We get a lot of people that ask what the difference between CBD oil(drops) and CBD capsules. In this guide, we are going to talk about the benefits of each one and help you compare and choose what is best for you in 2020.

For those you you who need the short answer then here is is:

The difference between CBD oil and capsules is that oils are taken sublingually and absorbed into the blood directly, this means you get more out of the CBD you take (see bioavailability of CBD). CBD Oil is also faster acting because of this. Capsules are slower releasing, so they can last longer and have the benefit of being easy to dose and tasteless for if you don’t like the taste of CBD oil.

Compare the Advantage of CBD Drops vs CBD Capsules

There are many advantages of CBD drops over capsules which we go through below. As the most common option of taking CBD, it is usually the first port of call for CBD users. Here we compare the benefits of CBD drops over capsules.

Your body gets more out of CBD oils – Most methods of ingesting CBD don’t offer 100% bioavailability. This means that your body does not use all of the CBD that you consume. There are many reasons for this that we go into more on our article on bioavailability of different methods of CBD, the short of it is though that using CBD drops sublingually(under the tongue), you absorb a lot of the CBD directly into your blood and get more of the used by your body.

CBD Drops are fast-acting – Because you absorb the drops into the blood vessels in your mouth, the effect of the CBD is much quicker which leads to getting what you want out of the CBD quicker.

You can control and adjust the dose of the CBD drops easily – Most CBD oils come with droppers that make it easy to control the dose of CBD you are getting. Because you are just consuming x amount of drops of CBD as your dose, you can easily adjust the number of drops you take up or down. This is great for either getting your perfect dose or for finding what your perfect dose is when you are new to CBD.

There is a whole range of options – CBD drops are the most common CBD product, meaning you have the most to choose from so you can find the most ideal CBD oil for you.

Disadvantage of CBD Drops over CBD Capsules

There are lots of pros to CBD oils, there are also some disadvantages which we will talk about to help you make an informed descision.

Take a bit of getting used to – Most people are not used to taking drops under their tounge, and although it does come very quick, it can be a little of for the first few times for some people.

Not to everyones taste – Raw CBD is not to everyones taste so if you are not a fan of the flavour of it then it may not be the best for you. You can of course also get flavoured CBD drops these days.

Not very descreet – Because you have to drop the oil under your tounge, it is not the most descreet thing to do if you dp not want to get noticed, meaning yo may have ot take youself off to a quite place to take it.

Compare the Advantage of CBD Capsules vs Drops

CBD Capsules are Discreet – If you are taking CBD throughout the day and don’t want others to notice then drops can be a little harder to consume on the sly. The advantage of capsules is you can take it with a bit of water like you would any other supplement or medication which avoids any question or having to take yourself off to a discreet location to take the CBD.

They are easy to dose – Capsules are really easy to dose as they are pre-measured, no accidently mis-counting the amount of drops, you can just take the amount of capsules you want and be done.

Slower releasing – Because the CBD is absorbed through your gut, the effect of the CBD is much slower releasing. This can be good if you want a slow consistent effect of the CBD.

Great for travel – Coming in packets similar to medication it is easy to travel with CBD capsules. No risk of leaking or breaking bottles as they tumble around in your bag. You can just carry them easily and worry-free

No taste – There is no taste to CBD capsules which is a great advantage to many people who do not like the flavour of raw CBD oil. You can get flavoured CBD oils which are great but if you would rather no taste then CBD capsules are ideal.

Disadvantage of CBD Capsules over CBD drops

Like CBD drops there are some disadvantages when you compare to CBD drops.

Best to take routinely – CBD capsules are absorbed in the gut and because of this it is best to take with food or certain times of the day. You can take it any time but if you take it with food then you should absorb more of it as it will take longer to travel through your gut. This means you need to think about it some more rather than just take it at certain times each day.

Slower acting – Because it has to get absorbed through the digestive system, it takes longer to take effect then being absorbed straight into the blood as with drops

Less for your money – There is lower bioavailability with CBD capsules so you may need to take more to see the same effect.

Where to compare and buy the best CBD oil and capsules in the UK

Here at Hempanion, we are not just a trustworthy source of CBD information. We also find the best CBD brands in the UK and vet them for quality. Only then do we add them to our site to offer to our customers.

We are trying to combat low quality and counterfeit CBD products on the market and create a place where people can buy CBD in confidence that whatever brand they choose, it will be quality. We don’t make our own CBD products so we can independently test and verify each CBD brand we take on.

We have also spent countless hours, categorising and standardising all the CBD options so as to make it as easy as possible to compare cbd brands in the UK.

Buy the best CBD Oil in the UK

Buy the best CBD capsules in the UK

Once more we are always here to help, whether you be comparing CBD or if you have questions on CBD itself, you can always get in touch and we will be happy to help.

Conclusion

Hopefully this should help you choose whether drops or capsules are better for you. In general, we think you will get more out of and more bang for your buck with CBD drops. But if you want to avoid the taste or have the ease and discreetness of capsules then maybe that is the way to go for you.

Let us know if you have any questions, or you can take a look out our other in depth CBD guides.

Fake products, in general, are becoming more and more of a problem in any industry. You may have heard about fake Apple earpods or fake sunglasses or fake nutrients. You name it, if it’s popular then there are probably fakes out there, especially now in 2020 and people trying to scam you. In this guide, we talk about how to know if CBD is real.

Trouble is, it is getting harder and harder to tell the difference between the real CBD and the fake CBD. But, unlike some fake sunglasses or earpods, fake supplements and fake CBD oils can be dangerous as you are putting them inside your body.

A large part of why we started Hampanion was to combat this sort of issue, but unfortunately, not everyone buys from Hempanion 😉

Fake or counterfeit CBD products can be really dangerous as if they are fake then they will likely not contain as much CBD in them as advertised and worse could contain dangerous products.

I recently read a report on fake kids toys which were impossible to tell from the real ones but contained dangerous chemicals used in insulation, one of which can have an effect on gender development as well as other things.

Because children often put toys in their mouth, this is even more dangerous.

Just a thought

Like all these industries, CBD is unfortunately affected by scammers and it is something you need to look out to be sure you are helping your body, not harming it. So we will go through some of the best ways to check a product is real or fake.

By fake CBD, I don’t just mean fake brands impersonating real brands. It is so easy to create a fake CBD brand, or any brand, that most fakes look like an established brand. Plus, with the rise of social media and social sharing, fake products are even harder to spot.

Top Tips for finding if the CBD is Real

1) Buy from a reputable CBD Shop

One of the best things you can do is to buy the CBD from a reputable CBD Shop like Hempanion. At Hempanion we vet every single product we sell for its quality and legitimacy so you don’t have to. We are the only UK CBD Store to do this.

If you are buying from a local shop then make sure it is a shop that has some knowledge in CBD. Headshops and Pharmacys are usually good for CBD as they know more of what they are selling. Cornershop’s and some more general shops can sell lower quality products, some without realising it.

So if you are buying online or offline then take note of where you are buying from.

2) Is the price too good to be true?

Like anything, if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is. If a product is much cheaper than its competition then it is worth checking out why that is. CBD, unfortunately, is not super cheap to make so there is a certain cost it is expected to be for different strengths and other factors like carrier oils.

If it seems super cheap then it is worth taking a closer look to make sure it is legitimate because there is often a reason it is so cheap.

3) Is is CBD oil of Hemp oil?

One of the reasons you can seem to see CBD oil cheap is some people are quite crafty with the way they word their descriptions and could just be buying hemp seed oil which is much cheaper, but it doesn’t contain cannabinoids.

You can view our full guide on the difference between hemp seed oil and CBD oil here. You should also avoid buying from marketplaces like Amazon or Ebay as it is not allowed to sell CBD and are probably not what you think they are.

4) Does the CBD have Lab tests?

The next thing to check is if they have lab tests to verify the quality of the CBD. You can find out more about this on our guide on things to look out for when buying CBD. You can do this by contacting us at Hempanion if it is from us or you can search the brand online and look at their website.

Beware though, it is becoming more common for people to fake the lab tests so make sure it was done by a reputable third party lab testing company.

5) Does the CBD oil make medical claims?

In the UK it is illegal to make medical claims about CBD products as it is classed as a food supplement and not a medicinal product.

This means you should be very wary when any brand or person selling is making medical claims about the CBD and what it can do for you. There are many benefits to using cannabinoids as a health supplement and there is lots of people and research that can testify to that. But it is a very individual thing and varies from person to person, what helps one person, may not help another.

Here at Hempanion we talk about the potential benefits and the things that cannabis-based products can help with but we do not make any medical claims, we take the time to link research and studies that are taking place, both positive and negative so that you can learn and make an informed decision on what is best for you.

So in short, you should be cautious if there is a brand or person on Facebook making wild medical claims as it is both illegal and there is simply just more research that needs to be done. Thankfully this research is coming out thick and fast and is showing positive results.

6) Does the oil have a very high percentage?

Apart from isolate CBD, then you should be wary of products with a higher percentage of CBD than 50%. It is very hard to make the oil work properly and be easy to consume as you get over 30% and more so 40%. But, higher numbers seem better to most people and this can be used by scammers to sell a fake CBD product.

When you get to 40% and over you need to warm your CBD to get it to soften and look after it a bit more so when you get even higher in the percentages it is not very user friendly so if it is a high percentage, and if it is not an isolate then there is probably something wrong.

Does the CBD Brand have a good reputation?

Checking the reputation of the brand is a good step to finding the legitimacy of the product and if it is safe to use.

You do need to be careful however and not just check the number of likes or followers as there are scammers that have created social media accounts and somehow got followers through various ways so it is good to look deeper. Take a look at the combination of these things below to make a judgement, any one thing may not be a bad thing but multiple may indicate something worse.

• Does it have a website and does it look legit.
• Does it have a phone number and is it a landline.
• Does it have an email that isn’t @hotmail or @gmail etc..
• Does it have a good following on social media
• Search for reviews of the product, are there complaints that come up when searching ‘brand x review’.
• Look for engagement on posts, are there negative comments on the posts.
• Has the brand been around for a little while something that has been going a year or longer is usually more trustworthy.
• Is there reviews on trustworthy review sites

How to check if you think you have bought a fake or counterfeit CBD oil?

There are a few things you can do to check if a CBD oil is legit. If you have used CBD a lot then you can taste it and you may be able to tell straight away but if you are new to it or the oil is flavoured then it can be harder.

First of all, if in doubt and think it may be fake CBD then throw it away and buy from somewhere else. It is not worth risking your health by taking a potentially dangerous product.

If you want to do some more investigation then first you can follow some of the steps above like checking the lab tests and checking the reputation of the brand. This will give you a very good indicator of quality.

If you think it is legit but want to take some more steps then you can check with the following things.

What does the oil smell and taste like?

Genuine CBD oil should smell and taste raw and earthy, or like cannabis. A lot of people don’t like the taste when they first use it because of its ‘earthiness’. If it is not meant to be flavoured then you should taste an earthy or ‘planty’ flavour that has an oily texture due to the oil it is mixed with.

It can be described as having a grassy or nettle like flavour. It should be noted that a lot of these flavours come from the flavonoids and terpenes in the CBD extract which are more abundant in full spectrum cbd oils, so if you have an isolate cbd oil then you may get less of this earthy flavour.

What does the CBD oil look like?

Full-spectrum CBD oil should be either green, brown or amber in colour. If it’s clear or very transparent with little to no colour, then the oil is most likely made with CBD isolate, mixed in with some kind of oil.

It should not be really watery or lack any sort of colour and taste of nothing but oil or it may be fake CBD.

Where to buy real CBD prodcuts that are legitiamate

Hempanion is the best place to buy CBD oils and products as we are the only place that thoroughly checks all the products we sell.

We could make our own CBD but we choose to find the best of the best and give an independent view on the CBD products. That way we can be unbias and helpful to anyone wanting to find the right CBD for them.

Our aim is to help people with CBD and there are enough brands out there that do a good job already so we provide a trustworthy place to find, compare and choose the right CBD for you.

We have spent countless hours categorising and standardising information to make it easy to compare products so that you can cut through all the sales hype and complicated bits of buying from other places.

If you have any questions then please do get in touch.

You may have heard lots of people giving CBD to their dogs and cats but should you really do it? and is it legal to in the UK?

In this guide, we will talk about the things you need to think about before giving your dog or pet CBD. We will also talk about the law around it and what the UK vet’s think. For those short on time, here is a quick summary

The answer to whether you should give your dog CBD is not the most simple. Dogs have a similar endocannabinoid system to us humans and many studies have suggested that CBD can have great benefits for dogs. It can help stress, anxiety, inflammation, arthritis and potentially lots more. However, The VMD made a statement in 2018 that basically stops the sale of CBD for pets in the UK, but that does not make it illegal to give your pet CBD. If you do give your dog CBD then you should only get top-quality CBD and you should always speak to your vet.

How can CBD help my dog?

The truth is there is not a huge amount of studies on CBD and dogs. There are more and more on humans and because dogs have the same endocannabinoid system, it is widely assumed that it can have the same benefits. Some more studies are coming out and more information coming to light but here are a few of the Potential benefits of CBD for your dog:

• Reducing anxiety and depression
• Reducing the seizures suffered by those with epilepsy.
• Relieving pain.
• Reducing the symptoms of arthritis
• Reducing inflammation.
• Reducing the impact of neurodegenerative diseases and protecting the nervous system.
• Reducing nausea and improving appetite.

There is a study that shows a good amount of improvement in symptoms for dogs with arthritis here. This shows a significant decrease in pain and no side effects.

Interestingly there is one study showing the bioavailability of CBD to dogs and in half of the 6 dogs, CBD was not detected in the blood plasma after oral ingestion, in the other dogs between 13 and 19% of the CBD was detected.

It is not clear why this is but it was a very small study and there is much more to be researched. You may be surprised to read the bioavailability of CBD in Humans.

So really the science is not there yet to back up definitively whether CBD is good for dog but it is promising and vets are talking about it.

Why is no CBD advertised for dogs in the UK?

There used to be lots of different CBD oils for dogs advertised in the UK before late 2018 when the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) released an out of the blue press release. The VMD is the regulator for the manufacture, sale, prescription and use of veterinary medicines in the UK.

This press release states that “veterinary products containing Cannabidiol (CBD) are veterinary medicines and should be regulated as such”. What this means is that CBD needs to be regulated like any other medicine for animals as opposed to just being treated like a food supplement like currently in humans.

This means that all products marketed towards animals for CBD had to be removed. There is not much information they gave on why but part of the reason we think they did this is for the same reason we set up Hempanion.

There are a lot of low-quality CBD products on the market and it is not a good idea to give products that have not been tested for quality to your pet for obvious reasons which are why we created Hempanion so you can filter out the bad quality CBD and only get good CBD.

I’ll let you into a little secret though, all the CBD for pets we had and most of what was around was actually no different from the CBD for humans. It was all just the same oil but rebranded for pets, so if you want you can basically still get the same CBD for your pet.

What CBD Oil should I give to my dog?

If you are going to give your dog or pet CBD then we would give some advice. Like we have said there is a lot of poor quality CBD and we would never give our dogs something we would not take ourselves.

Go for the best Quality CBD oil you can find like the ones on Hempanion. It should be Organic, GMO Free and lab tested.

It should also not have any aditives or other added ingredients like flavourings.

It is much of the same things as in our guide for what to look for when buying CBD https://hempanion.com/the-knowledge/need-to-know-to-buy-cbd/for humans.

How much CBD should I give my dog?

There is no one that can give a scientific answer to this and we are not going to try to make one up like other sites but we will give some advice.

Remember dogs are a lot smaller than humans so like anything you give them, they need a lot less so don’t just give what you take yourself. The other thing is like we recommend to humans, always start small with the does and work your way up slowly, start with one drop, then 2 and so on until you notice an effect. Keep a close eye on your dog’s actions and behaviour while doing this and always stop if you have seen any negative side effects. If in doubt, speak to your vet.

The dose will depend on the size of your dog and its reaction to it but most of the studies around seem to be a dose of around 45mg to 90mg of CBD.

What should I do if my dog shows side effects to CBD?

Stop giving your dog CBD if there is any negative side effects shown. It is not worth risking your dogs health if you find any negetive effects of CBD. Always consult your vet.

We hope this helped clear things up a bit and if you have any questions then please do get in touch and we will be happy to help.

In this guide, we want to explain how to use CBD E-liquids of any type for if you are new to it. It’s quite simple thankfully but it is often confusing with all the information online and good to get a confirmation for peace of mind. Here is a quick summary for those of you in a rush.

Most CBD e-liquids can be used exactly how you would use your own e-liquid. They contain much the same ingredients so should work with your current vaporiser device. You may use it on its own for the full cannabis flavour or you can mix it with your favourite flavour e-liquid. Some people also decide to mix it if they want nicotine from the e-liquid which many CBD vape juices don’t provide. If you are mixing, you may mish to choose a higher strength CBD E-liquid so that you don’t over-dilute the cannabinoids in your mix.

You can buy quality CBD e-liquids here.

Ways to use CBD E-Liquids for vapes

Generally speaking, we find that folks who buy CBD e-liquid will fall into one of two categories.

‘The Purists’

These include people who prefer to vape their CBD ‘Neat’ – or in other words, vape it without anything added. These people tend not to mix CBD with other flavoured e-liquids or those vape juices with nicotine in them.

More often than not, these individuals are either new to vaping and haven’t got a must-have flavour yet. Or they have another device to separate their nicotine and CBD e-liquids. Or they may just want to try out the pure flavour of the cannabinoids.

For those using the pure flavour of CBD e-liquids then we would recommend using a full spectrum CBD e-liquid that contains all the terpenes and flavours from the raw plant. This will give you a much more rounded and nice flavour for you to enjoy.

Some people in this category prefer to fill their vape cartridges to the full with a stronger e-liquid and then use it just a few times in a day. some people prefer to choose a weaker liquid that they can puff more continually throughout the day. Choose what is best for you and if you are stuck then just give us a message and we can help find what is right for you.

CBD E-liquid mixers

The second category of people that use CBD e-liquids are those that prefer to mix their e-liquids.

You might want to do this for a few different reasons. First for those that like nicotine in their vaporiser, it is good to mix the CBD e-liquid with one of the desired nicotine level.

Another reason you may want to do this is to mix with your favourite flavour vape liquid. Some people don’t like the flavour of CBD e-liquids and choose to mix it with one of their favourite flavours to mask the taste but still get the benefits of CBD e-liquid.

The last reason you may wish to mix CBD e-liquids is if you have a particularly strong CBD vape juice and you want to dilute it down so that you can puff it more often and still get the dose of CBD you want.

How to mix CBD E-Liquids

You need to decide how to mix your CBD vape liquid depending on your personal preference. There are four things you should take into consideration when mixing your CBD e-liquid.

• The dose of CBD in the e-liquid
• How much you vape
• The dose of nicotine you want, if any
• The amount of CBD you want daily

Depending on these factors you can decide how you want to mix your CBD e-liquid with others if you wish to at all. For instance, if you want a strawberry flavour liquid with no nicotine and a low strength that you can vape all day then you would want a standard vape juice of your flavour and then can mix it with either a little bit of high strength CBD e-liquid or a larger amount of low strength e-liquid.

What is in CBD E-Liquids?

CBD E-liquids usually contain three things and not much more.

Vegetable Glycerine (VG) which is an all-natural liquid that is extracted from plant oil and goes by the chemical formula C3H8O3.
It is a clear, odourless liquid with a mere hint of colour.

Propylene Glycol (PG) which is an organic compound with the chemical formula CH₃CHCH₂OH. Like VG it is both colourless and odourless too with low viscosity, meaning it is a thin liquid, the opposite of VG which is a thicker liquid.

Most eliquids whether CBD or not will have a mix of these two ingredients to get the right consistency.

The last thing that is added is the actual CBD or cannabinoids. It wouldn’t be CBD without with cannabis extract!

You have a couple of options when it comes to the plant extract used. We would first recommend CO2 extracted CBD as it is the highest quality like most of the products on Hempanion. The next choice you have over the most common options is pure CBD or Full spectrum extract.

CBD only extract is good for if you just want pure CBD and nothing else, this may be good if you have drug tests and can’t risk any chance of trace amounts of THC showing up. You may also want to just isolate the effects of pure CBD.

Full-spectrum e-liquids have the advantage of using the entourage effect. They also usually contain all the added terpenes and flavonoids that both can have added benefits and also make the e-liquid or CBD oil taste better.

I hope this helps you decide on what is best for you and your CBD e-liquids. Hempanion is a place where you can compare CBD e-liquids that are of the best quality in the UK. If you have any questions then please do get in touch.

In this CBD guide, we are going to go through exactly what you need to know before buying CBD so you don’t waste your money or risk your health.

As mentioned on every page, we are not medical professionals and nothing here is intended to treat, diagnose or cure any disease or ailment. Hempanion is about helping people make their own choices and not to make medical claims about these products. Although we test all the products we have, they are not currently tested by the Food and Drug Administration. Laws do come in on March 31st 2021 which you can find out about in the guide to legality of CBD in 2020.

We do provide advertorial links to products on our site in this guide but the content applies to anywhere you choose to buy your CBD.

With the rise in popularity of CBD, there was a lot of people trying to cash in on that popularity, and there still are.
This was a big part of why we started Hempanion, we saw the brands ripping people off and it was becoming harder and harder to tell the difference between good and bad products. That’s why we check every product we have to make sure it meets our strict standards for quality and ethics, hence why we are the trusted place to buy CBD. But the other reason we started, was to educate so that you can make more informed choices on what works for you.

It’s a whole complicated world of CBD out there so without further ado here are the 10 things you must know before buying CBD.

1. Is the CBD Safe?

The first thing you need to look for is whether the CBD is safe to consume. Companies making quick profits, selling low quality or even dangerous CBD oils and products to people around the world are putting a bad light on cannabis-based products, and ultimately putting peoples health at risk. So how do you know if a CBD product is safe or not?

Buy CBD from a Trusted shop

One of the best things you can do is buy from a trusted CBD shop like Hempanion.com which is an independent seller of CBD. We don’t make our own products, so we have no sales pitch or bias towards a brand. We take every brand for what it is, if a brand doesn’t fit the standards and ethos that we set, then we don’t sell it, simple as that. Only after a brand meets all our standards, then we will show it to our customers. No bias, just an impartial look at what is quality on the market right now.

Check if there are Quality Lab Tests

The second main thing you can do to see if a product is safe is to check it’s lab tests. All reputable brands should have quality third part lab tests, that is why it is one of the many factors that we use to determine if we will sell the CBD product on our shop.

But even if the company claims it has lab tests, how do you know if it is legitimate?

How to read CBD Lab Tests

First of all, take a look on the company’s website and see if it claims to have lab tests or certificates of analysis for its products, if it does then great, we can now see how true the claims are.

The next thing to do is to see if it’s legitimate. It is very hard to be 100% sure that a lab test is accurate, but here is what you need to check to be as confident as possible.
Companies should do separate tests for each of their products so compare the information on the lab test with the product you are looking at. Does the cannabinoid level match what is described on the website? Note, it is normal for the percentage to be half a % or even a bit more over or under the described level. So if you are looking at a 15% CBD oil then don’t be alarmed if it says 14.86% or 15.86%.

The above example is a 4% CBD and CBDa Oil so if you add up the CBD and CBDa content percentages then it makes roughly 4%. It is also a full-spectrum CBD oil so it contains a little bit of each cannabinoid which is why you see the other ones in there. Further down we go into more detail about this.

The next thing to look out for is the information on the actual lab test. Below we have an example of some common information you should be seeing on a lab test. You should be able to see the date the test was done, the name of the test, who it was more and the product it was done for.

The next thing you should do, is to check for heavy metals and other contaminants in the product. This is usually either at the end of the lap report or in a separate document. What it is checking for is the levels of harmful contaminants like heavy metals or mould and bacteria that are harmful to you. This normally shows in a simple Pass or Fail for each contaminant the test is checking for.

The final thing you should look for is that the test was done by a reputable third-party lab. One of the things you can check is that it is an accredited lab. One of the big providers is the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). So look out for the logo below.

There are other accreditors as well so have a look on the report for any signs of accreditation, or go to the lab’s website and find out more about the lab and its accreditation or reputation on their website.

2. What is in the product?

The next thing to look at is what is actually in the product. The main thing that affects the quality and impact of the product you are thinking of using is, of course, the ingredients in the CBD Oil or product. This is particularly important for any CBD oil, capsule or product you are ingesting. CBD Topicals typically have many more ingredients and are more complex to understand as they are usually a typical moisturiser or other product that had been mixed with CBD for its effect.

Hempanion is one of the only places to clearly show all or our products ingredients so you know exactly what is in it. We have been talking with brands to make this accurate and as easy to find as possible.

If you are in a shop then check the label and see what it says on there.

The main ingredients in CBD oils to look out for

If we take CBD oils, most have only a couple of ingredients. First is the actual cannabinoid extract which is the isolated cannabinoids which we go into a bit more in the next section. And second is the carrier oil, this is what dilutes the isolate and makes up a large part of the contents. The ratio of the isolate to carrier oil depends on the strength of the CBD oil.

There are many types of carrier oil and they have a large impact on the taste of the CBD oil in general. So if you find an oil you like the taste of, see what carrier oil it uses and you can try others with that same type. Most commonly the carrier oil is either Hemp Oil (Made from hemp seeds), Olive Oil or MCT oil. In theory, any type of oil can be used but those are the most common.

Make sure the oil actually contains CBD. There are some confusing names in the CBD world and you can find hemp oil which may seem good for much cheaper but it is not necessarily the same thing even though it is still good for you. Another reason to check the ingredients. You can find out more in our guides about the difference between CBD oil and Hemp oil.

Read the ingredients closely and if there is anything you don’t recognise, google it. Make sure the ingredients are natural and there is nothing bad inside.
You can be sure all products on Hempanion are checked for anything we don’t like.

Top Tips

Other benefits that can be added to CBD oils

Alongside the CBD isolate and carrier oil in the CBD oils, you may find some other ingredients which can be good for health potentially and also flavour. Terpenes and other flavonoids are often removed in the extraction process to make the isolate but they can be good for many things including creating a more rounded flavour. So if you don’t like the raw taste of CBD then look out for them.

The other thing that is becoming more common is the addition of vitamins and nutrients into CBD products. This is because the reason many people take CBD is to help them in some way, and unlike many claims on the internet, CBD is unfortunately not a one-stop-shop for all time healthiness. Our health is made up of many influencing factors like our fitness, nutrition and many other things. CBD is just another tool in our belt.

That is why we are getting more CBD brands with nutrients added in so that it is easier to balance these things out. We don’t want to be taking loads of supplements each day so if you are taking vitamins anyway then it often makes it cheaper and easier to get a CBD oil with these already combined.

The other thing you will find added to some oils is flavour. This can be achieved in many ways but some people do not like the taste of CBD oil so flavours are a great way to go if you are of that opinion.

I would suggest that if there is ever any ingredients that you don’t recognise, then give it a google and see what it is. We would always advise getting products with only natural ingredients. It is one of the big things we take into account when deciding to stock on Hempanion. So be sure you won’t find any bad eggs on here!

3. What Cannabinoids are in the CBD Product?

We keep referring to everything as CBD products but in reality, there are loads of cannabinoids that make up the cannabis plant that CBD is extracted from. Including the famous THC which in larger amounts, gets you high.

It is important to know what cannabinoids are in the product so you can tailor it to your needs if you need to. We will go through the four main groups of cannabinoids in CBD oils so you know what is best for you.

Full Spectrum

A full-spectrum CBD oil is one that contains the whole spectrum of cannabinoids in the cannabis plant. So this includes CBD, CBN, CBG, THC, CBC and many others. You can find out more about the cannabinoids in our CBD guides.

There is a thing called the entourage effect and it basically just means that all the cannabinoids can help more if combined together. So the more you have then the greater cumulative effect they will have together and the more benefit you can potentially get. There are a lot of studies suggesting this and it is widely believed to be the case. None of the CBD oils in the UK have enough THC in them to make you high.

If you are wanting to try CBD products and don’t have any restrictions then usually a full-spectrum CBD oil is the way to go.

CBD Only

CBD only oils have used an extract that removes everything apart from the CBD. This is great if you just want the benefits of pure CBD it’s self or just want to get started and see what CBD on its own does.

Another major reason people take CBD only oils and products is that they may work in a job where they get drug tested. Full-spectrum CBD oils contain only a tiny amount of THC to be legal here in the UK and will not have any psychoactive effect, but on rare occasions, if used for a long time it can show on blood tests. So if you get drug tested for work then it is probably best to avoid THC, just in case

Broad Spectrum

Broad-spectrum CBD oils are the best of both worlds from the above. They contain all the cannabinoids you get from full-spectrum oils but with the THC removed. This is great for getting the majority of the entourage effect but without the risk of THC showing up on any drug tests.

Specialist CBD oils

Finally, we have Specialist CBD oils where there is a combination of CBD and one or two other cannabinoids. One common one is CBD and CBG mixed together with nothing else. These types of oils are great if you want to target the specific benefits of each cannabinoid. You can learn more about those in our CBD Guides.

4. What Strength is the CBD oil?

You can read our full guide on how much CBD to take in our guides but getting a CBD oil the right strength for you is important to get the most out of it.

Unfortunately, many companies show the cannabinoid content in different ways which can make it more confusing to work our the strength. That is one of the things we have worked hard to make simple on Hempanion. By working out the maths we have made it easy to compare strengths of oils between CBD companies.

It is important to know the strength of your oil so that you can tailor the dose to what you need, or help you find your perfect dose. We are all different so there is no single answer for how much you should take and it even changes depending on how oy take it. Find out more about that in our bioavailability of ingesting CBD different ways guide, but the main thing knowing how much you are talking so you can adjust if need be.

The other reason you want to know the strength is so you are not wasting your money. If you are just starting out, there is no point spending loads on a 40% CBD oil. Similarly, if you have had it a while and know your dose or want a bit more then there is no point in getting a 2.5% CBD oil because you will get through it really quickly and end up buying more bottles.

Capsules are easier than oils to get the right dosing as one dose is usually one capsule and it is always the same, however, most oils come with a pipette to accurately get the right amount of CBD via the number of drops you take.

5. Where is it made and how was the CBD made?

The next thing to look at is where it is made. Hemp is known for growing virtually anywhere and also for many other things like cleaning up soil. Here is our guide to hemp.

There are three main places hemp and cannabis are grown, China, Europe(plus the UK) and the USA. China is the worlds largest hemp producer currently, creating most of the industrial hemp used for clothing building and other things. China also is known for using a lot of less than healthy farming methods. Also with one of the great things about hemp being that it cleans up the soil of chemicals pollution, that means it can only be going one place, the hemp plant.

It is because of this that most of the Chinese hemp is not very good for ingesting for health reasons. even though it is very cheap, it is often grown with pesticides, contaminated soils and GMO’s. That is not to say all Chinese hemp is bad but we would recommend it being used more for clothing and other uses opposed to ingesting.

Europe, UK, and the USA have much stricter growing standards for growth so it is usually where you want your CBD oils to be made. But still doesn’t mean it is definitely the best as there are other things to look out for that we go into below

Is it organic?

The next thing you should look for is whether it is organic. Being is organic is one of the big things we look for when deciding to stock a brand which is why we make it easy to filter for organic CBD oils. We make sure each companies claims to being organic are true, or if they are awaiting organic certification.

Your product does not have to be organic but its something we certainly prefer. Any products that are not organic on Hempanion are grown in ethical and safe ways.

Is it GMO free?

The other thing we look for and make it easy to filter by on Hempanion is for any genetically modified plants. We much prefer the natural plant and its benefits so if that’s what you are looking for then we have you covered for GMO-free CBD.

It is really what you prefer when it comes down to these things. a lot of us eat modified fruit and vegetables that are not organic and a lot of us choose to so if you want to be as healthy as possible then look for these attributes of your CBD.

How is it extracted?

The next thing to look for is the way the CBD was extracted in the first place. There are three main ways of extracting CBD, CO2, BHO and Alcohol.

CO2 is the top dog for these methods as it leaves no trace of the extraction process. It is why almost all of the products on Hempanion are CO2 extracted, but we have made it super easy to filter down those options so you can be sure.

The other methods are not always bad for you and they are much cheaper to do which is why the cheapest products often use them but if you are looking for the best then go for CO2 extraction.

You can read more about the advantages of CO2 extraction in our guides.

6. Price

The next thing to look at is the price, after all, it is one of the factors we all look for when buying anything. Prices range massively in CBD products which can often make it confusing as to why you would pay more, but there are many factors involves and cheaper is not necessarily better value for money.

The first things you want to do is to compare the CBD you are looking for by filtering down by your requirements. it is one of the reasons we spend so much time adding all the little details to the products we stock so that you can filter down to see just what you are looking for without scrolling through pages and pages.

Select the things you want by picking things we have talked about above like the strength, whether it is organic, how it was extracted or grown, size of the bottle/pack and so on until you have a set of results you like the look of.

Then you can compare the prices and there are a few things you can look for to work our the best value for money and that may affect the value of the product.

Does it have premium ingredients?

Added ingredients like nutrients or terpenes will make a product more expensive and if that is something you are looking for then it may be worth paying the extra.

Is it high quality CBD?

One of the advantages of hempanion is that you know all our products are high quality, but if you are buying elsewhere then look out for whether its a high-quality product with the things we have talked about in this article.

Is there some extra features that are great for what you need?

There are some features that make a product more worthwhile like the ease of use, extra precise measuring, may be coated in chocolate or extra nice flavour or something, but sometimes there are features worth paying for if it is what you want. Be careful not to get trapped into something just because of super nice packaging or it being endorsed by your favourite celebrity though as the steps in this guide are much more important than that.

7. Does the company have a good reputation?

The last thing on this list is the companies reputation, is it a fly by night scam or a well-established company with a good reputation. Once again All the products here on Hempanion are from reputable brands that are quality and here to stay. But if you are buying elsewhere then lookout for a few things.

Take a look at the companies website and look at it’s reviews, see how complete it all looks and find out more about the company, how it started and why it started.

Reviews can be faked so look for a large number and also search the web for any reviews or complaints of their products that are not on their website. These can be in blogs, Reddit posts, Facebook posts/comments and a whole host of places.

The other thing you can do is ask your friends if they have tried it, recommend it or have heard of it.

Conclusion

Thanks for reading through and we hope you found this useful. We certainly could not find a guide with everything we thought was needed which is why we made this one.

We would really appreciate a share if you found this useful as well so we can show as many people as possible and help stop people being scammed by low-quality products.

As always if you have any questions about anything, whether you are looking to buy or not then just get in touch.

Another one of the lesser known but very important cannabinoids is CBC.  CBC was discovered back in the 60’s but unfortunately has not had a whole load of research on it.

We are going to go through all the latest research that has been done to explain what CBC is, How CBC interacts with your body and what the effects are.

Because of where we are we cannot make any medical claims, what we are committed to doing is bringing you the facts. We want this to be a trusted source of information without all the sales hype and unjustified claims.

CBC is short for Cannabichromene

How is CBC Made?

CBC is like CBD and THC, derived from CBG. More specifically CBG-A.

Depending on the enzymes that go to work on the CBG-A, the ‘stem cell cannabinoid’ gets turned into CBC-A. Interestingly, like when we talked about THC-A becoming CBN-A over time, CBC can also transform with age and other factors, CBC-A turns into CBL-A(Cannabicyclol).

From being CBC-A, it gets turned into CBC through the same process as THC-A becomes THC.

A study in 1981 showed CBC to be the second most common cannabinoid after THC. These days, it seems unlikely that is true due to the amount of breeding that has taken place on the cannabis plant since then. Most plants have a higher concentration of THC or CBD than anything else.

What does CBC Do? How does CBC interact with the body?

We know about the main two cannabinoid receptors CB1 and CB2 already. CBC does not bind well to the CB1 receptor which is probably why CBC is non-psychoactive.

We also know that Cannabichromene does not bind too well with CB2 receptors either.

So if it doesn’t bind well to the CB1 and CB2 receptors, what does it do?

CBC binds with other receptors in the body which include vanilloid receptor 1 (TRPV1) and transient receptor potential ankyrin 1 (TRPA1). We talked a little about TRPV1 in the CBD guide and CBC will interact in a similar way. TRPV1 is known to regulate pain perception, inflammation and body temperature and one of the most noted is helping with inflammation.

TRPA1 is an ion channel located on the plasma membrane of many human and animal cells.

CBC is the most potent agonist of the TRPA1 channels. Although at a lower potency, CBC is also able to activate TRPV3 and TRPV4, and block TPRM8 receptors in the same cellular and functional outcome

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5345356/

By binding with these receptors CBC inherently reduces the uptake of the natural endocannabinoid anandamide, meaning the ‘bliss molecule’ stays in your blood for longer before being broken down by FAAH.

Because of this, you get all the mental and physical benefits of anandamide on a larger scale. Anandamide can help with a number of things such as brain cell regeneration, better moods and breast cancer reduction.

There are many studies pointing to CBC helping with inflammation in various ways.

It is also studied that along with CBD, CBC could be a great anti-acne treatment.

To help the anandamide with the anti-depression, CBC is also shown to help with depression in conjunction with THC and CBD. The study also shows that up to 10 times less CBC was needed for the same antidepressive effect as CBD.

This study indicates that CBD can help with the growth of adult stem cells. This could help with neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.

Pain relief is another benefit that a study suggests.

CBC is also shown to have antibacterial effects.

CBC also might be good for diarrhoea as a constipation free alternative to other treatments.

CBC Conclusion

It’s clear to see that there is a lot more research to be done on CBC as one of the lesser researched cannabinoids but the results we are seeing so far are very promising. The studies listed above indicate a whole range of benefits and probably means there is a lot more to be found with more research.

We hope this gave you a better understanding of Cannabichromene, what CBC does and how it interacts with your body to suggest these medical benefits.

As always, if you have any questions then please do let us know.

 

In this guide we are going to talk about the most famous cannabinoid out there, THC. We are going to go through how THC actually works, what it does in your body and what effects that may have. We are also going to touch on the raw previous version of THC, THC-A.

We cannot make any medical claims because of laws in this country and this is not meant to sell you on unproven facts. That is why we have created this guide, we are talking everything we know to be true and combining it with the latest research to give you the understanding of what is truly going on. 

Whether you just scan the post or really get into it and extract all the information, we know you will find it useful.

THC is short for Tetrahydrocannabinol

For this we will assume you have a basic understanding of the endocannabinoid system, if not, we suggest you take a look at our guide on the endocannabinoid system.

How THC Effects the Endocannabinoid system and what is it good/bad for?

THC comes from the plant in its raw form THC-A which in turn was created by the cannabinoid CBG-A (cannabigerol). 

When you smoke or heat THC-A it decarboxylates and becomes THC. There are other ways to turn THC-A into THC but the important thing is it is not something we can do in our body. 

So we ingest THC via whatever method we choose, but that does the THC do then?

There are two main cannabinoid receptors in your body, CB1 and CB2. The reason that THC binds to these receptors is that it is similar in structure to the endocannabinoids like anandamide and 2-AG which our body produces naturally as and when needed.

It is anandamide that is responsible for the ‘runners high’ that people report, it is the anandamide triggering the CB1 receptors. 

CB1 is more commonly found in the central nervous system and the brain. It is the one that is responsible for the THC having an effect and getting you ‘high’. So you will find these CB1 receptors mostly around the brain and down the spinal column.

Hempanion

CB1 receptors are the ones responsible for the ‘high’ feeling you get when having THC in your system. Exactly what effects it has depends on the amount of receptors in locations of your brain and around your body.

The CB1 receptor could also be responsible for the increase in appetite, or munchies. The reason is, CB1 is also involved with the receptor for ghrelin, a hormone that contributes to an increase in the sensation of hunger.
Depending on where in your body the receptors are, they work in slightly different ways. 

CB1 in the stomach area can secrete ghrelin which can both make you more hungry but also reduce nausea which is a huge plus for reasons people love THC, particularity with people fighting conditions such as AIDS or cancer.

Because of these receptors in the gut cannabis can help folks suffering from severe GI-tract diseases like Crohn’s and irritable bowel syndrome.

CB2 is more commonly found outside your central nervous system in your peripheral nervous system(which runs around the rest of your body), or your immune system and other locations.

Hempanion

CB₂ receptors have been the subject of considerable attention, primarily due to their promising therapeutic potential for treating various conditions while avoiding the psychological effects that can accompany CB₁ receptor–based therapies.

Tetrahydrocannabinol is observed to help as an anti inflammatory through the CB2 receptor and that it helps with osteoarthritis. 

The CB2 recpetor is also linked to boosting the you immune system which can help with numerous issues by helping the immune regulation. This could help with alzimers, HIV, ALS and many other things.

As well as the above the CB2 receptor has also been linked to pain relief in many studies around the world

THC also is an agonist for the orphan receptor GPR55 which some people have dubbed the third cannabinoid receptor. 

We touched on this in the CBD guide we did where we found that CBD does the exact opposite of THC and is an antagonist of the GPR55 receptor.

So unfortunately not all good news for THC as the GPR55 receptor has been linked to cancer cell proliferation and osteoporosis.

That being said there is much more research to be done to confirm exactly what is going on, and is why a mix of cannabinoids can help hugely. It is also why CBD is suggested to be so great for conditions caused by the GPR55 as it actually inhibits the receptor from working properly.

THC has shown promising results in multiple studies about how it can both slow down, stop and possibly kill cancer cells for various cancers

The relaxing and calming effects of THC are also attributed to helping with insomnia and could help lots of people with their sleep.

Another thing that has been observed in a study is that THC could have a positive effect on ADHD. Although this particular study was on a very small group of people.

THC Summary

We have found out that THC has an effect in a lot of places, mainly the CB1 receptors that control things in our brain like memory, dopamine, cognitive function and so on.

But also in our CB2 receptors that control things like our immune system and pain. 

THC effects the receptors in sometimes similar ways to the natural endocannabinoids that our body produces like anandamide and 2-AG.

The truth is there are loads of conditions and ailments that THC is rumoured to help, and there is growing science to back them up, and certainly for some things it is pretty much proven. 

We hope that the guide has helped you get a better understanding of what THC does inside your body and where the effects come from.

See you next time!