The product most often called CBD oil is a blend of plant extracts and a carrier oil. The carrier oil is added to fine-tune product potency and helps your body absorb the active plant elements, the cannabinoids. While anyone shopping for CBD oil for the first time might expect to find a limited number of options, most soon discover that there are many types of CBD oil.
Some of those oils have been available since the beginning of the #CBDMovement. Others have emerged in response to the growing interest in the properties of individual cannabinoids. To ensure you’re investing in the best CBD oil for your needs, it’s important to understand the similarities and differences between specific product types.
One Popular Plant Element, Two Potential Plant Sources
Many people, initially intrigued by CBD’s therapeutic potential, are more hesitant about using CBD oil after discovering its botanical source, cannabis. Even with reassurances that CBD (cannabidiol) does not cause intoxication, many still have reservations. It’s been clear since the beginning that a significant number of people assume all cannabis plants are the same. They’re not.
There are two types of cannabis. Having two distinctly different cannabis plants gives you two potential sources of CBD. To ensure you’re getting a plant oil that lives up to your expectations, you’ll want to know the differences between the following options:1
Marijuana Extracts
· The cannabinoid-rich oil extracted from marijuana delivers varying amounts of CBD and high levels of THC (tetrahydrocannabinol). THC is the plant element that causes the type of intoxication the plant species is known for. Some marijuana strains contain far too little cannabidiol to be a cost-effective source of CBD oil. CBD oils sourced from marijuana, products available for medicinal or recreational use, are typically sold through a dispensary.
Industrial Hemp Extracts
· The cannabinoid-rich oil extracted from the stalks, stems, and flowers of industrial hemp contains high levels of CBD, but only trace amounts of THC. To be classified as industrial hemp, the federal government says the extracted oils must contain 0.3 percent THC or less. That’s not enough THC to cause intoxication, even if a CBD user were to consume an exceptionally large amount of unrefined hemp extract. Hemp-derived CBD oil is available to just about anyone who wants to experience the health and wellness potential of cannabis, without a prescription.
Active Plant Elements in Cannabis Interact with the Largest Regulatory System in the Body
If you were to view a chemical profile of hemp extract, you’d soon discover that unrefined hemp oil contains nearly 500 potentially beneficial plant elements. Of those nearly 500 individual components, more than 100 are classified as cannabinoids. A cannabinoid is a plant element that essentially functions as a neurotransmitter.
Research shows that the cannabinoids in cannabis plant extracts mimic the effects of several important neurotransmitters made in your body to deliver urgent messages to the receptors of its largest regulatory system, your endocannabinoid system (ECS). That means the cannabinoids in hemp-derived CBD products are interacting with the regulatory system influencing your moods and emotions, muscle movement, immune system function, pain perception, and more.
Researchers today consider ECS function so crucial to your overall health and wellbeing they believe its main function is to regulate the processes of homeostasis, the internal balance all living organisms must maintain to survive. When internal and external forces disrupt that essential balance, it’s the processes of homeostasis that restore equilibrium.2 That ability to interact with receptors throughout the body explains why so many people are drawn to CBD products.
Understanding the Specific Types of Hemp-Derived CBD Oil
A significant number of CBD users interested in ECS support are using hemp-derived CBD products. While there was a time that CBD users were most concerned with CBD and THC content, consumer interest has expanded to include some of the lesser-known minor cannabinoids produced in the plant, cannabinoids shown to enhance specific effects of CBD oil.
To accommodate growing consumer interest, innovative companies like CBDistillery™ have expanded their range of hemp oil products. To determine which type of CBD oil might best suit your needs, consider the potential benefits of the following options:
Full-Spectrum CBD Oil
· CBDistillery™ Full-Spectrum CBD Oil contains all the plant terpenes, flavonoids, additional cannabinoids, and other phytonutrients in the same ratios as the original plant source, including the trace amounts of THC (less than 0.3%). Many CBD users consider full-spectrum CBD oil to be the most potent option because of the benefit-multiplying potential of a phenomenon unique to cannabis, the entourage effect. The entourage effect is a theory explaining how the combined effects of individual plant components magnify and multiply the therapeutic potential of the CBD oil.
Broad-Spectrum CBD Oil
· CBDistillery™ Broad-Spectrum CBD Oil contains most of the same plant elements as full-spectrum oils with one crucial exception. A process called chromatography is used to remove the THC* from the plant extracts. CBD oil made with broad-spectrum hemp extracts are most often preferred by CBD users interested in the potency maximizing potential of the entourage effect, but concerned about the trace amounts of THC in full-spectrum CBD oil.
Pure CBD (0% THC) Oil
· CBDistillery™ Pure CBD Oil is made from a purified form of cannabidiol, CBD isolate. CBD isolate is a white, crystalline powder, all that remains of the extracted oils after the additional cannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids, and other plant elements are removed as the plant extracts are refined. CBD isolate is flavorless, odorless, and nearly 100 percent pure cannabidiol. Although CBD isolate products do not offer an entourage effect, they are often preferred by CBD users who don’t care for the aroma or flavor of full-spectrum and broad-spectrum oil, or content with the therapeutic potential of CBD on its own.
CBG+ CBD Oil
· CBG (cannabigerol) is the first cannabinoid produced in hemp plants. As the plant grows, plant enzymes convert the acidic form of CBG to the acidic forms of CBD, CBC, and THC. While CBG and CBD have similar properties, research shows that several effects of CBG are considerably more potent than the effects of CBD. Adding CBG isolate to full-spectrum CBD oil maximizes the potency because of the way CBG contributes to the entourage effect. CBDistillery™ CBG+CBD Oil delivers equal amounts of the two cannabinoids.2
CBN + CBD Oil
· CBN (cannabinol) was once believed responsible for the intoxicating effects of marijuana. Today, we know that distinction belongs to THC. We also know that CBN interacts directly with CB1 ECS receptors that help to regulate sleep and relaxation. While full-spectrum and broad-spectrum hemp oil contain trace amounts of this non-intoxicating cannabinoid, research shows that increasing the CBN content of full-spectrum CBD maximizes the oils sleep-promoting potential. CBDistillery™ CBN + CBD Oil is most often preferred by CBD users looking for a safe, natural, sleep-enhancing CBD solution.3
Investing in High-Quality CBD Oil from CBDistillery™
There are two potential sources of CBD oil. If you’re looking for the health and wellness potential of cannabis without the intoxicating effects the plant species is known for, you’ll want CBD products made with industrial hemp, a cannabis plant that does not synthesize enough THC to cause intoxication.
There was a time that most people interested in hemp-derived CBD oil had a limited number of products to choose from. Most CBD companies offered full-spectrum oils and tinctures made with CBD isolate powder. But times have changed. CBD users have more options, including products enhanced with the specific properties of individual cannabinoids.
For high-quality full-spectrum, broad-spectrum, and 0% THC CBD oil, visit CBDistillery™. While you’re there, check out our CBD capsules, gummies, vape e-liquid, and CBD pet products. All CBDistillery™ CBD, CBG, and CBN products are third-party tested for purity and potency, and US Hemp Authority™ certified. You can verify the quality of our CBD oil by viewing the third-party test results on our product pages or scanning the QR code on every CBDistillery™ label.
*Lab-tested to ensure less than 0.01% THC
Additional Sources:
1. Chicago Tribune. R Sanchez (2020 August 15) Marijuana vs Hemp: What’s the Difference?
2. Journal of Young Investigators. C Sallaberry, L Astern. (2018 June 01) The Endocannabinoid System, Our Universal Regulator.
3. Chemical and Pharmaceutical Bulletin. H Yoshida et al. (1995 February) Synthesis and Pharmacological Effects in Mice of Halogenated Cannabinol Derivatives.
