Dosage & Bioavailability: 5 Recommendations on Maximizing Your CBD Experience

Talk About It Tuesday:  Dosage & Bioavailability: 5 Recommendations on Maximizing Your CBD Experience

Optimizing the therapeutic benefits associated with CBD will take patience, time and experimentation.  We’ve broken down Dosage and Bioavailability to help you discover what works best for you, helping to maximize all of the therapeutic benefits CBD has to offer.

Dosage

Dosing is a tough topic to tackle, especially for those new to CBD.  There definitely is no “one size fits all” approach and each person’s threshold will be different.  There’s a number of factors to consider when you’re trying to get the maximum benefit, such as:

• Method of consumption
• Concentration of CBD
• Weight of the individual
• Individual body chemistry, and
• The severity of the condition being treated

The best way to ensure that your getting the most accurate dosage of CBD is through the consumption of CBD Soft Gels.  CBD soft gels are filled with the exact amount of CBD as it’s stated on the bottle. The same is typically true for gummies.

Side Note:  We often get the question of how to properly dose our tinctures via a dropper.  Droppers are capable of holding 1 ML of liquid.

You can follow this simple equation for determining how much CBD will be delivered in a single dropper.

(Total MG of CBD in Bottle) / (Number of ML in Bottle)= MG’s of CBD in Dropper.  

Bioavailability

To understand how to properly dose CBD in order to maximize it’s therapeutic benefits, we need to first understand the concept of Bioavailability. Bioavailability is the strength and amount of a substance absorbed into the bloodstream. Bioavailability also indicates how much of what is absorbed is actually present to provide the desired level of effect.  When using CBD, bioavailability will vary based on a number of factors but the biggest determinate is the way CBD is administered. The following are some commonly practiced methods to administer CBD.

• Topical ointments
• Edible products (gummies, drinks etc.)
• Vaporizing
• Tinctures (sublingual)
• Transdermal patches

Each method will impact the level of bioavailability differently.  For example, substances administered orally have a longer path to travel to enter the bloodstream.  The average bioavailability of orally ingested CBD (tincture, edible) ranges from about 6-15% compared to vaporizing- which can have bioavailability rates as high as 50%. Topical and transdermal patches also have high rates, averaging in the 40-45% range.

Recommendations

Again, CBD will impact each person differently.  It’s up to the consumer to understand their body and be consistent with their efforts.

Here are 5 recommendations that can help you get the most out of your CBD use:

1. Consult Your Physician

If you have an existing medical condition or are on a regular regimen of prescription pills,  the first thing to do when considering CBD is to consult your primary physician. Your physician will have the best advice about how your body will react to CBD.

2. Determine Consumption Method

What’s good for you?  If you’d rather not inhale any substances, tinctures may be best for you.  Don’t like the taste of candies like gummies etc., try soft gels. Like most involved with this process, determining what consumption method works best is on a case by case scenario.  There is no uniform way to consume CBD.

3. Consider your body weight

Like most substances, to experience the desired effects, those with higher body mass will require higher doses of CBD.  The Mayo Clinic suggests dosages between 1-6 mg of CBD for every 10-12 pounds of body weight.

4. Start Small and Increase as You Go

Determine your first dosage based on your body weight, dosing 2-3 times per day for about two weeks.  At this point, increase your intake by 25 mg.  At this point, you should reach symptom relief.  If symptoms worsen, decrease back to your original amount and either try a different method of consumption to increase bioavailability or increase the potency of your CBD product.

5. Keep A Journal

Write it down.  As you travel down this path of reaching maximum benefits of CBD, record your findings.  Keep a daily consumption record noting time of day, amount taken, potency, brand etc.  This practice will help you understand your how your body responds to CBD and how to dose to generate the highest return on your health.