What is Full Spectrum CBD Oil and Why it Works

What is Full Spectrum CBD Oil? If you’re new to the CBD universe, you’re likely scratching your head over this question.

And it’s not your fault because CBD products are fairly new, at least in their modern form, having only hit the mainstream about five years ago. So it’s understandable that people might be confused over the available choices.

People aren’t certain whether they should be taking CBD through vaping, smoking, edibles or as a tincture for their specific conditions. They aren’t even sure how pure CBD, as in CBD isolate, differs from Full Spectrum CBD oil. And purchasing CBD through Amazon, now that’s a completely different issue on its own. 

To clear this mess, we’ve put our heads together and compiled the most important information regarding Full Spectrum CBD Oil and how it differs from other cbd products. So, without further ado, let’s begin.

 

What is Full Spectrum CBD Oil and How it Differs from CBD Isolate

CBD isolate is pure CBD, extracted and purified until none of the plant’s other constituent compounds remain. It has been isolated down to just the CBD molecule. This purity and potency is why it’s the preferred treatment for patients needing unadulterated doses of CBD and nothing else. It has no other active ingredients and its purpose is simply to deliver therapeutic doses of CBD. CBD isolate products often come as a white powder or a mix with a oil.

On the other hand, full spectrum CBD oil can better be thought of as a whole plant extract. You get the CBD along with hundreds of other compounds, including different cannabinoids and terpenoids, in the ratios they normally occur within the plant.

For applications where pure CBD isn’t required, full spectrum CBD oil is the better alternative, as it provides patients the ancillary benefits associated with the many other cannabis compounds. However, important to note, is the issue of what medical conditions are best treated by either pure or full spectrum CBD oil, given the research is in its infancy. 

With this said, the research does convey that whole plant cbd holds a number of advantages over cbd isolate, especially for pain and inflammation. Here are three reasons why Full Spectrum CBD oil should be used over CBD Isolate.

[Related Article: What is CBD? The Science of Why and How CBD is Best Used]

 

Why Full Spectrum CBD Oil Works Over CBD Isolate

 

1. Full Spectrum CBD Oil Takes Advantage of the Entourage Effect

Full spectrum CBD includes hundreds of active compounds, each in varying amounts and potencies, each with their own subtle action. The Entourage Effect predicts that some of these compounds can work in concert with each other to produce larger effects than they could individually, and that some compounds support the actions of others or even help render active compounds that normally wouldn’t be.

This synergistic effect has been documented in a number of studies. In one study, additional compounds found in full spectrum CBD oil were found to overcome the bell-shaped dose response noted in patients receiving CBD isolate, where, beyond a certain dose, useful response begins to drop off.

In another, a specific combination of CBD and other secondary cannabinoids were found to work together to slow tumor grown in cases of colon cancer. These sorts of synergistic effects are fairly common in whole plant extracts, and aren’t unique to cannabis. However, the sheer volume of active compounds in cannabis extracts, and their wide-ranging effects certainly distinguish them from other plants.

It’s these synergistic effects that patients lose when they opt for CBD isolate instead of full spectrum CBD oil.

 

2. Finding the “Perfect Dose” is Easier with Full Spectrum CBD oil

As we mentioned in the last section, a response to a dose of CBD isolate tends to present in a bell-shaped curve. Below a certain threshold it registers minimal physiological effects. This ramps up as the dose is increased but then, after a certain critical amount, the response begins to drop again, even as the dosage increases further.

Paired with the fact that each person’s physiology reacts differently to different compounds this means that the bell-shaped dose response curve for CBD is different for each person.

This makes determining the optimal dose very difficult. It becomes a trial and error process fraught with all the issues that variable subjective human responses can bring.

Full spectrum CBD oil makes this process much easier, because certain extra compounds in the whole plant extract help meter CBD’s dose response and convert it from a bell-shaped curve to a linear climb that levels off beyond a certain threshold.

With full spectrum CBD oil patients no longer need to worry about their dose response dropping off beyond a certain dose range. Instead, it simply continues at its previous level, not getting any stronger or any weaker as dosage continues.

So if achieving maximum response is the goal you need simply start at a very high dose and then scale it back until the response begins to noticeably weaken. This means patients can start enjoying the full relief possible from the extract immediately, instead of having to work up to it.

 

3. Full Spectrum CBD Oil Contains Almost No Psychoactive Compounds

Many patients are nervous to move from CBD isolate to full spectrum CBD oil because they’re afraid that some of the myriad additional compounds present in the full plant extract will have unwanted psychoactive effects. But this fear is unfounded.

Particularly in the U.S., full spectrum CBD oil is extracted from hemp plants, and these, by law, can contain a maximum level of .3% THC. Extracted in the oil, this extremely low level has no noticeable psychoactive effects.

As long as patients do their research and be certain to get hemp-based full spectrum CBD oil they’ll never need to worry about their day being interrupted by unexpected psychedelic effects.

Full spectrum CBD oil is sometimes extracted from CBD-rich cannabis plants. In this case the THC levels can range between 1% and 5%, enough for sensitive people to feel the effects. But as long as you’re getting your CBD extracts from a reputable supplier you won’t be surprised by the amount of THC in contains.

 

Choosing Full Spectrum CBD oil over CBD Isolate

In almost every case, the synergistic properties found in full spectrum CBD oil make it the preferred treatment over CBD isolate. Patients get the benefits from CBD they’ve come to depend on, along with a host of known and unknown ancillary beneficial effects.

This is a field of research that’s really only now starting to be fully explored. There are over 100 cannabinoids, terpenoids, a host of flavonoids and many other useful compounds that researchers are beginning to look into. Over time it’s certain that more of full spectrum CBD’s hidden synergies will reveal themselves.

Until then patients would do well to switch from CBD isolate to full spectrum CBD. We may not yet entirely understand why it’s better, but we certainly know that it is.