CBD Full Spectrum vs Isolate

Most of the people know about THC - the cannabinoid in the cannabis and hemp plant that gets you high,

right? Well the other cannabis component that has been massively researched for the past 30+ years, because of its potential health benefits is CBD or Cannabidiol.

President Trump signed the new Farm Bill in December 2018 which made industrial hemp legal, so you can now buy hemp derived CBD products almost anywhere these days. From local health shops to different ecommerce site, CBD products are everywhere and with no regulation from the FDA, these products are widely mislabeled, and most are untested.

If you’ve done just a little bit of research you know there’s basically 2 kinds of CBD products. Products made with Full Spectrum CBD and products made with CBD isolate.

First the Full Spectrum CBD:

95% of CBD products are full spectrum (because it is cheap to produce) and they can range from 500mg to 50,000mg of CBD? No folks, you are not getting 50,000mg of pure CBD, it’s all the cannabinoids combined which is why full spectrum CBD is extremely confusing! Full spectrum is also called Full Spectrum CBD Extract or Whole-plant CBD extract or FECO which stands for Full Extract Cannabis Oil. Full Spectrum CBD includes all of the cannabinoids (included THC) found in the cannabis and hemp plants and also includes all the other components that get extracted out of the plants in the process. These other components are terpenes, waxes, flavonoids and chlorophyll. And you know what? There are other components that end up in the extracted CBD such as alcohol or heavy metals. That comes down to the process used to extract the CBD. ALWAYS go with a product that uses CO2 extraction! If they do not tell you how they extract the CBD then steer clear of the manufacturer!

So when we say “full-spectrum,” we’re referring to a naturally extracted spectrum rather than a constructed spectrum. Most CBD products come from industrial hemp because per weight it contains more CBD than the cannabis plant. On the other side, cannabis contains more THC than the hemp plant, so it is used mostly for medical marijuana products. Full spectrum products can be created using either hemp derived or cannabis derived CBD. Since THC is also extracted from either strain, vendors are only allowed to include up to 0.3% THC in any CBD product. Anything higher than 0.3% THC is considered medical marijuana. If you are subjected to random drug testing at your current job then you will want to steer clear of full spectrum products. You can test positive with this low amount of THC and yes, you can get a slight inebriation (high) from this dosing. In fact, most medical professionals agree the so called “entourage effect” that full spectrum vendors claim is beneficial, is simply your body reacting to the THC. Yup, your getting high.

Because of the wide abuse of mislabeled products, you should only consider a full spectrum product from a reputable vendor. Make sure the label specifies the exact milligrams of CBD on the nutrition label. Full spectrum products are well known for adding CBDv and CBDa which are cannabinoids in hemp, however, both these cannabinoids have not been as extensively studied as CBD.  

 Now let’s talk about the CBD isolate:

CBD isolate is just CBD or cannabidiol. It’s only the cannabidiol molecule which is isolated or separated from the other hemp compounds in the plant. CBD isolate was used to manufacture Epidolex, the only FDA approved medicine containing CBD. Epidolex is used to reduce seizures in certain severe epileptic conditions. So the only approved medicine containing CBD was made from CBD isolate, not full spectrum. Says a lot right? 

Because of FDA restrictions, we cannot make any medical claims or suggestions of what CBD could be capable of regarding any health benefit to the human body. We cannot even provide you links to websites with the studies because we sell CBD products, however, CBD studies are widely published and readily available for you to search online. Please remember, anyone making medical claims directed toward CBD is in violation of FDA ruling and most likely is not a reputable CBD vendor.

Minimum guidelines to follow:

• ·         Only purchase products with clearly labeled milligram content of CBD, remember CBDa or CBDv are just fillers
• ·         It is widely accepted that you only need 8mg per serving of CBD so steer away from products with claims of extremely high milligrams of CBD
• ·         Only use products that extracted CBD using CO2 methods, so no alcohol or heavy metals contaminate the products
• ·         Only purchase products that have been formulated by a doctor or a pharmacist
• ·         Only purchase products that publish their lab results on their website (look for a COA or Certificate of Authenticity)
• ·         Never purchase products that have medical claims attributed directly to CBD as they are in violation of the FDA ruling and openly breaking the law

  

Now to the big question, what to choose? Full Spectrum CBD or CBD Isolate?

Well we have so much to say but unfortunately, we are unable to give you a definitive answer here. Bound by the FDA restrictions of not making medical claims we simply leave you with this:

If the only FDA approved CBD medicine is procured from a pure isolate CBD and not a full spectrum CBD that kind of speaks volumes. That alone should tell you everything you need to know to make an informed decision. Ask yourself this, is it possible Epidolex could not achieve therapeutic value using full spectrum CBD?  We will leave you with this question until next time.

Regards,

The CBD Doctor