A Beginner’s Guide
We’ve collected some of your most common questions and created a simple, easy-to-grasp CBD primer to help you understand more about the amazing qualities and potential of CBD and how it might help you. From the simplest questions like “What is CBD oil and how does it work?” to specifics like, “Can I use CBD oil for sleep problems and anxiety?” we’ll help you understand how it can help you.
If you don’t see the answer you’re looking for, feel free to reach out to us. Our team, including our staff expert, Dr Erich Parks, is happy to respond to you personally about your CBD questions. We are excited to be helping you and your family on your healing journey!
What Does CBD Stand for and What is CBD Oil?
CBD is short for Cannabidiol, which is one of the many naturally occurring compounds found in the hemp plant. The hemp plant is the USDA legal version of the cannabis or marijuana plant. It is referred to as hemp rather than cannabis or marijuana because hemp contains very little or no traces of THC. Consequently, CBD products are legal and safe to consume, and can be purchased and shipped throughout the world.
Will CBD get me high?
No. Unlike marijuana, hemp generally contains extremely low (less than .3%) THC. THC is the compound in marijuana that makes a person feel “high”. We sell both products containing pure CBD with no THC (isolate) and products with a full spectrum of CBD and other compounds with less than .3% THC. Therefore you will not feel “high” using our products. (See below for more information on full spectrum CBD.)
How Does it Work?
Our body naturally produces special nerve-signaling chemicals, very similar to CBD, called endo-cannabinoids. These chemicals help to regulate and keep our immune and nervous systems in proper balance. Our bodies produce sufficient cannabinoids when we are healthy. When our bodies are unable to produce sufficient cannabinoids we can get run down and stressed out, triggering a wide range of negative side effects.
Because CBD helps replenish and balance our body’s immune and nervous systems, it often leads to a natural, self-induced healing process with little or no side effects. Many people, when properly dosed with CBD and in proper balance, feel more calm and relaxed, which is step #1 for improving our overall health and well-being!
I’m Confused. What’s the difference between CBD Oil, Tinctures, and Drops?
The answer is there is no difference! These are all common terms for the same thing, which is a CBD tincture typically made from CBD isolate (an oil-soluble CBD extract) infused into a neutral edible oil like coconut oil or olive oil.
How do you know how much CBD is in your product?
All of our CBD products are third-party lab tested for CBD content and purity. The label on each product specifies the concentration of CBD. In addition, our products are tested for other cannabinoids, plus over 200 pesticides, herbicides, mold, fungi, heavy metals, and mycotoxins. Fee free to contact us for current lab results.
What does full spectrum CBD mean?
Any products listed as “CBD Isolate” is 99.9% pure CBD with no other cannabinoids present. Other products are manufactured with “full-spectrum” CBD oil which contains high concentrations of CBD with traces of other beneficial cannabinoids such as CBC, CBG, CBDA, THC (always less than .3%) and CBDV. These beneficial cannabinoids are being studied scientifically for a wide variety of health benefits. Cannabinoids work synergistically together with what is known as the entourage effect.
Will I pass a drug test?
We cannot explicitly say yes or no. Any product listed as “CBD Isolate” has absolutely no THC, so a drug test will come up negative for THC. It will, however, come up positive for CBD and other cannabinoid compounds, so you would need to look into whether CBD and other cannabinoid compounds are OK with your employer (we haven’t heard of any employers that have a problem with CBD but stranger things have happened.)
Our Full Spectrum CBD products usually contain minute traces of THC (less than 0.3% THC), which is far below most testing thresholds, however, we are unable to legally state whether or not one of our customers will pass a drug test for any of our products.
What is CBD extraction and what kind do you use?
Extraction is taking the CBD oil out of the plant. There are 3 basic types:
CO2 extraction: The CO2 method uses high pressure carbon dioxide combined with extremely low temperatures to extract the oil. This is a more advanced, expensive and technical type of extraction method, but it has the advantage of being very safe, creating a potent CBD oil, and it leaves the remaining CBD free of chlorophyll.
Ethanol: High-grade grain alcohol can be used to extract CBD for use in vape pen cartridges and other products. While it produces good quality, it can compormise the waxes in the plan which has been known to have health benefits.
Olive oil: Olive oil can also be used to extract cannabis oil. While it’s a bit safer way to extract, it is perishable.
Silverlight CBD Extraction: We use a combination of both Subcritical and Supercritical extractions. This allows us to perform a “fractional extraction” by first extracting at lower temperatures and pressures to remove the lighter, temperature-sensitive volatile oils, and then subsequently extracting the same material at a higher pressure and temperature to remove the remaining oils. This approach is the best because it allows us to extract a complete range of cannabinoids, terpenes, essential oils, and other beneficial phytochemicals which yields a more potent blend.
Can CBD Improve My Health?
You have likely heard about the well documented healing properties of CBD. More and more people are successfully taking CBD for relief from pain, inflammation, anxiety, sleep disorders, depression, various forms of skin cancers, as well as other forms of cancer and neurological disorders. Scientific and clinical research is ongoing —much of it sponsored by the US government at leading research institutions —underscoring CBD’s potential as a treatment for a wide range of conditions.
Furthermore, preliminary evidence suggests that CBD is non-addictive and can be an alternative to addictive opioids and other pain medications, with all their harmful and counter-productive side effects.
How Does it Help with Pain Relief?
Over 10 percent of us suffer from chronic pain. That’s just awful, especially since many of us are prescribed addictive opioids, pain blocks and/or steroids, not to mention the prevalent over use of alcohol to numb pain or get to sleep. As we all know, these prescription drugs can have serious, adverse side effects – just look at the raging opioid epidemic with Oxycontin.
Even using over-the-counter pain relief drugs like aspirin and ibuprofen causes approximately 15,000 deaths each year in the U.S. due to internal bleeding. Using CBD for pain management, either topically and/or internally, can help properly balance your endocannabinoid system, improving your body’s response to stress. An improved response to stress can mean better health, healing and a decrease in pain.
Can I use CBD for Sleep Problems or Anxiety?
Yes! Chronic or serious stress is often the cause of sleep problems or anxiety. This can make it even harder to handle new stresses that arise, even with life’s every day challenges. This sets up a cycle that can be hard to get out of. Sometimes we try quick methods–like caffeine, sugar or alcohol–to numb or help us get through “rough patches” that serve only as a Band-Aid in the moment.
When we become startled, the body produces adrenaline, to help us “fight or flee”. History shows us that stresses came and went more quickly than they do now. Stress can last a long time as in staying a negative relationship, having a difficult job, or a lifetime of poor diet choices. Because the brain sees this high stress level as normal, we maintain high adrenaline levels for longer periods. This interferes with sleep and can cause anxiety.
CBD helps with sleep issues and anxiety through its potential ability to modulate receptors in the brain that improve response to serotonin. What this means to you, is that using CBD for sleep issues and anxiety seems to up-regulate that part of the nervous system that helps control sleep, anxiety, digestion and healing.
What are Other Ways CBD Can Help Me?
People have been using CBD oil to help with myriad of ailments and our customers are constantly contacting us with their CBD success stories. CBD is helping them with all kinds of pain and chronic pain management, surgery recovery, tooth aches, hip replacement pain, arthritis, lupus and gout pain, fibromyalgia, and even cancer.
Should I Talk to My Doctor About CBD?
Yes! Because many health professionals are now familiar with CBD benefits, please consider asking your doctor about using CBD for pain management. Furthermore, as with all medications, discontinue use if you experience unpleasant or adverse effects.
