What Are CBD Edibles?

We all remember edibles from high-school and college. Some kids would make a mess in their parents' kitchen or dorm cooking 'pot brownies.' If you ate one (due to the difficulty in controlling dosing), you might have felt nothing at all or could not move for a day or two, experiencing the now mainstream industry term of 'couch-lock'. That formerly inept, or at least uncontrolled process has been replaced by a highly efficient industry that provides a potent supplement to health-conscious consumers. Also, a significant change has occurred. If you don't like the high or inebriation that comes from THC, you can now purchase and consume edibles that only provide the wellness and lifestyle benefits that the other prominent cannabinoid in the cannabis plant, Cannabidiol (CBD). Whether you want to try gummies, hard candy, chocolate, cookies, drinks, or even barbeque sauce and ice pops. There is undoubtedly a CBD edible for every taste. Carl’s Jr. also launched its signature 'CBD burger' to celebrate 4/20 in Colorado. It seems the CBD is on the threshold of becoming a staple of the American diet. So, before you pay for bum products, educate yourself on how to consume CBD intelligently.

Why Take CBD Edibles?

          CBD is available to take in many forms. People may buy hemp CBD ‘flower’ that is very high in the compound and smoke it just as they would the flower of high-THC cannabis. Some prefer to put it in vaporizers, and many drop the oil from a tincture under their mouth. Edibles have the distinct advantage of being a 'flame-free' way to consume CBD. During a global pandemic caused by a respiratory illness, it is understandable that many consumers have been making the shift to consuming smokeless CBD. Many also find the dosing and effects very controllable and consistent if you’re buying certified, lab-tested hemp extract instead of the litany of unscrupulous products. Many studies and surveys of CBD  products have found that vendors often misrepresent wildly the amount of CBD their product contains. This is why you should only purchase hemp-extract/CBD products from businesses that source their CBD and extracts only from 100% USDA Certified Organic Hemp. While CBD is a supplement and thus not regulated with the same stringent controls as prescription medications, the upper echelon of vendors will hold themselves accountable with their lab-testing and will happily provide a Certificate of Analysis or COA certifying the content of any of their products. We would highly advise that you not purchase any products advertised as containing CBD that does not include a Certificate of Analysis verifying the contents. This study from Leafly found an alarming level of inconsistency in the advertised and actual amounts of CBD  in the products. The disparity was so much that this study grades CBD products as good that were found to have CBD within 20% of its' advertised range. You can wholly avoid this widespread industry problem by shopping at Clean Remedies for all your CBD edibles. They are a certified woman-owned business that only uses the highest quality hemp for their extracts.

Are CBD Edibles Effective

There has been some confusion amongst consumers over whether or not CBD edibles and gummies are as effective as say taking CBD directly from a tincture or vaporizing it. The issue seems more to be with vendors mislabeling their products than anything else. The devastating incidence of misrepresentation in the nascent industry is a natural expression of human greed. Those who possess little character take advantage of legitimate interest by consumers in an effective and potent supplement that provides many people relief and relaxation. So, even though there have been widespread reports of CBD edibles 'not working,' this is likely a reflection of the lax regulatory treatment of supplements rather than the medium of edibles for delivering CBD into the human body. If you have a product with a Certificate of Analysis, consuming edibles can be one of the most effective and long-lasting ways to consume CBD consistently. For those who may want a quick-and-easy way to integrate the compassionate cannabinoid into their health and wellness routine, gummies, candies, or chocolate can be a fun and rewarding way to do it. As long as you're using a reputable vendor and accurately labels their products, using edibles as a way to consume CBD is just as effective, if not more so than any other administration method. 

Other Things To Be Conscious Of

The nascent industry of CBD/hemp extract products can be a difficult and potentially perilous one for uninformed consumers to navigate. This is because there are moral hazards that affect the sale and distribution of these products that many consumers may be wholly unaware of. A perfect example of this is the agricultural incentives associated with Hemp's cultivation in the United States. You see, it wasn’t until 2018 that the Federal Government fully legalized the cultivation of a legal sub-class of the cannabis sativa (marijuana) plant known as 'Hemp.' This biologically identical, but low THC variant of the plant (it must contain .3% or less THC) is particularly good at cleaning dirty soil and remaining contaminants and pollutants like heavy metals and pesticides from over-rotated crops. Many farmers who care for little more than their profit thus have cycled in Hemp to clean their land and sell its tainted plant material to health-conscious consumers, potentially undermining the benefits attained with the contaminants present.

 Another trend that has been sweeping the wellness community is consuming raw hemp juice. If you cannot speak to the Hemp's quality and the land on which it was grown, it is always best to never consume raw hemp juice because of the 'cleaning' characteristic of the plant and the harmful compounds it could expose your body to. When Hemp is extracted into the CBD-rich oils that are generally used in edibles, even if it comes from non-USDA certified Hemp, the contaminants' levels would still be far lower than if you were consuming raw hemp juice. The clear directive here, always make sure you only buy CBD products from vendors that test all their products in a state-of-the-art laboratory and make sure they also only source from farmers that use 100% USDA certified hemp. Even though CBD is regulated as a supplement, that doesn’t mean you can't take advantage of products subject to other federal protections that boost consumer protection. Always consult your physician before starting any new supplement.