If you are suffering from issues, whether it's inflammation and pain, sleeplessness, anxious thoughts, or anything in between, one of the substances that may be able to help resolve some of these problems is CBD.
Although more research is required on this front, CBD is thought to have a variety of big benefits for both the mind and the body. With that being said, one of the issues that many people have is that there are many different ways to take CBD. You can vape, smoke, eat, drink, and more.
Today, we want to take a closer look at all the different ways CBD can be consumed. We want to compare all the different CBD consumption methods, what they entail, what makes them different from each other, and which one might be best for you.
So, what is the most effective way to take CBD?
Key Takeaways
- CBD can be ingested, vaped, smoked, and applied topically.
- The preferred methods of CBD consumption are topically and through edibles.
- Topical application or ingestion are generally safer than smoking or vaping.
- The best place to find CBD oils, gummies, and topicals is at Evn.
What is CBD?
Before we start talking about how to take CBD for the best effects, let's first figure out what exactly CBD is. Most people are familiar with THC, otherwise known as tetrahydrocannabinol. However, this is only one of the dominant cannabinoids found in hemp or marijuana plants. The other dominant one is CBD, otherwise known as cannabidiol.
CBD is thought to have a variety of benefits for both the human mind and body, and this is due to the way in which CBD interacts with the ECS or endocannabinoid system in the body. Yes, our human bodies are specifically designed to process cannabinoids.
Although more research is required on this front, it is thought that CBD may have a variety of benefits including relieving anxious thoughts, making people feel happier, improving sleep, improving your sex life, making you feel more aroused, and relieving pain and inflammation.
CBD can also come in many different forms. In its most basic form, you can find CBD in hemp plants and flower, with the latter being the kind that you would smoke or vape. CBD can also be extracted from hemp or marijuana plants to make concentrates that can then be vaped, such as CBD shatter.
That CBD can also be extracted from plants and then be turned into oils and tinctures for oral consumption, into creams and salves for topical application, and even into CBD isolate powder.
CBD isolate or CBD powder is 100% pure CBD, which can then be eaten, cooked with, mixed with drinks, vaped, smoked, and applied topically.
What also needs to be distinguished between full spectrum CBD and broad spectrum CBD. Full spectrum CBD, although the CBD is the focus of the show, may also contain some THC, which many people do prefer.
This is because CBD often works best in combination with the other cannabinoids, mainly THC, which produces the so-called entourage effect. We then have broad spectrum CBD, which is generally designed to not contain any THC. Although some trace amounts of THC may be left in broad spectrum CBD, this is usually not the case. So, what is the best way to consume CBD?
Ways to Consume CBD
Now that we know CBD, let's talk about the different ways you can consume it. As you're about to see, there are four different ways that you can consume CBD effectively and safely.
Orally
One of the most common and effective ways of consuming CBD is orally, or in other words by eating or drinking it. Seeing as CBD can come in many different forms, such as powder, gummies, contained in chocolate, in drinks, and more, there are many options at your disposal. Things like CBD oils and powders can be put under your tongue for quick absorption, otherwise known as sublingual application.
Things like chocolates and gummies can be eaten, which takes a bit longer to absorb. Because these products generally don't have much of a taste, this is a preferred method, plus it tends to be fairly easy to get the right dosage.
Most of these CBD products can also be easily mixed into and dissolved into a drink, therefore making consumption very quick. Many people even choose to use CBD powder, oils, or tinctures to cook with.
Smoking
Another fairly common way of consuming CBD is by smoking it. Yes, CBD can come in flower form, just like when you smoke marijuana that is full of THC. There is also hemp, as well as marijuana, that is very high in CBD. You have strains that are high in CBD and THC, and there are strains that only have CBD, or at least only have very small amounts of THC.
For people who are used to consuming their marijuana through smoking, this is perhaps a great choice to consider. With that being said, many people don't like smoking because it's definitely not the healthiest alternative, especially regarding your respiratory health. Moreover, dosage can also be an issue.
Vaping
Another preferred method of consuming CBD is by vaping it. You can get CBD oils, concentrates, and powders, all of which can be vaped. Depending on the exact form of CBD you get, you could put it in a flower vape, concentrate vape, or you could dab it using a dab rig as well.
This is generally preferred over smoking because vaping and dabbing are considered much healthier than smoking. There is nothing that is being combusted, and therefore generally poses less of a health risk to your respiratory system.
Vaping is also a preferred method when compared to smoking, because concentrates and oils usually have much higher concentrations of CBD than marijuana or hemp flower, therefore allowing you to get more bang for your buck.
Moreover, these tend to also not have quite as much of a taste as flower, which some people do prefer.
Topically
The other method of consuming CBD, or at least of applying it, is topically. In other words, there are many creams, salves, and lotions out there that you can apply to your skin. You can mix CBD powder in with your existing lotions, or you can buy lotions that already contain it.
You can also use oils and concentrates, and apply them directly to your skin, without mixing them with anything else.
If you have any kind of pain or inflammation, particularly localized pain or inflammation in your muscles and joints, this is often seen as being a solution. Now that we know what different forms of CBD comes in and exactly how it can be consumed, let's take a closer look at some of the pros and cons of taking CBD in different ways.
Pros and Cons of CBD Oil
One of the most common forms of CBD is CBD oil, and just like with anything else out there CBD oil does have some benefits and drawbacks that you need to consider before taking it. Let's first start by looking at the pros of CBD oil.
One of the big benefits of CBD oil is the fact that it tends to be fairly cost-effective. For those of you who don't know, CBD oil is made by infusing CBD into a specific type of oil, which could be olive oil, grapeseed oil, or coconut oil. CBD oil is generally taken by using a dropper and putting it under the tongue, or in other words, by making a sublingual application.
One of the big benefits here is that this allows the CBD to be absorbed extremely quickly. Due to it being absorbed quickly, it will also affect you fast, providing you with benefits within mere minutes of consumption.
What also needs to be said is that putting a few drops of CBD oil in your mouth is extremely easy. It really doesn't take any effort. Moreover, CBD oil can also be mixed in with your drinks and foods for easy consumption without any kind of flavor.
That said, there are also some drawbacks to using CBD oil.
For instance, CBD oil, due to its nature, just doesn't taste very good, and it's going to leave your mouth feeling pretty greasy. Most people would say that being forced to leave CBD oil under the tongue for a couple of minutes just isn't very enjoyable. There are also some reported side effects of taking CBD oil, mainly gastrointestinal upset, such as diarrhea, nausea, and stomach pains.
This is likely due to the fact that CBD oil is very greasy, and human stomachs aren't really designed to handle all that much oil at once. What also needs to be said here is that CBD oils can vary greatly in terms of potency, which means that dosage can be a problem.
If you aren't paying close attention to that dropper, you might be taking a few milligrams less or more, which is going to affect how you feel because of it.
That said, CBD oil is very cost-effective, easy to use, and provides you with very rapid benefits due to quick absorption. However, keep in mind that CBD oil is absorbed much quicker when using a sublingual application, which means putting it under your tongue rather than swallowing it. If CBD sounds right for you, check out our line of CBD oils.
Pros and Cons of CBD Gummies
We then have CBD gummies, and we're also going to lump CBD chocolates and other CBD edibles into the equation here. Gummies are just one type of food vessel that CBD can be put in, although they are usually the most common one. One of the biggest benefits of CBD gummies is that it is very easy to get the right dosage with them.
When the experts make CBD gummies, they are very precise with how much substance they put in. This means you can effectively dose CBD to get it as much as you want. Another big benefit is that they taste better than the oils.
On that note, although this is questionable, many people do report that taking CBD in the form of gummies or other edibles, as opposed to eating the oil or tincture directly, is that it doesn't cause quite as many gastrointestinal side effects.
What also needs to be said here is that because the CBD oil or tincture has been inserted into a food item, it tends to taste much better than consuming the oil. We dare say that some CBD gummies, chocolates, and other edibles are actually quite enjoyable to eat.
However, due to the CBD being contained inside of an edible, it can take much longer to absorb than the oils, which means that you're going to wait to feel the effects. For some people, it can just take too long.
The other thing you need to consider here is that it takes work to put CBD into edibles, which automatically means that CBD edibles, such as gummies, will cost a lot more than plain oils. If you think that CBD gummies are the way to go, check out our own CBD gummies right here.
Pros and Cons of Smoking CBD
You do have the option to smoke your CBD in the form of flower, or in other words, you can buy hemp or marijuana flower that contains CBD. When it comes down to it, really the only pro that you get from smoking your CBD is that the absorption rate is very quick.
More or less, as soon as it hits your lungs, it's going to be absorbed into your bloodstream.
However, other than that, it's really not very beneficial. One of the reasons for this is that a lot of the CBD actually gets lost. Although it gets absorbed very quickly, not all of it gets absorbed. When you exhale that smoke, a good deal that CBD goes back out.
Moreover, smoking just isn't very healthy for your lungs. It also makes you stink, and it's actually not very cheap to buy CBD flower. In the grand scheme of things, we really wouldn't recommend smoking your CBD.
Pros and Cons of Vaping CBD
If we have to choose between vaping and smoking your CBD, we would always choose vaping, with the main reason for it being that vaping is just a lot healthier than smoking because you aren't combusting anything. However, other than that, the results are more or less the same.
Yes, the absorption speed is very quick, because as soon as that vapor hits your lungs, it goes into your bloodstream, but just like with smoking, a lot of that vapor is exhaled, which means that CBD is being wasted.
At the same time, because this has to be processed into a vape product, it actually tends to be really expensive, not to mention that you need a special device, a vaporizer, to use CBD before vaping.
Moreover, because CBD vapes tend to be extremely strong, they might be way too powerful for some people, and at the same time, dosing is also extremely difficult. It's nearly impossible to tell how much CBD you are actually inhaling through a vape. Sure, you might know how much CBD is in the whole cartridge, but you don't know how much is in each breath.
That said, if you are looking to consume very high doses of CBD very quickly, then vaping is probably your best bet. Therefore, when it comes to both vaping and smoking, they’re not the first methods we would recommend for consuming CBD. Rather, consuming CBD orally or using topicals is what we recommend.
Pros and Cons of CBD Topicals
We then have CBD topicals. For those of you who don't know, topical application means that you apply it directly to your skin. You can buy CBD topical creams and salves, apply CBD oils and tinctures directly to the skin, or mix CBD powder with your existing skin products.
One of the big benefits of this is that CBD can help relieve local pain and inflammation if applied in large quantities. Furthermore, when CBD is applied to the skin, the absorption rate tends to be fairly high, as it's not like you are exhaling any of it. One hundred percent of that CBD oil, lotion, or tincture gets absorbed into your skin unless you wash it away or get sweaty.
Another benefit that you get from using CBD topicals is that they usually don't produce any gastrointestinal side effects such as bloating, diarrhea, or any other such related symptoms.
CBD salves and creams may also have other benefits, such as simply moisturizing your skin, because they are often mixed with normal moisturizers.
On that note, we hope you don't mind feeling a little greasy, because that is likely what will happen here. Some of these CBD moisturizers and creams don't absorb all that quickly, so you might have a little layer left on you.
Also, the absorption rate, or the speed at which you will feel the effects, tends to be fairly slow, so be careful not to wash the area in question, or you will wash the CBD away before your skin has a chance to absorb it.
Furthermore, these products do tend to be fairly expensive because CBD has to be processed and effectively mixed into the existing product, but also simply because this is marketed as being an effective way to get your dose of CBD.
However, if what you are looking for is local pain and inflammation relief, then this is likely the best method at your disposal. If topical application sounds ideal to you, check out our own Evn line of CBD topicals.
So, What is the Most Effective Way to Take CBD?
So, what’s the best way to take CBD?
Well, this is all very subjective because what works for one person may not work for another. If you are looking to get constant and long-term benefits, we do suggest consuming CBD. You can use CBD oil sublingually or mix CBD oils, tinctures, and powders with your food or drink. This certainly makes consumption easy, plus the CBD oil gets absorbed quickly and at high rates.
Now, if what you are looking for is very accurate dosage and a decent taste, but you don’t mind that it will take long to absorb, then gummies and chocolates are recommended. However, if you are going for speedy absorption and you don’t mind an odd flavor and a greasy mouth feel, then we’d go with the oil.
On the other hand, if what you need is your skin to be moisturized, and you’re looking for relief from local pain and inflammation, then it’s a topical option that we recommend.
The only time we would ever recommend vaping your CBD is if you want to consume large quantities of it and feel the effects very quickly, although let's face it, vaping and smoking just aren’t that great for your lungs.
Where to Buy Fast Acting CBD Online
If you want to buy fast acting CBD online, whether in the form of oil, edible, or a topical cream, then right here at Evn is by far the best place to do so. If you need a great selection of affordable products, then our Evn online store is definitely worth checking out.