How much CBD should I take? It’s a common question that unfortunately doesn’t have a simple answer. The perfect dose will vary depending on a variety of factors. Here at HempWell we have built this Ultimate CBD Dosage guide to help you find out where to start.
Conversion note: 1 stone = approx. 6 KG & 1 lbs = approx. 0.5 KG.
A great place to start with our easy-to-use dosage chart! Simply click your weight and find recommended products for a low, medium or high dose. There are other factors to consider to, so please scroll down for more info!
Everyone is different, this means that everyone’s preferred dosage might be slightly different too. This is why our CBD tinctures come with graduated pipettes, so that measuring out small increments and accurate dosages is easy. You may need to experiment slightly to find a dosage that works for you but here is some information for you to start with.
The amount of CBD you take could depend on a range of factors, including:
As with any new supplement, it’s best to start with a smaller dosage and gradually increase it. This could mean starting with 20 to 40 mg a day. After a week, if you feel you want more, increase this amount by 5 mg. Continue this until you feel you’ve reached a dosage you are happy with (up to a max of 70mg as per FSA Guidelines)
Use our handy interactive dosage graph to work out what a low, medium, and high dose would look like for you. Click on the graph to see recommended products for your intended dose!
The range of benefits you can expect from CBD vary greatly depending on how much you take, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the more CBD you take, the better the benefits will be. Each CBD use case is unique, and so is everyone’s biochemistry, and so the main thing to keep in mind is what we always tell our customers: start low, write down your experiences, and build up from there until you find out what works best for you. In general however, depending on your needs, you can expect to start at a lower/higher dosage, so let’s go through the most common uses for CBD and explain what a normal dosage would look like.
Summary:
All of our CBD Oils come with our graduated pipette, making it easy to control the amount of CBD and use the step-up or down method to find the perfect dosage for you.
One of the most common reasons our customers cite for using CBD is to help them manage their anxiety, or specific symptoms related to an anxiety disorder. While both of those things might sound the same, they definitely aren’t in practice, and therefore the dosage would be different. If you struggle with feelings of chronic anxiety at a mild level, and especially if you haven’t received a formal diagnosis, you could try a low- to medium CBD dose (e.g. 30mg/day for a 60kg person, approximately 1 pipette’s worth of our 1000mg CBD Oil). From there you can note the observed effects and raise/reduce your dosage accordingly.
To tackle feelings of acute anxiety, or more severe anxiety symptoms, most of our customers find high doses to be right for them (e.g. 50 mg/day for a 60kg person, approximately 1 pipette’s worth of our 1500mg CBD Oil). If you have a formal diagnosis, it’s always important to consult your GP or therapist to see if CBD is right for you.
Using CBD for pain relief has become increasingly popular over the last few years, with research pointing to CBD as a possible replacement for opioid painkillers in specific circumstances. Pain is highly subjective and personalised, making it difficult to recommend a specific dose for different levels. Nevertheless, our best source of information is our customers themselves and how they’ve used CBD for arthritis, CBD for joint pain and inflammation and CBD for chronic pain.
If you’re struggling with pain that sits in the background most of the time, a medium dose might be the best starting point. If you suffer from generalised or unpredictable pain, using our CBD Oils or Vapes will deliver CBD to your body quickly and thoroughly. For chronic pain, you could start on a high dose and use the step-down method.
If however your pain is more localised and predictable, then our CBD topicals are an effective way of tackling pain at the source. Our Pain Creams comes in two strengths, 500 mg and 1000 mg. For mild joint pain, 3 pumps of our 1000mg Deep Relief Cream will contain 30 mg of CBD – a good place to start. For higher pain levels more pumps are recommended, but for severe cases you’ll likely experience the most benefit via a combination of high-strength CBD Oils and our CBD Pain Creams.
Many of our customers come into our shop complaining of a lack of sleep, and interestingly most assume that a lower dose would be right for them. In most cases, however, the reverse ends up being true. To be clear, if you have insomnia caused by hormonal imbalances or other physical problems, CBD likely will not help. However, many cases of insomnia are caused by an underlying stress disorder, and this is where CBD comes in. CBD has been shown to have many stress-relieving properties, and as such can help address the underlying cause of insomnia. In the majority of cases, we find that our customers need a high dose of CBD to achieve this. A half-pipette’s worth of our 3000 mg CBD Oil, for example, contains 50 mg of CBD, a high dose for most people. If you struggle with severe insomnia, talk to your doctor or GP about whether CBD is right for you.
We stock a wide range of CBD products here at HempWell, and as a result the way in which CBD is absorbed by the body varies quite a bit depending on which product you use. The key idea here is called bioavailability. This term simply means how much CBD actually ends up in your bloodstream, so for example a bioavailability of 50% means that half of the CBD ends up usable throughout the whole body, while half is lost or broken down before it enters the circulatory system.
It’s important to note that a high bioavailability doesn’t necessarily mean ‘better’ CBD, as some products act solely on the skin and upper muscle layers. Our skin care and pain relief brands have a high local absorption rate at around 45%, but a bioavailability of effectively 0%. This is why we recommend it for localised pain, as the CBD is absorbed by the skin and muscle, but not for generalised pain. For more generalised symptoms, you should look for higher bioavailability products.
Our CBD Oils are second highest, offering up to 30% bioavailability when held under the tongue for 60 seconds, making them the de facto CBD product for experimenting with different doses.
Don’t forget to check out our Broad Spectrum CBD Oils too!
Edibles by their nature have lower bioavailability, at around 20%. This is due to the fact that the CBD is absorbed through the digestive system, where CBD can be partly lost in the stomach. However, taking CBD edibles such as CBD Gummies and CBD Capsules is very convenient as they provide set, predictable doses without having to measure out any oil yourself, making them incredibly popular with our customers. If you’re thinking about switching to CBD edibles, consider upping your dose slightly to counteract the lower bioavailability.
As mentioned before, our CBD Topicals technically have very low bioavailability (close to 0%), but don’t let that fool you! The local absorption rate of CBD into the skin and surrounding tissue can be as high as 45%, making our pain creams and CBD Massage Oils highly effective at treating localised CBD needs.
Our range of CBD spa products, such as CBD Candles and Bath Bombs, actually pack more of a punch than you might expect! As with vaping, inhaled CBD has a very high bioavailability, however in this case the CBD is dispersed throughout the air, meaning only a small amount will actually be absorbed as you breathe. These experiences are tailored by HempWell to be subtle and relaxing, elevating your me-time without overshadowing it. If you take CBD for specific symptoms or conditions, these products are not a substitute. However, they’re still a great way to relax!
The highest bioavailability is found in our CBD Vapes. These can offer up to around 50% bioavailability and incredibly fast absorption thanks to the lungs’ high surface area. As a result, you might find that you can lower your CBD dose with vapes and still get the same benefits.
Please note that vaping can have it’s own risks and we would not advise a vape product unless you are an existing vaper or smoker.
CBD is short for Cannabidiol. It is a chemical compound that occurs naturally in the hemp plant, Cannabis Sativa, and can be taken orally (under the tongue as a tincture) or topically (applied to the skin as a cream) to produce a variety of products.
CBD is legal in the UK, provided it comes from an industrial hemp strain that is EU approved and contains no THC, but you need to make sure you are getting it from a trusted source. Hemp Well organically grown CBD comes from EU certified hemp grown at our own farm, processed and lab tested to make sure it is pure and contains accurate dosages. We control the process from seed to shelf so that you can be confident you are getting a high quality, fully traceable product. For more information on CBD regulations in the UK read our Is CBD legal? post in the CBD Knowledge Centre.
The human body contains a complex network of neurotransmitters and cannabinoid receptors known as the endocannabinoid receptor system (ECS). Research suggests that cannabinoids and the ECS may play a role in many bodily processes and that the skin contains cannabinoid receptors.
CBD, short for Cannabidiol, is a chemical compound naturally occurring in the hemp plant, Cannabis Sativa. Users take CBD in a variety of forms. CBD is ingested orally (as a tablet, capsule or gummy), taken sublingually (under the tongue as a tincture) or topically (applied to the skin as a cream) to deliver a wide range of benefits.
Most importantly, CBD is legal in the UK, provided it comes from an industrial hemp strain that is EU approved and contains no THC, but it’s vital that it comes from a trusted source. HempWell organic CBD comes from EU certified hemp grown at our own farm, processed and lab tested to make sure it is pure and contains accurate dosages.
In short: We control the process from seed to shelf so that you can be confident you are getting a high quality, fully traceable product. For more information on CBD regulations in the UK read more here: Is CBD legal?
The human body contains a complex network of neurotransmitters and cannabinoid receptors known as the endocannabinoid receptor system (ECS). Research suggests that cannabinoids and the ECS may play a role in many bodily processes including anxiety, stress and mood.
To answer that question we need to define a few terms.
First and foremost, our body contains a myriad of various neurotransmitters and neuromodulators, which are compounds responsible for facilitating communication in the central nervous system and brain. In addition, each type of neurotransmitter can only interact with a specific receptor in the brain, and when it interacts, it can either encourage communication (known as agonists) or inhibit communication (known as antagonists).
So far scientists have discovered around 60 distinct neurotransmitters that each have their own specific receptors and function. A transmitter, along with its receptor (and other chemicals which might affect the process) are referred to as a system. With that in mind, you’re ready to understand the endocannabinoid system.
To clarify, the endocannabinoid system simply refers to set specific neurotransmitters (cannabinoids) and their receptors that are found naturally in the body (endo). On their own they function like any other system, with neurotransmitters being released at various points to facilitate communication in the brain.
So far the endocannabinoid system has been linked to many aspects of of human behaviour, such as: Mood, Appetite, Memory, Pain-sensation and many more. Moreover, the endocannabinoid system has also been shown to play a role in fertility, pregnancy, and pre- and postnatal development*. The first endocannabinoid to be discovered was anandamide:
Now normally a system’s receptors will only interact with a specific neurotransmitter due to the fact that the receptor is physically shaped in such a way that only the intended neurotransmitter will ‘fit’ in it. In some cases, however, we find other compounds that are chemically similar enough to ‘fit’ as well. CBD is one of those compounds.
CBD, or cannabidiol, is known as a phytocannabinoid (a cannabinoid found in plants). Coincidentally, its chemical structure is similar enough to that of endocannabinoids for it to interact with cannabinoid receptors, specifically as an antagonist of one cannabinoid receptor (CNR1) and as an agonist of another (CNR2):
*This is why CBD is not recommended to anyone who is pregnant or breastfeeding.
While clear evidence regarding the impact of CBD on its own is unfortunately lacking, preliminary studies have shown that CNR2 helps to regulate immune response, brain function and the gastrointestinal system. From a lay-perspective, this interaction is proposed by many to influence levels of stress and anxiety. Cannabinoid receptors are also found in areas other than the central nervous system, in-and around many other organs, which has been proposed as the reason behind CBD’s pain-relieving properties.
In conclusion, the exact mechanisms of CBD in the body are mostly theoretical at this point. The CBD industry itself remains relatively new, and therefore research surrounding CBD on its own is unfortunately lacking. Thankfully the rapid growth and adoption of CBD throughout the world will no doubt encourage further scientific study, giving us more insight into why CBD seems to work the way it does.
Until then, we encourage our customers seeking to take control of their anxiety to talk to their GP, counsellor, or therapist to see if CBD is right for them. If you’re a CBD user who’s had success alleviating anxiety with CBD, let us know via email or review! We’re always happy to hear how we’ve helped heal with our hemp!
