This is a very popular and very important question. If we want the benefits of CBD without a bunch of side effects, then how much CBD should someone take? What is the best dose of CBD?

In a World Health Organization review of CBD, they found that a wide range of oral doses have been reported in the scientific research literature, with most ranging from 100mg to 800mg a day.

Each of us will have a different sweet spot for the right dose of CBD because we are all different from each other. It will depend on how big our bodies are as well as the effects we are looking for and how we take CBD.

The last part is especially important because CBD has a different bioavailability in your body, depending on how you take it.

There is a big word used in the CBD research called bioavailability. It simply means how much of the medicine is absorbed by your body so that it can be used to help you.

The bioavailability of CBD is determined by how you consume it. Your body does a better job of absorbing CBD if you inhale it or hold it under your tongue (take it sublingually) than it does if you eat it or rub it on your skin (absorb it subcutaneously).

According to research, the methods of absorbing CBD are, from the highest amount of CBD to the lowest:

Injected > Inhaled > Sublingually > Subcutaneously > Digested

This means you will get more CBD from holding CBD oil under your tongue (sublingually) than you will if you eat it (digested).

There are five ways that you can introduce CBD into your body. You can inject CBD directly into your bloodstream, but this is reserved for medical studies. There are no products that are sold in a format that you can inject.

You can inhale CBD through either smoking hemp flower in a cigarette roll. Or, you can inhale CBD using CBD oil specifically designed for vaporizers or the disposable CBD vaporizer pens available for sale. When you inhale CBD, you will get it’s effects very quickly because of it being absorbed directly into your bloodstream through your lungs.

You can also introduce CBD sublingually. This method lets you absorb it into your body relatively quickly by holding CBD oil or tinctures under your tongue for 30 to 60 seconds. There are dense blood vessels close to this area that will directly absorb the CBD in the area through diffusion.

You can absorb CBD through your skin subcutaneously. There are many methods for introducing CBD to your skin, including patches, balms, lotions, bath salts, oils and more. These oils designed for your skin should not be used to vaporize. They are not the same!
Lastly, you can ingest CBD and absorb it into your bloodstream through your gut. This is probably the easiest method for getting CBD, and maybe the most enjoyable, any food product is considered illegal by the FDA and you do poop out a lot of the CBD unused, so it is wasteful.

Because there are so many factors that will go into your specific CBD regimen, it is best to take an experimental approach when beginning so you can find the right amount of CBD to take for your needs.

To start, take one dose of CBD, in whatever manner you have chosen to introduce it to your body (remember bioavailability?), and then pay attention to how you feel.

If you are experiencing the effects you want, then you have found your optimal dose. If you don’t experience what you need, a second dose can be added.

Remember, like other medications, there is a timing needed for when you should take CBD. Some research has participants take one dose daily, while others have two doses – once in the morning and once at night.

So if you take one dose, wait 12 hours and then try another dose. Perhaps you need to have a more even distribution of CBD into your system.

If you don’t feel any results, try increasing the amount of CBD you take by a second dose amount. If you still don’t feel anything, perhaps you need to try taking it in a different form.

Again, remember the bioavailability to your body is different depending on which form you use. So changing up forms could improve your results.

It might help you to keep a journal as you start a CBD therapy regimen to make sure you get the exact results you are.

Grab a notebook and write down every time you take CBD. Keep track of the date, time and the dosage amount you took. Later, write down how you feel.

After doing this over time and paying attention to your results, you will get to your sweet spot of an effective dose of CBD.

And remember, we are all different, so what works for one person might not work for another.

You will have to try different ways of making the CBD available to your body, whether through a topical cream, or a CBD tincture. You will have to try different amounts of CBD.

But don’t give up! Let your results guide you.