This post is part of Meli Botanicals CBD Education series designed to help both new and veteran CBD users and enthusiasts make informed decisions.

So you’re curious about CBD, but how do you make sure you’re buying and taking CBD the right way? How do you find quality CBD? How should you dose CBD? Arm yourself with the right questions to ask!

A Quick Review

This education series has given you a TON of information about CBD. I want to make sure all the things we covered prior are clear for you, so let’s start off with a quick review from the first two installments in our CBD Education posts:

• If you are concerned about not getting high and/or passing a drug test, then you want a Hemp CBD Isolate product with NO THC verified by a LAB TEST.
• If your goal is to get the best products available and you are not concerned about passing a drug test, you want a Hemp Whole Plant or Full Spectrum product that may have a little THC verified by a LAB TEST.

In terms of gaining the benefits of CBD products, these are what I recommend to the people I talk to every day.

Now that you hopefully have a better idea of what makes the most sense for you, personally, let’s make sure when you’re ready to buy you know what to ask.

Ready to Buy CBD?

Before buying and taking CBD, you want to make sure you are buying quality CBD.

Here are two of the most important questions to ask:

• Where do you buy or grow your CBD?
  ANSWER: You’re looking for CBD derived from hemp grown in the United States. While there are indeed good products from elsewhere, there has been an influx of very low-quality hemp products, specifically from China and Ukraine, that have penetrated the U.S. market.
• Do you have a third-party certified lab to test your products?
  ANSWER: Ask your CBD company to provide a “Certificate of Analysis” or a “COA.” COA’s are critical. Not only do they allow you to know that you are dealing with a legitimate CBD manufacturer, but they also will give you peace of mind that there are no pesticides or solvents.

While there are certainly other questions you may want to ask, I think these should be at the top of your list. The best CBD companies will welcome your questions and have these answers available to give you.

How do I take CBD?

Buying and taking CBD is not super complicated once you have the knowledge to figure out what’s right for you. We’ve covered buying it, so now let’s talk about taking it.

You are probably wondering…how do I dose CBD? How much should I take? And how often?

Let’s talk about dosage!

First, let me start off by saying that this is a challenging topic with a few hard and fast rules.

That said, here’s a good starting place in a vacuum:

20mg CBD, daily
OR
If you want to get a little more specific, 1mg of CBD for every 10 pounds of body weight, daily.

Keep in mind, though, there are some factors that can change this calculus, sometimes dramatically. There are a lot of scientific terms below…if this doesn’t make sense to you, please do not hesitate to reach out and ask us any questions you may have!

• Delivery Systems – Sublingual tinctures and vapes offer the highest bioavailability of CBD. Edibles like gummies or cookies offer less bioavailability. Basically, you get a more accurate dose of CBD with a tincture you put under your tongue or a vape, compared to eating your CBD.
• Cannabis Use – Some believe that the more your body is accustomed to Cannabis, the more initially effective CBD can be. This is due to building up more CB2 receptors in your endocannabinoid system.
• Severity of Your Challenge – Normally more is better, right? Well, taking more CBD hasn’t been proven more or less effective. The key is to listen to your body. For example, a customer I spoke to started with 20mg of CBD to help with insomnia and saw no benefit when doubling it to 40mg a day.
• Challenge Specific – Research suggests that more CBD may be good as an anticonvulsant or as an anti-inflammatory. However, less might be better to ease stress and promote relaxation.

The Bottom Line: While I can suggest to you the right dosage, your best bet is to try CBD for a minimum of 10 days and listen to your body. Some people may need to up their CBD intake, and some may need to lower it.

No two bodies are the exact same!

Grapefruit, CBD, and Pharmaceuticals

Let’s talk about medication. Specifically, how CBD interacts with some medications, and will CBD interact with your medication negatively?

Many of our customers have replaced their prescription medicines with CBD. But there are others that take CBD in conjunction with medications and have asked us, “Is this safe?”

Firstly, CBD is safe to use and generally considered to be benign. Despite being considered natural and safe, you should be aware of 2 important interactions:

1. Grapefruit
2. Blood Thinners

CBD metabolizes in the body in a way that can delay how a few other medications are processed. If those drugs aren’t metabolized effectively, they will remain in the body longer than necessary, sometimes causing side effects.

Remember when I told you about a great research site in our previous posts, ProjectCBD.org? Well, let’s go to them again!

One of the first scientists to study the metabolism of CBD was a research pharmacologist at the University of California in San Francisco, Lester Bornheim. What he found was that CBD has an impact on the body just like grapefruit does, but even stronger: CBD could interfere with the metabolism of some medications.

A person using CBD products should pay close attention to changes in blood levels when taking warfarin or a similar blood thinner, and adjust dosage accordingly as instructed by their doctor.

So, while your physician or pharmacist may not have a firm understanding of CBD, they will understand how grapefruit interacts with your meds. So, if you are supposed to avoid grapefruit when taking your meds, you should be very careful if mixing in CBD.

Thanks for Reading

That wraps up our CBD Education for now!

I hope you feel better about your CBD knowledge, and, if you don’t, feel free to reach out to us at any time! Whether you are a Meli customer or not, we are a resource for your CBD-related questions.

That being said, we would, of course, love to have you as a customer!

Be sure to check our blog and sign up for emails at the bottom of the page to get more educational info down the road.

Cheers!

Dan Grim
Owner, Meli Botanicals