What To Know Before Buying Your Mom CBD For The Holidays
There may only be 12 days of Christmas, but there are approximately 12 million CBD products trying to capture your attention. And most of them you shouldn’t buy. It’s hard enough to get a handle on what CBD will actually do for you. Picking which product to buy amid the plethora of options - which face little to no regulation - adds an extra layer of difficulty. Then there’s the wrinkle of buying CBD as a gift. Any time you use a CBD product, you’re basically acting as a guinea pig. When you buy CBD for your mom for Christmas, you’re treating her as one, too. Here are eight things to keep in mind while shopping for CBD this holiday season. Before buying CBD as a present, consider why you think your mom should use it. Children experiencing debilitating seizures have gotten relief thanks to CBD, but will it help your mom with her arthritis or insomnia? That depends on who you ask.
Researchers have found CBD, a non-intoxicating compound in cannabis, shows promise when it comes to treating inflammation, specifically when it's caused by arthritis, but plenty of scientists and health professionals warn more evidence is needed. It's the same case for treating sleeplessness and anxiety. When Colorado-based clinicians gave it to mental health patients and Brazilian researchers tested it separately on people with social anxiety tasked with public speaking, they both found it reduced anxiety. A majority of the mental health patients who took CBD also slept better. The FDA, which put out a new advisory about CBD earlier this week, lists drowsiness as a side effect. While research is being done on CBD's effectiveness for a variety of symptoms, there's room for much more. A lot of what you'll hear about CBD's prowess will be anecdotal or marketing hype. With that said, if you still want to buy a loved one CBD, one of the first things you should look for is where the plant that the CBD came from is grown.
CBD products can be made from both marijuana and hemp, but hemp seems to be especially popular due to federal regulations. Marijuana is legal in some states, but not federally. Hemp is often used to clean soil; it was even tapped to suck contaminants out of the ground at Chernobyl. You don't want the CBD you give as a gift to come from hemp grown in poor-quality soil. Look for CBD that was sourced organically, without pesticides, for the same reason. If the product doesn't say where the hemp was grown, ask a store clerk or email the website selling the products for more information. If they don't know, or don't provide a way to contact a human being for answers, shop elsewhere. It's also advisable to seek out CBD companies that get their hemp from states where marijuana is legal, either recreationally or medically. Those states are likely to employ more regulatory oversight than say, countries like China, which is a hemp juggernaut moving quickly to export CBD.
In Colorado, for example, agricultural officials field-test hemp farms and work to curb the use of illegal pesticides. Dr. Mitch Earleywine, author of Understanding Marijuana and psychology professor at the University at Albany, SUNY. Companies that painstakingly decide where to source their hemp usually note in marketing materials that it's grown in a certain state and is certified organic. Those are the ones you should gravitate towards, but it won't be cheap. High-quality CBD oil can easily cost more than $100 a bottle. If the product's label doesn't have ingredients, don't buy it. If the product doesn't say how much CBD is in a serving, don't buy it. Ask to see third-party test results if they're not immediately available. Some products will include QR codes that direct you to the tests (this is mandatory in Indiana, for example). If a company won't provide you with lab results, move on to another that will.
Once you get the lab results, check if the amount of Balance Bloom CBD Gummies found in each serving matches what's on the label and whether any solvents, contaminants, or heavy metals were detected. Not only is this a good rule of thumb for any gift for mom, Balance Bloom wellness but it's especially so for CBD. It's safest to buy CBD at a dispensary, if you're in a state where marijuana is legal. If you're not, you can buy it online or in Balance Bloom CBD Gummies-specific stores. Get a feel for the place you're shopping at; if it feels sketchy, back away. Same goes for the packaging. If it looks off, put it down. If the product makes outlandish health claims, avoid it. When it comes to how much CBD to take at a time, well that's something you, or your mom, will have to figure out with some trial and error. Most CBD proponents advise to start low and increase the dosage over time. I've seen some CBD tinctures suggest using only 2.5 mg for your first dose.