What is CBD?

Everywhere you look there’s someone talking or trying to sell you CBD these days. To simplify things and avoid confusion, the media, brands in the industry, and a majority of the people talking about hemp usually just refer to it as CBD which has just resulted in more confusion with people not knowing what to actually buy, mislabeled products, among many other things. In this post we’ll dive into what Cannabidiol (CBD) is, it’s part in the hemp plant, and why it’s the focus for so many people. Now for the good stuff…

CBD is one of the many naturally occurring phytocannabinoids (plant-based cannabinoid), terpenes, and bioflavonoids found in the cannabis sativa plant (encompasses both hemp and marijuana). It is currently the most prominent cannabinoid found in the hemp plant but that may change over time as hemp genetics evolve to maximize / minimize different combinations of cannabinoids.

CBD Isolate is the result of the separation of the CBD molecules in the hemp plant away from all the other compounds including other cannabinoids, terpenes, and all other plant material so that all your left with is CBD. In its pure form, CBD is a white crystalline powder. This is achieved by taking the full spectrum hemp oil extract pulled from the whole plant and further refining it to remove all the other molecules. There are a variety of methods extractors use to achieve this.

Very little research was done on CBD and the other cannabinoids up until 2014 when the first farm bill passed. Since then, and even moreso since the 2018 farm bill reiterated hemps legal status, the therapeutic properties of CBD are being researched by scientists and doctors around the world. While we are not allowed to link to any scientific studies that have been conducted on CBD because the FDA disallows us from doing so since we sell products containing CBD, we encourage you to do some of your own research.

CBD does not intoxicate (get you high) you unlike it’s infamous counterpart THC. While this is becoming more well known it is still something many people are unsure about given the cannabis plants’ history. The high level (no pun intended) explanation for why THC is intoxicating and CBD is not is because they interact with your bodies endocannabinoid system (ECS) differently. While THC is an agonist (essentially an activator) of the CB1 receptor CBD has been shown to suppress the CB1 and CB2 receptors response. We will dive deeper into this in a separate blog post, but in the mean time if you’d like to learn more we’d recommend looking online for any of the many studies or research papers on the ECS. The ECS was only recently discovered so there is still much to learn as the ECS pertains not only to cannabinoids but everyday life. Crazy to think most people had no idea such an important part of the human body existed all these years (even post discovery!)!

We hope this was helpful to you! Please take some time to do some of your own research so you can make an informed decision before purchasing a product. In a separate article we will give you some background on the different types of extract / products (full spectrum vs. broad spectrum vs. CBD Isolate). We’ll keep pumping out valuable content so please stay tuned or subscribe to our newsletter if you prefer to get the information directly delivered into your inbox.