If you’re interested in wellness and natural improvements to your lifestyle, then you have likely already heard about CBD. Like most, you might start out with some misconceptions about what it is and, perhaps, if it’s even legal in the UK (answer: it is). CBD has started to pop up in vape stores and online shops across the nation, but what is all the fuss about?

CBD can still be a little confusing, from what it actually is to what it’s supposed to do to how to use it. Here, we’re aiming to clear up misconceptions, answer some questions, and bring some much-needed light to the topic of CBD.

What is CBD?

CBD is a chemical compound called cannabidiol. It’s found and processed from the cannabis family of plants. Thought by many to have relaxing properties and some wellness benefits, it has started to be used in edibles, oils, e-cigarette liquids, topical rubs, and all kinds of other products to create a feeling of relaxation and peacefulness.

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A lot of the confusion around CBD comes from its association from the cannabis family of plants. As one of the two major cannabinoids in cannabis, it’s often mistaken for THC (short for tetrahydrocannabinol). THC could be thought of, essentially, as the psychoactive cousin of CBD. It’s the component of cannabis that gets people high, which is something that CBD products don’t do, according to this study. In a World Health Organisation report, CBD was reported to not only have no psychotropic effects (no impact on the mind, emotions or behaviour) but no potential abuse or dependence potential, either.

In fact, CBD products in the UK have to ensure that they don’t cross a threshold of how much THC content is allowed in them. As such, most CBD products are produced using hemp (rather than marijuana). This is why it’s important to choose CBD products from licensed providers who invest in thorough testing and quality assurance to ensure that you’re getting CBD rather than something else.

What are the benefits of CBD?

In the UK, CBD is not meant to be sold as a medical product, but as a natural non-medicinal food supplement. As such, we cannot make any specific claims about the potential health benefits of using any of our CBD products. We can, however, take a closer look at the hemp that it’s produced from, and some of the benefits that hemp is known to have.

Hemp is a highly nutrient-rich natural product, with fatty acids that aid the body in all sorts of ways and is known to work with the body’s endocannabinoid system. This system is a series of receptors through the body that reacts to cannabinoids and has an impact on a wide range of things, including mood, appetite, pain responses and more. As such, hemp is thought to positively impact the way that our endocannabinoid system improves relaxation, memory, pain sensitivity, inflammation, and even the ageing process. This study goes into detail on the endocannabinoid effects on the body.

The potential anti-inflammatory and pain reducing properties of hemp are also thought to have some benefits for athletes or those looking to improve their fitness. Inflammation is known to be one of the biggest causes of post-exercise pain and can slow down recovery, making it harder to maintain a consistent gym life schedule. The gamma-linolenic acid present in hemp, hemp extract and hemp seeds can potentially inhibit the body’s natural inflammatory response, as shown here.

What are the different types of CBD?

As a distributor of UK CBD products, we do our work to ensure that we know about the product that we’re selling. For the best self-care, we ensure that we correctly label the different kinds of CBD products that we use so you know exactly what you’re getting. Here are some of the different kinds of CBD, both those available from Nature Creations and elsewhere:

Broad spectrum

Similar to full spectrum, broad spectrum CBD products contain all the cannabinoids from the plant, but without any traceable amounts of THC. We see this as the perfect mix between full spectrum and CBD isolate. All of our products are currently broad spectrum because of this.

Isolate

Isolate is the name most commonly used for purified CBD, in which none of the other parts of the plant is left in and only the CBD molecules remain, without any of the other cannabinoids present.

Full spectrum

Full spectrum products are those that are derived from a whole cannabis-family plant, can include CBD as well as THC, CBC, and CBG. Some full spectrum products are legal in the UK, so long as they’re lab verified to have less than 0.2% THC content.

Nano CBD

Some specialist products contain Nano CBD, which is when the CBD molecules are shrunk down to water-soluble sizes, making them easier to be more quickly absorbed through the skin.

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A closeup image of what CBD isolate looks like…

What are the different ways to consume CBD?

We stock a growing range of carefully selected products from the entire market.  We look for the highest quality products only and full lab reports to back up manufacturers claims.  Here, we’re going to look at five of the most common and popular ways to take your CBD.

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CBD oil

This method offers the best control of your dosage and involves dropping CBD oil directly beneath the tongue so that it’s more quickly absorbed into the body. CBD oil can be taken either through droplets or through spray bottles, both of which are designed to control the dosage level directly at 5mg per drop or spray. To start with, we recommend using 10-20mg, but you can vary this based on how you feel its impact. The earthy taste of these oils can be unpleasant for some (at least at first), so you might want a drink of water nearby after you’ve held it under your tongue for a minute.  Or choose one of the many flavoured options available.

capsules

CBD capsules

If you’re not comfortable with taking the oil directly or you don’t like the taste, there are also CBD capsules that provide a smaller concentration that is more slowly absorbed through the stomach. You can take them on an empty stomach but taking them after a meal can help you digest them all the sooner. In most cases, CBD capsules contain around 10mg of CBD, so one or two a day is a good place to start.

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CBD e-cigarette liquids

The CBD craze and vape craze have seemingly gone hand in hand, and, besides sprays and droplets, this might be the most popular way to take it. Breathing CBD into the lungs improves its absorption rate by up to four times, and the deep inhalation and exhalation is a great natural process for relaxing the body. The one downside of vaping your CBD is that it can be harder to manage your dosage levels, so it’s recommended to start off with vapes that have a lower CBD concentration.

CBD balm on hand

CBD topicals

From balms to cosmetics, there are a range of different topical products containing CBD. This is a very simple way to use CBD, even if the skin absorbs it a little more slowly than the mouth or lungs, but one of the benefits is that CBD can be combined with a wide range of ingredients like coconut oil, almond oil, shea butter, and the like. As such, you can have a CBD-infused moisturizer to keep your skin smooth and healthy at the same time.

CBD edibles

CBD edibles

From gummy bears to CBD butters, there are a range of ways to make CBD a little tastier. These CBD enriched foods come with different dosages. Gummies and other straight edibles tend to contain around 5-10mg per piece. Meanwhile, CBD butter has a lower concentration so that it can be used more broadly. Make sure you know how much CBD you’re consuming per day and do not go beyond the 200mg recommended amount if possible.

How long do CBD effects last?

How long it takes to feel the effects of CBD depends on a range of factors. For some people, it might be immediate. Different ways of taking it yield different results, with sublingual delivery (i.e. under the tongue) being the most immediate and swallowing edibles or capsules being the slowest.

Once they start taking hold, the effects of CBD usually last from around 4 to 6 hours as shown in this study from 1991 by the College of Pharmacy in the University of Arizona Health Sciences Center.

However, as with how long it takes for them to work, this is dependent on dosage and how it’s taken. The slower that the CBD is absorbed, the longer the effects are felt for. So, vaping and sublingual CBD gets into effect more quickly, but also wears off more quickly. Meanwhile, using a topical rub or an edible takes longer to absorb, so they’re in effect for longer, too. Trace CBD will remain in your body for a up to seven day after, but you won’t feel it at all at this stage.

If you’re interested in more information on how long CBD stays in your system, read our article on it here.

Frequently asked questions about CBD

Hopefully, all the points made above will have cleared up most of your misconceptions about CBD products, but here we’re going to cover some of the most common concerns and questions about the product so you can feel a lot more comfortable about what you’re buying.

You can get full spectrum CBD oil which has very small amounts of THC in it (less than 0.3%), not enough to get you high on a normal legal dosage or Broad spectrum CBD which uses an extraction method that ensure none of the psychoactive components of cannabis plants make it into the product.  In either case you won’t get high.

Nutritionally, the hemp from which CBD products are created are high sources of protein and certain omega-3 fatty acids that the body needs but can’t naturally produce, as this study indicates. Most importantly, our CBD products are completely safe, with no potential for serious or long-term side effects. The only risk is in unregulated products that aren’t lab tested, which we do not sell.

They’re both plants of the cannabis family, but marijuana has a must higher THC composition, which is why it gets people high. Hemp does not have the same levels of THC as marijuana

Yes, UK CBD is legal, provided that it doesn’t go over the legal limit of 0.2% THC content, which our products don’t. All our products are lab tested and third-party verified, to ensure they meet all regulatory, quality assurance, and product accuracy standards.

The right dosage depends on a range of factors, including age, weight, sex, medical history, and lifestyle. To begin with, we recommend 10mg per day, with 20mg per day being the average.

Drug tests are testing for THC, not CBD. It’s incredibly unlikely that UK CBD products will impact those tests, but low-quality products might have more THC than advertised, so it’s important to make sure you choose a reliable supplier.

You also need to be careful that a drug test may return a false positive and detect the CBD thinking it is THC. Read more in our guide here.

As hemp oil is a term used interchangeably with CBD oil, it’s easy to confuse CBD with hemp seed oil. Hemp seed oil is produced from hemp, like many CBD products, but it is a separate food product produced from the seed, not the plant, with no CBD or other cannabinoid content.

Have any other questions? Don’t hesitate to ask us. We’re always here to help customers learn more about CBD.

Are you ready to give CBD a try?

If you think that you could use a natural touch to your lifestyle, then Nature Creations is here to offer the high-quality all-natural CBD products that you need. Take a look at the line-up in our shop and don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions or concerns. We’re always glad to help customers feel more comfortable about what they’re buying and what they can expect from our products.