The Highlights of CBD Tincture

If CBD oil isn’t to your liking, there are alternative ways to take CBD. One of these ways is a tincture. A tincture is an alcohol-based herbal product that concentrates the active components of the plant. Just a few drops are all you need. Here’s what you need to know about buying and using CBD tinctures.

What Is CBD?

Cannabinidol, or CBD, has been approved for a variety of health benefits, including anxiety control, insomia, seizure control, and much more. It is a non-psychoactive part of the cannabis plant, usually harvested from hemp instead. Hemp is the male variety of the cannabis plant. CBD is so effective and tested that many states that haven’t legalized medical marijuana still allow CBD products.

The most common version you see is CBD oil, but this isn’t the only way to consume CBD. Some people do not enjoy using a vape pen to consume CBD oil. And while CBD is be obtained from cannabis, firing up a dry herb vaporizer means you’ll get a dose of THC as well, the psychoactive component of cannabis.

Why Use A Tincture?

Tinctures have two advantages. The first is that they are potent, more so than CBD oil. Dosage for tinctures is measured in drops. You can get quite a lot of CBD per drop depending on the product. The second is that you can take the drops under your tongue. For people who don’t want to smoke or vape, this is an attractive way to get quick relief. And for people who experience seizures, a CBD tincture may be the easiest way to take it. Because a tincture is absorbed through the capillaries under the tongue, relief can be experienced in just a few minutes.

Taking drops under your tongue isn’t the only way to get relief. You can also put the drops into food, though it may take 2-3 hours for the effects to show this way. Do not cook a CBD tincture; it will reduce its effectiveness. But you can put a few drops into tea or coffee.

Tinctures are also more discreet. There are several medicines that are taken sublingually, but vaping or eating CBD oil is hard to hide. Also, you should never vape a CBD tincture. Inhaling alcohol vapor can cause damage to the lungs.

Tincture Differences 

All tinctures are made by soaking herbs in alcohol then cooking down the alcohol to concentrate it. Depending on how this is done, the amount of CBD per drop can differ a lot between products. The second difference is the contents of the tincture.

Some tinctures have only CBD in them, but others contain other non-psychoactive compounds from the hemp plant. Tinctures with these additional compounds are called ‘full-spectrum’ tinctures, while those with just CBD are called CBD isolates.

Both have CBD and both should avoid any compounds that are psychoactive, though if you live in a legal state you may want to read the labels just in case. The additional components of full-spectrum tinctures may provide additional symptom relief depending on your condition.

Dosage

If you plan to use CBD tinctures, you may need to experiment to see just how many drops you need. The exact amounts depend on your weight, the tincture type, and any pre-existing conditions. Ideally, a medical professional can work with you to get the dosage you need.

However, CBD is tolerated so well in humans that you can learn to dose yourself. If you choose to do this, stick with a single product and try a single drop to see how it affects you. If it’s not enough, increase the number of drops until you reach symptom relief. Wait 3-4 hours between doses so you don’t double up on them. Once you know how much you need, find out how many milligrams of CBD are in the number of drops you used and you’ll be able to experiment with other CBD tinctures.

If you want to use weight to estimate, use 1-6 mg of CBD per 10 pounds of body weight to start then adjust up or down as you need to. Taking too much CBD won’t hurt you, but it may make you sleepy. Avoid driving while you’re learning how to dose yourself.

If you dose yourself, keep a journal of your experiments so you’ll have a record of what works best for you.

Are There Side Effects?

CBD tincture use does have some side effects. Most people will experience a bit of dry mouth because of how CBD affects the salivary glands. You may also feel drowsy if you take too much. If you feel light-headed, CBD may be causing your blood pressure to drop, so if you are prone to low blood pressure keep an eye it while you find your sweet spot.

A more serious side effect is how it interacts with other medication. If you take drugs that are affected by grapefruit, do not take any CBD product without a doctor’s permission! CBD has a similar effect at high doses. You will need to work with your doctor to find a dose that doesn’t interfere with your existing medication.

If you need quick relief and don’t want to vape, try a CBD tincture under the tongue instead. We will warn you, it doesn’t taste very good, but some brands add flavored oils to mask the earthy flavor.