When searching for CBD based products you have probably seen a large variety from: oils, tinctures, CBD vape juice, CBD topicals and more…. But have you seen CBD isolate before? For people who don’t know, CBD isolate is a crystalline powder that contains 99.9% pure CBD. CBD Isolate can be sold as a white ash or later can be added to other cannabinoid based products.
How is it made?
When the extraction process takes place to extract CBD from hemp, other cannabinoids are present in the resin. Cannabinoids such as THC the psychoactive compound in cannabis and Cannabinol (CBN) will have to be filtered out or left at trace amounts no greater the 0.2%. CBN is a breakdown product of THC, over time and due to exposure to oxygen THC breaks down to CBN. In the UK, CBN is a class B controlled substance like THC hence why it is filtered out. A similar purifying method is used to isolate CBD from the plant matter. Chemists use a process called winterisation to extract pure CBD. This leaves you with a 99.9% pure CBD white powdery ash. The white powdery ash is later sold to companies in bulk to add to CBD based products, or consumers can buy the white ash.
Why don’t all CBD based products contain isolate?
Yes, there are many health benefits with adding CBD to your daily routine, so why not take the purest form of the substance. Unfortunately it is not that simple, hence why you still see on the shelf broad/full spectrum CBD based products. Cannabinoids tend to perform better with our endocannabinoid system when other cannabinoids are present. We call this the entourage effect, it is quite similar to vitamin C tablets, as their bioavailability increases when you take it with orange juice. When CBD has trace amounts of THC and other cannabinoids such as Cannabigerol (CBG) our C1 and C2 receptors in our body absorb CBD at higher rate. Taking CBD isolate is like a bell shaped graph, when consumed at high dosages the usefulness of CBD is decreased. However, with full spectrum CBD rich products at a high doses they don’t lose their usefulness.
Should I not take CBD isolate?
CBD isolate does have its benefits, due to it being a more concentrated substance you can achieve a higher doses of CBD than normal. So if you are a person who is wanting a higher level of CBD in your routine, CBD isolate is another product to add to your cannabinoid collection. Alongside this, CBD isolate is THC free which is great if you don’t want THC in your supplement. Overall, we recommend if you want to add a CBD isolate to your routine, you should take it alongside a broad/full spectrum cannabinoid based product. This will help your body to absorb the CBD more efficiently . Let the cannabinoids work together and produce an entourage effect.
