In Houston and Pasadena, Texas, where hemp-based products are becoming more widely accepted as a health solution, the word “CBD oil” is all the rage. Stores are popping up left and right capitalizing on the Green Rush and its aftermath.
Cannabidiol (CBD) is a compound found in cannabis, but most especially its non-psychoactive strain, which is known as industrial hemp. CBD has been studied to have numerous health benefits, and people have started using it for pain management, insomnia, aches, and other ailments. They use it as an alternative to conventional medical treatments.
There are many competitors in the market, so many that it can be tough to choose which CBD Houston company is the best one, putting its customers first and focusing on giving them everything they want out of CBD.
With all the conflicting information out there, it can get even more complex trying to sort it out and understand it. This handy Houston CBD guide takes away all your worries. By the time you’re done reading it, you’ll feel like you’re an expert on cannabidiol and hemp.
What should you do before taking any CBD?
While CBD by itself is non-psychoactive, you should take into consideration your health conditions, and be careful which product you choose. There is only one product containing CBD that is FDA-approved for medical use: Epidiolex, an epilepsy treatment.
All other CBD products legally sold are not, by definition, medical products, and they should be treated as such.
As we’ll elaborate, while CBD is studied to be highly beneficial for certain conditions, it should not be taken under others. Before taking any such product, we recommend consulting a doctor. Better safe than sorry – after all, you don’t want buyer’s remorse. A doctor will advise you on what dose to start on, how it should be taken for your condition, and how you can best apply CBD for yourself. This is especially important, as everyone responds differently to cannabidiol. The effects depend on one’s previous exposure to drugs or cannabis, and on current health.
What are the types of CBD?
CBD has its own glossary of unique words. It may seem like a lot to absorb at first. However, if you want to mingle with those in the know, we’ll teach you some of the most important terms.
First of all, the different types of CBD products:
Full spectrum/Broad spectrum/Whole spectrum
The hemp plant contains many organic compounds. CBD is just one of them.
When a product says it’s “full spectrum,” it means it contains a liquid extract from the whole hemp plant, nothing left out. This means the extract contains all the organic compounds one can find in hemp. Each compound has a different set of health benefits.
While you can get more of one benefit by using one compound on its own, getting the full spectrum gives you a unique advantage. In a full-spectrum CBD product, CBD combines synergistically with all the other compounds to create an “entourage effect.” This multiplies the overall strength & effect across all the compounds in the extract.
Isolate
An “isolate” is one compound alone, isolated from the rest of the hemp plant in extraction. For example, a CBD isolate gives you only cannabidiol. With a certain concentration, you get to experience cannabidiol alone at much more potency than you do in a full-spectrum extract.
Hemp vs. Cannabis
It is important to distinguish the terms “hemp,” “cannabis” and “marijuana.” A century-long taboo against the psychoactive drug marijuana has somewhat blurred the line between these terms, so let’s clear it up.
Hemp plants and marijuana can both be traced back to the genus Cannabis, which has several species of flowering plants. Each species varies in concentrations of the different compounds.
The flower & fruit of the species Cannabis indica is the source of marijuana, a psychoactive drug. C. indica has a high concentration of a compound called tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) – which is hence plentiful in marijuana. THC is the main psychoactive component in the cannabis plant, responsible for giving you the “high” that is associated with marijuana.
Another species, Cannabis sativa, can vary in concentrations of THC vs. CBD, depending on how it is cultivated. One strain of C. sativa is known as industrial hemp, or simply hemp. Hemp is grown to have very low concentrations of THC.
Industrial hemp was descheduled from the Controlled Substances Act in 2018; U.S. legislation now defines hemp as the plant C. sativa or derivative products containing no more than 0.3% THC by dry weight. Individual states set hemp growth rules. In certain weather conditions, hemp crops can end up having higher amounts of THC than 0.3%; a general state rule is that growers must be careful to ensure their crops only have hemp that is within the FDA limit.
Cannabis oil is generally extracted from psychoactive C. indica, containing high concentrations of THC. CBD oil generally comes from hemp. Some people like getting high, but a lot of people who want pain management or insomnia relief don’t like getting high, so they turn to hemp-derived CBD products.
How to choose CBD?
Make Sure It’s Zero THC
You must make sure the CBD you choose is hemp-derived. You must also make sure it is accurately reported to have zero THC. For evidence, check out customer reviews, as well as publicity about the product.
A few CBD oils advertised as having zero THC have caused users to fail drug tests; a lack of quality control, especially during the growth stage, can result in unacceptable levels of THC.
Look for a Certificate of Analysis
To verify the quality control, ask the manufacturer for a Certificate of Analysis from a 3rd-party lab. This should show concentrations of CBD, THC and other organic compounds, as well as heavy metals and residual solvents – so that toxicity of unwanted substances does not counteract the potential of the CBD formulation itself.
What Do CBD Users Say About the Effect?
Again, commercially sold CBD oils, topicals, etc. are not FDA-approved medical products – so the best testimony of a CBD oil’s potential benefits comes from the customer. Look at the reviews to see:
- What people use it for
- What positive effects they experience
- What side effects, if any, they experience
- Action time
- Dose they need to feel an effect
You must be careful to choose an oil that is not reported to have side effects, as one slip-up in quality control can ruin everything.
What to Use CBD For?
CBD has been shown to have benefits for relieving pain, insomnia, anxiety, lack of focus, muscle aches, high blood pressure, and strengthening the immune system, among other conditions.
Before deciding to take CBD for your condition, you MUST seek the advice of a doctor.
How Does One Take CBD Oil?
CBD can be taken many different ways; these methods vary in bioavailability (its ability to enter blood circulation), hence influencing its potential effect, and action time.
Smoking & vaping yield the quickest absorption, though both are highly addictive and can have other harmful long-term effects on the lungs.
To take CBD safely, you can take it orally, sublingually (under the tongue) or topically (rubbed on the skin). While people have seen benefits from these methods, they generally have slower action times & less resulting strength due to reduced bioavailability – they are 5-20% absorbed.
A solution to the bioavailability problem is to make the CBD particles nano-sized. The principle is that the particles are small enough to permeate the blood-brain barrier, which is the body’s way of blocking unwanted molecules from the central nervous system, and selectively allowing nutrients and oxygen into it. Nano CBD takes effect quicker and at greater strength; however, it must be made in a very certain way in order to realize the benefits.
If you want to find a company in Houston, Pasadena and the greater area that has done its research and development to make sure its product is an effective nano CBD, our #1 recommendation for “CBD near me” is Long Live The Hemp – a simple, 1-ingredient product that meets and exceeds all the recommendations we’ve outlined above. Because it is 1-ingredient, you can be sure that what you feel comes from CBD, and not any other substance.