How Much CBD Should I Take?

Mar 2, 2023

According to a 2022 Forbes Health survey, 60% of adult Americans have tried CBD products and believe in their health benefits.

As more Americans are adding a CBD product to their wellness routines, more and more people have begun to wonder just how much CBD they should be taking to reap the benefits.

Unfortunately, since the FDA doesn’t regulate CBD products, there is no official recommended dosage. This can make it challenging to determine which dose is best for you. However, there are questions you can ask and things you can do to help.

When it comes to deciding how much CBD you should take, you must consider several factors, such as:

What has your doctor recommended?

What ailment are you trying to treat?

What type of CBD are you consuming?

What method of consumption are you utilizing?

Keep reading for more information on CBD dosing and which dosage may be best for you.

CBD Dosages in Research Studies

While the FDA has not officially determined any CBD dosages, research studies have studied the effects of CBD on certain conditions.

It’s essential to note that the dosages below provide insight into the effects of CBD, but they are not a definitive guide to how much CBD you should take. Many of these studies were not conducted to consider the price of CBD products for the average consumer.

Consuming anywhere between 10 mg and 50 mg two to three times a day can yield positive results for most people.

Anxiety – 25-175 mg/daily

Bowel disease – 10 mg/daily

Cancer-related pain – 30 mg/daily

Parkinson’s disease – 75-300 mg/daily

Poor sleep – 25 mg/daily

Psychosis – 600 mg/daily

*As with any treatment for a mental or physical health condition, it’s essential to always talk with your doctor before using any supplement, including CBD.

Where To Start

While research studies have set a foundation with the ranges and amounts of CBD they used in their research, there are other things you can do and factors to consider that will help you better understand what specific dose is best for your unique situation.

Assess your sensitivity to CBD: Everyone reacts to CBD differently, as we all have a unique endocannabinoid system that interacts with it. How much you can personally tolerate plays a massive role in determining the correct dose for you.

Consider individual factors: These include the formulation and concentration of the capsule, gummies, or oil drops you take. You should also consider the symptoms you’re treating, your age, sex, weight, and overall health. Typically, people who weigh more must take a little more CBD than others to achieve the same effects, while older individuals tend to need less of the cannabinoid for effective results.

Look at your symptoms: As displayed above, the amount of CBD used to treat one symptom can vary significantly from another. Talk to your doctor about your symptoms. They can use their knowledge of the symptoms/conditions you are trying to address and suggest a starter dose of CBD.

Start with a low dose: While most doctors will ensure that their patients slowly increase their dosage of any supplement or medication (if needed), ensure that you voice your desire to start a low dose of CBD. While “low” may be relevant to what symptoms you’re treating, some sources recommend that new CBD users should begin by taking 10 mg to 20 mg a day. Consistently take this dose for a week. This will tell you if it’s well-tolerated (you don’t experience any unwanted effects or an allergic reaction). If the dosage doesn’t provide the desired effect, increase it in increments of 5 mg each week until you experience the desired results.

What Kind of CBD Should I Take?

Now, you may be new to CBD and wondering, “there are different kinds of CBD?”

Yes, but don’t worry. You don’t have to remember hundreds of different names and potencies like you do with cannabis flower strains that contain significant amounts of THC.

There are three main kinds of CBD:

CBD Isolate – products that only contain CBD, no THC, or any of the 80 to 100 other cannabinoids the Cannabis sativa plant can produce

Broad-spectrum CBD – products that contain CBD and other cannabinoids, but none of the psychoactive THC

Full-spectrum CBD – products that contain CBD, at most 0.3% of THC (the federal limit for legal CBD products), and other cannabinoids

While it is ultimately your choice to go with a product you feel most comfortable with, it is worth mentioning that some research suggests that CBD benefits are amplified when taken with other cannabinoids, a phenomenon called the entourage effect.

If you are interested in the entourage effect, feel free to try a broad or full-spectrum CBD product. However, it is vital that you do your research on which CBD product is most trustworthy.

CBD Safety

Because the FDA does not regulate CBD products, some manufacturers will make bogus claims about their product’s healing abilities and/or lie about the ingredients within a product.

A 2017 study by a Penn Medicine researcher discovered that 70% of CBD oil products sold online were either under or over-labeled, meaning that of that 70%:

42% of the products contained more CBD than the label claimed

26% of the products contained less CBD than the label claimed

A similar result was also found when the team tested CBD-infused edibles they had purchased online.

The study also pointed out that many of these products contained significant amounts of THC, more than the 0.3% the federal government claims is the legal limit.

This has profound health implications for everyone taking CBD products for their health conditions. It makes finding a consistent dosage much harder, and people who should not be consuming significant amounts of THC, like children, may be doing so unintentionally.

Currently, trusted CBD companies are incredibly transparent about their products being tested by a third party. They not only explain what the testing is for, but they will make the results of each batch available to the public, so you can make an educated decision on which product is best for you.

Can I Calculate My Dosage?

While it is impossible to adjust the dosage of some CBD products, such as capsules or pre-made gummies, CBD oil or tincture is much more versatile.

While it is possible to calculate a specific dose of CBD from your CBD oil or tincture, it’s not exactly straightforward.

Most of the time, oils and tinctures come in a bottle with a dropper where only the total liquid volume (mL) and CBD contents (mg) are listed. So, let’s follow this example:

Say the label tells you that 1,500 mg of CBD is in a 30 mL bottle. Ultimately you want to determine what one mL looks like. To do that, you must start by finding out the volume of a single drop in your dropper, which is usually 0.05 mL. If you aren’t sure, ask the company. Once you know the volume of a single drop (0.05 mL in this case), you can continue.

Next, form your first equation to find out how many mg of CBD are in one mL: 1500 (mg) / 30 (mL) = 50 mg/mL This bottle contains 50 mg of CBD per mL.

Now you can determine how many mg are in a single drop. In this case, your equation will be 50 (mg) X 0.05 (mL) = 2.5 mg. A single drop of oil or tincture contains 2.5 mg of CBD.

If your goal is to consume 25 mg/daily, how many drops will you need? Divide 25 mg by 2.5 mg. Your equation will look like this: 25 (mg) / 2.5 (mg) = 10. You need ten drops a day to reach your goal. In this case, ten drops also equate to 0.5 mL [10 X 2.5 (mg) = 0.5 (mL)].

While this may seem time-consuming and overwhelming initially, it will get easier the more you do it.

Luckily, some products have taken away the pain of math and illustrated how many mg are in one mL on the bottle. Some companies have even marked these points on the dropper.

If all this seems like too much and you don’t know where to start, an excellent resource is www.mydosage.com. This website asks you to fill out a five-minute survey about your symptoms (both mental and physical) and why you’re interested in taking CBD products. At the end of the survey, it recommends what dosage it believes is best for you and what kind of CBD you should consider.

Find Trusted CBD Products with WellRabbit

At WellRabbit, we always look for new ways to serve our customers! CBD can be a fantastic tool to help combat nasty symptoms associated with all sorts of health problems. That’s why we have committed to carrying any CBD product willing to go through our review and certification process to become medical doctor certified and wear the MDRC™ badge.

Products with the MDRC™ badge aren’t just any other product. They can claim that their formulas are based on sound science with significant evidence that the ingredients used are in beneficial amounts and combinations.

We live in an age where there are so many available products from untrustworthy manufacturers that you can no longer assume that the supplement you are consuming is safe.

Purchase your supplements from people who care. Purchase with WellRabbit.

Try some of our CBD products, like:

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