How Do I Use CBD Oil?

You can read about CBD and listen to all the reviews in the world, but it can still be intimidating to take your first dose. And there’s lots of conflicting advice on how to use CBD oil,  which doesn’t help. 

We want you to feel like you know what you’re doing before you get started - so read on for the basics of how to use our Plant Panda CBD oil. 

CBD Basics

Before we get into dosing advice, we want to make sure you understand what you’re taking. Plant Panda CBD is made from 99%+ pure CBD isolate. That means that there’s no other cannabinoids, terpenes, or other plant compounds in our tincture. 

Most importantly, it means that there’s no THC. If you are subject to drug testing for any reason, that’s going to be very important. Feel free to check our third party lab reports for your own peace of mind! 

We start with organic, domestically grown hemp and extract the CBD-rich oil via CO2 extraction technology. This is one of the cleanest and safest extraction processes available, so you know there’s not going to be any harmful solvents left in the product.

Once the oil is extracted, we continue the purification process until all that’s left is a fine white powder called CBD isolate. We then emulsify the isolate in high quality MCT oil, known for its many health benefits and easy digestion.

How Much Should I Take? 

This is one of the most common questions we get, and - spoiler alert! - there’s no one simple answer.

This is really frustrating to many people since we’re used to reading the dosing instructions off a bottle of medicine. But we can’t do that with CBD for a couple reasons. 

For one thing, CBD is a complex molecule interacting with a complex system. Our endocannabinoid systems, which CBD interacts with, are truly unique. Cannabinoids like CBD impact our bodies in very different ways. 

So while we can give general guidelines - your actual dose could end up looking very different from someone else’s - even given the same age, sex, and gender.

Secondly, the science is in the very early stages on CBD. So even if there is a dosing range that might pertain to certain groups of people, we do not have that information yet. 

What we can do is help you get started looking for your CBD sweet spot.

Finding Your CBD “Sweet Spot”

CBD operates on a bell shaped curve. This means that up to a certain dose, it continues to increase in efficacy. But after you reach the maximum dose, it doesn’t produce stronger effects. We’re used to the “more is better” approach to life, but that just doesn’t apply to CBD.

Your “sweet spot” refers to the dose where you achieve maximum efficacy, before it starts to decline. And there’s only one way to find it: trial and error. 

To get started we recommend you start with a relatively small dose - say 10 to 15 mgs per day. Take it at the same time every day for five days and note any effects you might experience. This is a very low dose, so you may not notice much, but it’s worth doing since some people only need very little.

After the first several days, you can increase that by 5-10 mgs and keep it at that dose for a few more days. Again, pay attention to how you feel and make note of any changes. It may take a while to find your optimal dose, but it’s really worth taking the time to experiment, slowly increasing your dose. 

How Do I Measure my CBD Oil?

Many CBD companies make this really difficult, but at PlantPanda, we put measurements right on our droppers, so you can see how much you’re taking.

This may seem like a small thing, but if you’re wanting to take a precise dose, it makes a big difference. 

Here’s how the measurements work out in mgs CBD:

For our 750 mg tincture, you’ll get 25 mgs CBD per milliliter, which is basically a full dropper. That means that there’s 12.5 mgs CBD in ½ ml and 6.25 mgs per ¼ mi.

For our 1500 mg tincture, there’s 50 mgs CBD per 1 ml (a full dropper), 25 mgs per ½ ml, and 12.5 mgs per ¼ ml.

How do I Dose Sublingual CBD Oil?

The word “sublingual” just means “under the tongue” so that pretty much gives this method away! Once you’ve measured out your dose of CBD oil, you just put it under your tongue and hold it there. 

We recommend that you keep it there for at least 30 seconds, and some people like to keep it there up to a full minute or more. There’s plentiful blood vessels under your tongue and the CBD is able to be absorbed directly into your bloodstream, bypassing the slower digestive process.

So it’s worth it to keep it there for long enough that as much CBD is absorbed as possible. The CBD that is in the oil that you swallow will be digested and continue to be released into your bloodstream, but some of the CBD will be lost in that process. 

How Often Should I Take CBD Oil?

It’s totally up to you how often you take CBD oil. If you take it as a sublingual tincture, you can expect the effects to last around four hours. So if you want to keep a steady dose of CBD in your bloodstream, you might want to take smaller amounts every few hours. That being said, most people take it once or twice per day.

However, if you just swallow it instead of taking it sublingually, less of it will be absorbed into your bloodstream (since digestion will destroy some of it), but what makes it there will last longer. That’s the benefit of edibles over tinctures.

Who Shouldn’t Take CBD Oil?

CBD has a good safety profile, according to the World Health Organization. But it’s not for everyone. 

If you’re pregnant, recent research suggests that you should stay away from cannabinoids in general: both CBD and THC.

Also, if you’ve had issues with your liver, you should definitely talk to your doctor before taking CBD.  And because CBD is metabolized by your liver, it can interfere with other drugs that are metabolized by the liver. 

So please talk to your doctor to make sure that CBD won’t be a problem for you! The more complex your medical history is, the more important this is.