Best time to use CBD oil
AN EDITED ARTICLE ORIGINALLY WRITTEN BY KL & LG
To maximize the effects of CBD oil, what’s the best time to take your CBD?
The truth is, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to using CBD. The best time of day to take CBD will depend on your health and wellness goals. There are benefits to taking CBD during the day, and there are also unique benefits you can receive by taking your CBD in the evenings.
In this article, we discuss what is the best time you should take CBD oil to leverage the best benefits for your lifestyle.
CBD & The Endocannabinoid System
CBD is a healthy and natural supplement for supporting a state of well-being with its interaction with the endocannabinoid system (ECS). This is a modulating system that involves receptors (CB1 & CB2 receptors) and enzymes that transmit and break down endocannabinoids (respectfully).
CBD is believed to work in the ECS to maintain levels inhibiting the enzymes that break them down. With higher cannabinoids, the feedback loop for maintaining homeostasis (balance) allows for better function.
The ECS regulates our sleep-wake cycle, memory, metabolism, stress function, and much much more. This is how CBD can have such broad-acting effects on the body and help maintain balance.
Unlike most pharmaceutical compounds, hemp-derived cannabinoids tone the function of a system. This helps regulate our body’s ability to adapt to its environment—this also means that it’s prone to fewer negative side effects.
The time of day you take CBD can also affect how the compound makes you feel.
If you’re struggling to maintain focus and energy throughout the day because of stress, you may want to take CBD in the morning. As an alternative, those struggling to get enough sleep may find the best time to take CBD is in the evening to prepare the body for sleep.
Factors To Consider When Taking CBD
Since there isn’t a standard approach to using CBD due to its broad-acting effects and the differences in people’s genetic makeup. You can expect to experiment with your CBD products until you reach your desired effects. We’ll go over some of the factors you may want to consider when taking CBD to help you time your doses better.
Reason For Taking CBD
Appropriate CBD doses have been shown to support pain, inflammation, mental stress, and much more [1,2,3].
Some people swear by CBD for helping them maintain calm and focus throughout the day, while others use it as a sleep support supplement. The reason you’re taking CBD will be a large deciding factor on what time of day to take CBD.
As a hemp-derived compound that has been deemed safe and well-tolerated by the World Health Organization, people are reaching for CBD to support several different lifestyles and health concerns.
The Type Of CBD Product
CBD is extracted from mature hemp plants and formulated into many different products that help to target the effects of CBD, cater to different lifestyles, and make CBD easier to dose consistently.
Deciding on what type of CBD product (oil, edibles, etc.) will factor into what time you should take your CBD product because you have to consider the time it takes for the compounds to kick in.
When you eat CBD, you have to factor in its time to digest the active compounds before it enters the bloodstream.
Depending on when you last ate and your genetics, it can take anywhere from 20–45 minutes before you begin to feel the effects of your CBD product.
If you want to take CBD for a good night’s sleep, you should consider taking gummies or oils at least an hour before your ideal bedtime to allow the active ingredients to start taking their effects.
Extract Type
There are three main types of CBD extract:
- Full spectrum
- THC-free broad spectrum
- Isolate
According to some experts and experienced CBD users, the type of extract in your product can result in different onset times for their effects.
The differences between these extract types are the cannabinoid profile and terpenes. CBD is one of over a hundred phytochemical compounds that are found to contribute to some health benefits.
For CBD isolates, these products only contain one active ingredient—CBD.
While full-spectrum and broad-spectrum may contain a range of terpenes and cannabinoids, making the effects of CBD much more powerful and balanced.
The presence of other cannabis compounds can affect how fast you feel the effects and the duration.
Taking CBD at Day vs. Night
Deciding on whether you should take CBD oil during the day vs. the night comes down to personal preference and what you hope to get out of CBD.
We’ll go over some of the reasons people enjoy taking CBD during the day versus the evening to help you navigate this decision.
Benefits of Taking CBD During the DAY
Support Productivity & Focus
How you begin your morning can set the tone for the rest of the day.
CBD has been a topic for many ongoing studies for its calming effects and neuroprotective benefits that may help increase focus and concentration throughout the day [4].
CBD isn’t a stimulant like the caffeine in coffee, but it can help promote a better mood that can allow you to concentrate better and longer on given tasks.
Some people even enjoy stacking CBD and coffee as the ultimate productivity hack. Since caffeine promotes alertness and wakefulness but often comes with the side effects of jitteriness and feelings of anxiety that can be distracting, taking CBD alongside coffee can help mitigate some of these feelings for a more enjoyable and effective cup of joe.
Manage Healthy Stress Levels
Stress is a healthy and normal part of life—it’s what helps us stay motivated and keeps us safe from danger. When our stress levels are prolonged or unexpected life events throw us out of our regular comforts, we become more prone to mental and physical ailments.
CBD interacts with endocannabinoid receptors in the central nervous system to promote relaxation and has been shown to modulate the activity of GABA receptors in the brain helps to combat the excitement of the stress hormones.
Some people enjoy taking CBD in the mornings to manage their overall stress levels to keep them in a happy, balanced state.
Benefits of Taking CBD During the Evening
Sleep Support
Many factors could be keeping you up at night. One of the most popular reasons people seek out CBD products is to naturally get a good night’s rest. CBD has many different mechanisms that may help address what keeps you awake from stress, pain, and nervousness.
When taken in the evening, roughly an hour or two before your ideal bedtime, CBD has been shown to prepare the body for sleep by calming down a hyperactive central nervous system [6].
If you plan to take CBD oil for sleep, you will take it in higher doses of 40–80 mg CBD. This is because most studies conducted on CBD oil for sleep involve higher doses.
Cannabinoids aren’t sedative compounds the same way that prescription sleeping drugs work, which means you should be able to feel energized and clear-headed the next morning.
Muscle Recovery
Whether you have a strenuous workout or you’re recovering from an injury, taking CBD oil in the evening may be able to support your muscle recovery.
CBD is observed to have potential anti-inflammatory benefits that make it useful for pain relief and alleviating symptoms of inflammation such as fatigue, swelling, and aches.
CBD is suggested to be a powerful pain reliever and muscle relaxant through anecdotal reports and scientific findings. CBD may help to support muscles in reducing pain and swelling after a strenuous workout or injury so that you can find it easier to get back to your daily routine.
Some people enjoy starting the day with exercise because it’s easier to commit to and can help to boost energy levels for the rest of the day.
Many active CBD enthusiasts keep CBD gummies, oil, or topicals in their gym bags to support their workouts. Taking CBD orally in the morning can help to stimulate your mind to get you in the zone for a strenuous workout.
You can also take CBD oil or massage CBD topicals into your skin post-workout to improve joint mobility and promote faster muscle recovery thanks to the regulatory inflammation benefits of CBD [5].
The cannabis plant has been used alongside meditation practices for hundreds of years—throughout history, yogis used cannabis to enhance their spirituality.
The problem with using marijuana for yoga practice is that if you’re inexperienced, the high THC levels in the plant could backfire on you, pushing you into an overactive and anxious state, making it difficult to practice mindfulness.
CBD doesn’t have the same excitatory effects on the CB1 receptor that causes intoxication as THC. Instead, it engages several mechanisms that support deep relaxation and calm, which can help you better connect with your practice.
How Frequently Should You Use CBD Oil?
To start noticing the benefits of your CBD oil, you should take it every day for at least 14 days before deciding whether you need to switch doses or products.
While some people report the effects of CBD immediately after taking it, it can take several weeks for your body to adjust to the supplemented cannabinoids before you notice the effects.
Some people find that they need to take CBD as frequently as three times a day to support muscle and joint discomfort. However, if you are on any medication or have an underlying health condition, we recommend you speak with your doctor for guidance.
To sum it all up
The best time of day to take CBD oil will depend on several factors including, what effects you hope to get out of supplementing CBD, your dose, and the type of product you’re using.
There isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to using CBD because it primarily interacts with the endocannabinoid system, which is tasked with regulating homeostasis (balance). Because everyone’s state of balance can vary from genetics, lifestyle factors, and even day-by-day, the results of CBD will be different for everyone.
There are different benefits you can find by taking CBD in the mornings or at night. It all depends on what you’re looking to use CBD for. You can expect some experimentation with timing, doses, and products to find what’s right for you.
Bobby Rapscallion’s CBD Products
At Bobby Rapscallion, honesty and integrity are values put into everything. Our hemp is farmed on American soil using organic practices. Our extracts are meticulously tested by our team and a third-party lab to ensure the highest quality standards. Since we stand firmly behind the profound effects of the entourage effect, you won’t find CBD isolate products in our catalog—but we understand that full-spectrum products aren’t ideal for everyone, which is why most of our products are also available in a THC-free broad-spectrum option.
Our high-potency oils start at a Potency Level 1 for those that are wanting to ease into CBD but need a higher dose. Keeping to this focus, we’ll be releasing Potency Levels 2 & 3 in the future. This is to make sure that all of our customers have the option to get high-quality CBD at a potency level that works best for them.
Our CBD Oil
CBD oils are a product staple for a CBD brand. We’ve carefully crafted our CBD oils to keep our high-quality hemp crops the star of the show. CBD oil also provides a wide range of versatility as you can take them sublingual (under the tongue) for fast-acting effects, or mix our flavored options into your favorite foods and drinks for wellness with a unique twist. CBD oils are a favorite for beginners and experts alike for their versatility and because you can customize your doses drop by drop.
our CBD Gummies
For those who don’t enjoy the natural bitter terpene flavor in hemp oils, but still want the whole plant benefits, CBD gummies might be a better solution for you.
We create selectively-crafted gummies at a cGMP facility and make them fresh to order. These also come in assorted flavors to mask the hempy taste and potencies start at 45MG per gummy.
Always remember that the ingestion process is different between oils and edibles like gummies. So we provide products that allow you to decide what works best for you and how you want to experience CBD.
Resources:
- Serpell, M., Ratcliffe, S., Hovorka, J., Schofield, M., Taylor, L., Lauder, H., & Ehler, E. (2014). A double‐blind, randomized, placebo‐controlled, parallel-group study of THC/CBD spray in peripheral neuropathic pain treatment. European journal of pain, 18(7), 999-1012.
- Burstein, S. (2015). Cannabidiol (CBD) and its analogs: a review of their effects on inflammation. Bioorganic & medicinal chemistry, 23(7), 1377-1385.
- Blessing, E. M., Steenkamp, M. M., Manzanares, J., & Marmar, C. R. (2015). Cannabidiol as a potential treatment for anxiety disorders. Neurotherapeutics, 12(4), 825-836.
- Maroon, J., & Bost, J. (2018). Review of the neurological benefits of phytocannabinoids. Surgical neurology international, 9.
- Hammell, D. C., Zhang, L. P., Ma, F., Abshire, S. M., McIlwrath, S. L., Stinchcomb, A. L., & Westlund, K. N. (2016). Transdermal cannabidiol reduces inflammation and pain‐related behaviors in a rat model of arthritis. European Journal of Pain, 20(6), 936-948.
- Bakas, T., Van Nieuwenhuijzen, P. S., Devenish, S. O., McGregor, I. S., Arnold, J. C., & Chebib, M. (2017). The direct actions of cannabidiol and 2-arachidonoyl glycerol at GABAA receptors. Pharmacological research, 119, 358-370.
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