you’re buying your cannabis illegally, or from a company that’s part of the cannabis “gold rush”, your chances of consuming toxic substances like butane and propane are high. Avoiding THC will not protect you from these toxins.
These days, many companies are using supercritical CO2 extraction. In this process, carbon dioxide is subjected to specific pressure and temperatures to create a “supercritical fluid”. This fluid is then used a solvent. It’s considered the cleanest – and therefore safest – solvent available.
The equipment is expensive, so these products cost more. But they’re worth it. You don’t have to worry about whether your CBD oil still contains the residue of toxic solvents.
Has it been tested? The best way to know if a company’s claims are true is through testing. There should be no pesticides, heavy metals, solvents or other toxins (like mould) in your CBD. A quality product will have a certificate showing the results of these tests.
Enjoy Your CBD
If you’d like to try CBD, a quality product is worth the extra money. CBD oil is concentrated – and so are any toxins that haven’t been removed. Go with a quality organic brand of full-spectrum oil that’s been processed cleanly and tested for contaminants. It will cost more, but your peace of mind is worth it.
