Mystified by the CBD labelling system? You’re not alone. It’s probably one of the quirks of the CBD industry that is most likely to scare away first-time users. If you feel like you need a PhD in Chemistry just to read a CBD bottle, this simple guide is for you. 

We’re going to break down how to read a CBD label, how to work out a CBD dose, and how to make sure you’re getting a high-quality CBD product.

How to read your CBD label

CBD products are available in different strengths to allow you to find the ideal dose for your needs. This can make things confusing for first-time users. Differences in labelling between retailers only adds to the chaos.

The strength of your CBD products might be displayed as a percentage, as a volume (usually in mg), or in simple descriptors. Love Hemp products use all three to make it easier to switch from another brand.

For example, our 600mg CBD oil contains 2% CBD and is described as a medium-strength oil. And our 10,000mg CBD oil contains 10% CBD and is described as extra strong.

If you know the percentage, you can calculate how much CBD is contained in the product with this simple calculation:

If your CBD bottle contains 30ml of liquid, and 2% of this is CBD, then 

30*0.02=0.06ml 

We then need to convert the ml into mg by multiplying by 1000:

0.06*1000=600mg

How to work out your CBD dose

Once you know how much CBD is contained in each bottle, it’s time to think about your dosage. Using the example above, we know that a 30ml bottle of 2% CBD contains 600mg of CBD.

So, a 1ml pipette of this oil should contain 20mg of CBD.

If you want to take a daily dose of 10mg, then you would need to measure 0.5ml using the pipette. The maximum you could take in one day would be 3.5ml of CBD.

How much CBD can I take per day?

The tricky thing about CBD is that there isn’t a standard dosing guide. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) recommends that healthy adults should not take more than 70mg of CBD per day. 

But outside of a recommended daily limit, it’s difficult to find CBD dosing guides from trusted sources. Instead, we recommend starting low and increasing your dosage slowly.

Love Hemp customers typically start with a daily dose of around 5-10mg of CBD. This can be split over multiple doses if preferred. After two weeks, you can then increase your daily dose by 1-5mg per week. Pay close attention to your body during this time to spot any subtle changes.

CBD will not get you high or alter your mental state in any way. It isn’t a cure or a treatment for any specific condition. Instead, you are looking out for changes to your well-being.

What is the difference between full-spectrum, broad-spectrum and isolate?

Alongside the CBD strength, you might also see the words “full-spectrum”, “broad-spectrum”, and “isolate” used to describe CBD products. These terms refer to the cannabinoid content.

During the extraction process, other cannabinoids are taken from the stems, leaves and flowers of the hemp plant. This includes THC, CBG, CBC and CBA. 

The extraction process also removes plant compounds called terpenes and flavonoids. These are thought to offer additional health benefits to support health and wellbeing.

In an isolate product, all other cannabinoids and plant compounds are removed, leaving just the CBD. This is often in a powdered form. CBD isolate is commonly added to skincare, or it can be taken as a supplement.

With a broad-spectrum product, only the THC is removed. Nearly all Love Hemp products contain broad-spectrum CBD.

And finally, a full-spectrum CBD product contains all of the beneficial cannabinoids, terpenes and flavonoids, including legal amounts of THC.

The importance of the certificate of analysis

If you are confused about the CBD contents of a product, always look for the certificate of analysis. Responsible retailers will include this on their website, but you may need to request it if you don’t see one. 

If a retailer cannot provide one, then their product has not been third-party tested, and they cannot guarantee the cannabinoid content. This is important for a number of reasons.

1. You need to know the CBD content of the product to determine the dosage.
2. You also need to confirm that it contains safe and legal levels of THC.

The only way to get a certificate of analysis is through third-party lab testing. This involves measuring the concentration of different cannabinoids in a CBD product. It will also confirm that the product is free from contaminants like pesticides and heavy metals.

CBD retailers should update the certificate of analysis with every new batch, as different plant harvests will produce different cannabinoid levels.