From an article on Bon Appétit:
Imagine this scenario—you’re scanning the beverage aisle at your local grocery store. Between the cold brew coffee and sparkling waters, a new drink catches your eye with “CBD” emblazoned on the front. You remember hearing a lot about it and the purported health benefits. You’re curious, but you don’t really know where to start when it comes to understanding why or how you should be using CBD.
For an ingredient that is believed to have healing abilities and help with anxiety, it can be stressful finding a CBD (cannabidiol) product that fits your lifestyle while delivering the desired effect. CBD has taken the wellness industry by storm, but not without a lot of questions. Because CBD has the potential for healing, precision and care must be taken in how it’s processed and packaged. Because CBD is a relatively new ingredient, that means that from a product development standpoint, the industry isn’t as familiar with it, leaving regulators and consumers in the dark at times.
If you’ve ever wondered why you can’t feel anything after trying one CBD drink but feel great after sampling other brands, here are a number of factors that contribute to that. Inconsistency in consumer experience has sparked a movement to bring more transparency and quality control to CBD. How does someone separate the brands that work from those that don’t? From determining the appropriate dose to the best product to deliver it, here’s how to buy a CBD product that works.
Look at the dose
The first thing you should be exploring is what dose might work for you. Everyone has an Endocannabinoid System (ECS), a molecular system responsible for regulating functions in the body, including immune response, communication between cells, appetite, and metabolism. Because each of our ECS’s are different, everyone needs a different dose. In addition to dose, the consistency a product can deliver is important. This consistency is heavily dependent on the infusion method of the CBD in the finished product. When trying CBD drinks and even tinctures, you may see instructions like “Shake before consuming.” This means that the CBD is not evenly dispersed, leading to a different experience and effect on your ECS every time you consume. When buying CBD products, particularly beverages, look for a brand that uses water-soluble CBD and hemp emulsions. What this means is that the CBD is converted from an oil to a water-soluble formula that disperses evenly throughout the finished good, leading to a reliable chill.
