HOW MUCH CBD OIL SHOULD I TAKE?
Unless you have been prescribed a CBD medication, it is a good idea to start your CBD dose low, like a single drop of SMOKO CBD oral drops 500mg strength three times a day and increase as necessary to find an effective dose. Everyone is different, and things like bodyweight play a role in dosing, so an effective dose for someone may not be effective for another individual.
*2024 Update* - New government advice has brought down the Acceptable Daily Intake (ADI) from 70mg down to 10mg (or 0.15mg per kilo of bodyweight per day) as a provisional ADI, primarily due to caution around use in pregnant women, drug interactions and potential liver toxicity with consistent, prolonged use.
INTRODUCTION
Sometimes, having a choice makes things more difficult. The explosion of CBD products may land many of us in this position of having too much choice - what type of CBD do you want in your product? What type of CBD product do you want? How strong do you want it? Which source is reputable?
One of those rather ambiguous questions is: how much CBD should I take? As the only CBD based medicine approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the United States is Epidiolex, which is used to treat rare forms of epilepsy, there is no ‘correct’ dosage of CBD for use in any other context.
This presents a bit of a problem for the rest of us that want to use CBD. Many of the studies and clinical trials that assess CBD demonstrate that the amount of CBD taken can impact the effect CBD has - this is called a ‘dose dependent’ effect, and means that different dosages can produce different effects.
WHAT DETERMINES THE DOSAGE OF CBD THAT YOU SHOULD TAKE?
One of the common explanations for CBD dosage you will see on this journey of CBD exploration is that bodyweight counts. One reason for this is because the only CBD medication that currently exists has dosing instructions that indicate specific doses of CBD per kilo of body weight per day.
It is therefore unsurprising that, despite no official medical advice on the matter, recommended dosages for other CBD products are being given in a similar fashion.
Other information on recommended dosages comes from the clinical trials and studies that have been conducted on CBD - the studies need to use specific amounts in order to establish if the effect observed is dependent on CBD, and if the amount of CBD applied impacts the result observed. Many of the recommendations come from these studies that, while promising, are still limited in size and quality.
DOSAGE OF CBD BASED ON TYPE
The different ways you can consume CBD impacts the amount of CBD that gets taken up by the body. If you are trying to dose accurately, you need to be aware of these differences to make sure you are getting all the benefits of CBD.
CBD e-liquid
Preparations for vaping CBD have been on the market for a while now, and much like every other vaping product, CBD for vaping has come under fire.
Instances of EVALI (e-cigarette and vaping associated lung injury) have been caused by the addition of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the psychoactive compound in the cannabis plant, by means of vitamin E acetate that is used to change the viscosity of the liquid so it can be vaped.
Sadly, these instances of people adding components not intended by the manufacturers are tarring the whole of the vaping industry - citing that vaping is high risk, when the UK’s Royal College of Physicians has stated that the damage done from vaping is unlikely to exceed 5% of the damage done by smoking. The key here is not to add illicit substances, and other components that are not intended by the manufacturer - and buy from a reputable source.
The advantage of vaping CBD is that it is a speedy way to deliver CBD into the body. Working out the dose of CBD per puff is, however, fairly impossible. What we can do is work out how much CBD is in a whole tank (of known size) of a given CBD vape liquid.
If we take a 10ml bottle of 300mg CBD vape liquid, the amount of CBD in 1ml is 30mg. In the UK, the maximum legal tank size is 2ml, so filled with a CBD e-liquid in 300mg strength, a 2ml tank will contain 60mg of CBD. If your desired dose for the day is 60mg of CBD, then fill up the tank at the start of the day and aim to use it all by bedtime!
Best estimates for the amount of absorption via vaping CBD is around 34-46%, making it one of the most efficient ways to take CBD.
CBD gummies
CBD Gummies are a tasty treat, and are now available infused with CBD! The only drawback with CBD gummies is the lower observed bioavailability - studies suggest the amount of CBD absorbed from CBD edibles is, at best, around 20%. This means a gummy containing 50 mg of CBD will give you 10mg of CBD after being digested - this is known as the ‘first pass’ effect.
Another drawback is the time it takes for the CBD to be absorbed. Absorption from edibles can take up to 2 hours, so edibles aren’t really the answer to dealing with sudden bouts of anxiety, for example.
Eating CBD products is more likely to be a ‘maintenance dose’; a way of getting a level of CBD into your bloodstream. CBD Capsules, gummies and CBD soft gel capsules are all considered edibles.
CBD oil
CBD Oil is the no-muss-no-fuss option for taking your CBD. A couple of quick calculations will work out the amount of CBD in a single drop (or it might be on the side of the packaging), and then divide your desired dosage by the amount of CBD in a single drop, and that tells you how many drops you need! That is your CBD oil dosage sorted!
Let’s use an example - a 1000mg CBD oil bottle containing 10ml of liquid. A single drop from a dropper is 0.05ml, which means there are 200 drops in a 10ml bottle. One single drop will equate to 5mg of CBD from this bottle.
If your ideal dosage is 30mg, then three drops under the tongue in the morning and another three drops in the evening from a 10ml bottle of 1000mg strength will give you your daily dose!
CBD oil can be added to food and drink, as can a CBD tincture. Tincture and oils are similar products - sometimes the term is used interchangeably with CBD oil, but where CBD oil has an oil base, CBD tincture uses an alcohol base.
CBD OIL BASED ON USAGE
The best place to start your CBD dosage is at the bottom! Start with a low potency bottle, a 10ml 500mg bottle gives you 2.5mg of CBD per drop, so a typical administration of 3 drops would give 7.5mg of CBD, and done twice a day will give a total daily dose of 15mg. This dosage calculator is a good way to get started.
The reality is that we are all a little different, and so seeing the health benefits of CBD can be immediate for some, where it may take more time for others - differences in body weight and body chemistry will play a large role in dosing.
There is some evidence to suggest that dosing over time gets the CBD concentration in the blood up, and this may be key for some people to begin to see the benefits of CBD. CBD stays in the body for roughly two to five days, but this will vary from person to person.
ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, SLEEP DISORDERS, FOCUS AND CONCENTRATION
For conditions such as anxiety, depression, insomnia, and cognitive issues, ingesting CBD is the right course of action - whether in the form of gummies, oil or tincture, the key is getting CBD to the brain which can’t be done with a topical cream. Small but consistent doses may be all that’s required, but increasing the dose marginally over time may also improve the results.
PAIN MANAGEMENT, SKIN CONDITIONS
Skin conditions and specific areas of pain or discomfort could be best dealt with using a topical cream - though using a cream makes dosing a little inaccurate. The advantage is that CBD can’t make it into the bloodstream from the skin, so there is very little chance of an adverse effect.
Getting CBD into the bloodstream and using a CBD topical cream may attack the problem from both sides and could maximise the positive results!
HOW MUCH CBD OIL SHOULD I TAKE? CONCLUSION
Frustratingly, there is no single answer to the question of how much CBD oil you should take. Things like your body weight, the type of CBD product, and the condition you are treating will impact the effectiveness of a CBD dose.
A good rule of thumb is to just start small and increase the dosage over time, as necessary. This will help to establish the minimum dose for the desired effect, and as mentioned above, CBD’s effects are dose dependent so finding the dose that gives the best results is the aim of the game and can take a little time.
Consider, too, whether to get a CBD isolate product or one that contains more of the compounds from the cannabis plant, like broad spectrum or full spectrum CBD products - these benefit from the ‘entourage effect’ that may enhance the action of CBD.
For best results, make sure to select a high quality CBD product from a trusted source. At SMOKO our Broad Spectrum CBD products are made in the UK, using CBD cryogenically extracted from cannabis sativa L plants responsibly grown in Oregon, USA. If you are considering using CBD oil, our 500mg potency is a great place to begin and is available in mixed berry, orange and mint flavours!
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