CBD isolate is the purest form of cannabis “extract” on the market. It is in essence, the pure, crystalline form of CBD and has a high CBD percentage. It is a white crystal-like substance that is 99.9% pure CBD.
CBD Isolate: The Highlights
- CBD isolate is a pure form of CBD.
- Isolate crystals have a purity of 99.9%
- The CBD isolate doesn’t contain any traces of THC, so consuming it will not produce any psychoactive effects
- Using the isolate can help you overcome many ailments and medical conditions
- While the CBD isolate has a positive effect on your health and well-being, the product cannot produce an entourage effect
What is CBD Isolate?
CBD isolate is, in essence, the pure, crystalline form of CBD. It is a white crystal-like substance that is 99.9% pure CBD. Contrary to what you might think, it is not actually synthetic or manufactured in a laboratory. It is extracted from the industrial hemp plant.
As the name suggests, there’s no connection here between CBD isolate and THC. The final product contains virtually no THC. The extraction process ensures that CBD is the only cannabinoid that is isolated. Plus, it is extracted from industrial hemp, which has virtually no THC content.
Whole Plant CBD vs. CBD Isolate
Well, it’s pretty safe to say that we have completely neglected the concept of whole plant medicine when we choose to extract pure CBD.
The idea of whole plant medicine has been fundamental to herbalists and naturopaths, and it is this concept that was left behind by pharmaceutical companies. How close are we to stepping into “pharmaceutical” territory with the production of CBD isolate?
The sense of whole plant medicine, in a nutshell, is this: the plant, as a whole, contains the synergistic energy of all of its constituent parts, and to isolate one part is to lose the power of this synergy.
This is why in herblore, there was no point in extracting a single compound. Rather, the whole plant was used, and all of the compounds that were extracted were thought to hold, as a single unit, the healing power of that plant.
The same can be said for cannabis. Cannabis does not even just contain cannabinoids. It contains terpenoids and flavonoids, all of which are seen to work together to give it its medicinal value. This kind of teamwork is referred to as the entourage effect.
Although we may have been able to isolate CBD and THC because we have identified them as being powerful medicines, we have taken them away from the rest of their chemical environments.
What’s more important? A bigger hit of CBD – or CBD in conjunction with all of its teammates?
If you ask a herbalist, they will say that CBD isolate will not hold as much healing power as whole plant CBD (which contains flavonoids, terpenoids, and other cannabinoids, too). However, if you ask a reductionist, they will say that CBD on its own is healing, and the purer it is, the more pronounced its healing effects will be.
They are two very different ways of approaching medicine in general: one is holistic and the other is reductionistic. Until now, we don’t really know which one is “better”. But both of them have their applications in different circumstances.
How is CBD Isolate Made?
To finally arrive at CBD isolate, there are quite a few different processes involved. To begin with, CBD isolate is extracted from industrial hemp rather than the cannabis plant.
This is because industrial hemp has quite a high CBD potential, and virtually no THC potential.
First, CO2 is used to extract the oily, waxy essential oils from the plant. Carbon dioxide is essentially the solvent in this process, so it is a sort of “solventless” form of extraction.
Once the hemp oil has been extracted, a filtration process occurs to isolate CBD from the rest of the cannabinoids, terpenoids, and flavonoids. During this filtration process, any trace amounts of THC are also removed.
Why Isolate The CBD?
As you might already know, CBD is one of the two most prevalent compounds in the cannabis plant. Along with THC, CBD is well known for its medicinal value and its ability to treat a variety of different medical conditions.
However, the biggest difference between these two cannabinoids is that THC is psychoactive while CBD is not.
When it comes to medical credibility, marijuana is a bit controversial because of the fact that it makes you high. Isolating CBD gives the opportunity for medical marijuana without the “stoned” side effect.
This makes it readily available to all kinds of people, including children and the elderly. Plus, it gets more credibility as a medicine when the “getting high” factor is removed.
Crystals vs. Powder
CBD isolate comes out in two main forms: either a white powder or a white crystal-like substance. The two are more or less identical in their chemical makeup, in the sense that both of them are 99.9% pure CBD.
The difference is that one has been crushed to make it more powdery whereas one has been left in its crystalline structure.
As we’ll discover throughout this article, this difference is minute and has almost no impact on the way that it is used. Powder makes it easier to dose as crystals are usually chunky and have to be broken apart anyway.
How To Use CBD Isolate
We mentioned that the main objective of CBD isolate is versatility. This extraction can be used to create a myriad of other products, such as topicals, tinctures, creams, edibles etc.
The final result is the same: a pure CBD infused product. So let’s have a look at some of the different ways it can be used.
Under Tongue
If there is no desire to infuse CBD isolate into other products, it can simply be put under the tongue. It will be absorbed through the mucous membrane under the tongue and will enter the bloodstream quickly.
It is best to let the isolate sit under the tongue for 60-90 seconds rather than swallowing it.
Make Your Own CBD Oils
Another way to use CBD isolate is to infuse it into oils and consume it as CBD oil. You can dissolve CBD isolate into different kinds of oils. Whether you infuse it into olive oil, coconut oil or another hemp oil is entirely up to you.
This oil can then be taken sublingually or can be used to make edibles or other products.
Vape CBD Isolate
CBD isolate can be vaped in much the same way that wax or shatter can be vaped. It can be put into a vaporizer or it can be used in a dabbing rig. It should be vaporized at around 356-392°F.
If you already vaporize a certain extract or liquid, the CBD isolate can be added to that oil and vaped the same way.
Blend CBD isolate into honey
Honey is also well known as a powerful medicine, especially for its anti-bacterial and soothing effects. Infusing CBD isolates into your honey is a great way to get a daily dose of CBD into your tea or coffee.
A double boiler technique will allow you to heat up your honey enough to dissolve the CBD. Just make sure you don’t burn the honey in the process! Now you can use this honey in smoothies, drinks or on your toast.
The Benefits of CBD Isolate
When we address the benefits of CBD isolate, we’re really talking about the benefits of CBD. They are so numerous, it’s almost hard to keep up with the many different benefits of CBD.
We’re going to have a look at a few of the specific reasons that someone might want to take CBD as medicine or nutritional supplement.
Pain Relief
One of the most common applications of CBD products is pain relief. Although THC is the main analgesic compound in marijuana, CBD also has applications for this complaint.
CBD’s interaction with the endocannabinoid system causes changes in the nervous response to pain, therefore decreasing it and offering pain relief.
Antipsychotic
This is one that many of you might find interesting. We often associate cannabis with having psychoactive effects. However, CBD is almost a counterpart to THC’s psychoactive effects, actually counteracting it with antipsychotic effects.
The antipsychotic effects of CBD are comparable to other antipsychotic pharmaceutical drugs.
It is thought that the way CBD has this effect on users is because it is significantly associated with elevated anandamide levels (the endogenous cannabinoid).
Even though we still don’t know exactly how CBD expresses its antipsychotic functions, it seems that its ability to raise levels of endogenous cannabinoids has something to do with it.
Anxiety
It’s possible that CBD isolate can work to treat anxiety disorders in much the same way that it works in the case of psychosis. The fact that CBD interacts with receptors all over the nervous system means that the user can experience relief from nervous tension and the “fight or flight” response.
Plus, the fact that it elevates the “feel good” endogenous cannabinoid, anandamide, can decrease levels of stress and anxiety in a person.
Cancer
The quality of CBD that makes it a potential anti-cancer drug is its action in the proliferation of cells. Ingesting CBD plays a crucial role in the proliferation of cells in the body.
And when it comes to cancer, this essentially means that it has the potential to stop the growth of cancer by inhibiting the proliferation of cancer cells. There is a lot of anecdotal evidence for the treatment of cancer with CBD, but there is still much research to be conducted in this area.
Nausea
It is thought by scientists that the vomiting or nausea response is elicited by actions of the CB1 receptor that is sprinkled throughout the human body. It is increasingly difficult to treat nausea experienced by chemotherapy patients with drugs that are available on the market.
CBD offers a natural therapy for nausea without any side effects or contraindications for chemotherapy.
Seizures
The endocannabinoid system plays an enormous role in the case of epilepsy or other seizures. At last, we are finally reaching hard evidence that CBD can be used to treat conditions such as epilepsy, which is otherwise increasingly difficult to address.
The way that CBD works in the body to address seizures is extremely complicated because it doesn’t necessarily do so via CB1 and CB2 receptors.
However, it does so via other peripheral actions in the endocannabinoid system that involve other neurotransmitters.
Diabetes
CBD works to treat oxidative stress! It is thought that oxidative stress plays a huge role in the development of diabetes, which is why antioxidants are great sources of relief for those with diabetes. However, cannabinoids such as CBD can also act as antioxidants.
The interaction of CBD with free radicals in the body shows potential for treating those who have diabetes or experience other complications in relation to diabetes.
Cardiovascular
Interestingly, CBD acts directly on certain, isolated arteries. It can protect these locations from damage that is caused by dietary issues (such as excess glucose) or inflammation.
Furthermore, there is a period of vasorelaxation immediately after CBD ingestion. These factors give scientists a reason to believe that CBD plays a role in cardiovascular health.
What To Know Before Buying CBD Isolates
You should never go out there buying medical supplements unless you really know what you’re buying. This is especially true for any medical product that is extracted from the hemp plant, and we’re going to explain why.
Hemp has the quality of being phytoremedial. For those who don’t know what this botanical quality is, it more or less means that hemp is a planet detoxification plant.
It has the ability to absorb the radioactive material and other toxins from soil and digesting it, therefore regenerating the soil and replenishing it.
Just on a side note, sunflowers also have this quality! This is a great tool for farmers who need to replenish their soil in between seasons. But for people who want to ingest the final product, this is something very important to consider.
If you are going to be purchasing CBD isolate, it is important to choose a product that you know has been extracted from organically grown hemp. If it has not been grown organically, you can be sure that some contaminants are in your final product.
Always do your best to find out the source of the CBD extract you wish to purchase. Companies should be transparent about where their hemp is grown, how it is grown and which methods are used for extraction.
Where To Buy CBD Isolate
If you’re lucky enough to live in a weed-friendly state in the USA, you can probably purchase CBD isolate at one of the many dispensaries near you. This product is becoming more and more popular, and dispensaries are eager to stock the product.
If you don’t live in a weed-friendly part of the world, things are a little more difficult. CBD isolate can be purchased online, but we don’t encourage purchasing the product if it is still illegal in your country.
Again, it’s heavily advised that you do some market research before purchasing a CBD isolate online. Research the manufacturers and if you can, check out their lab test results to know the purity.
CBD Isolate: Final Thoughts
CBD isolate is literally changing the way that we view cannabis and its constituent cannabinoids. It is just so pure, there is really no room for contaminants or unwanted side effects.
However, for many, this jump in technology means that we have gone further and further away from the natural herbal plant that we know and love.
It’s kind of scary that the marijuana industry is following in the same footsteps as the pharmaceutical industry.
For many, the arrival of CBD isolate on the market is exciting and opens up a plethora of possibilities. But for others, it’s alarming that our powers of extraction have come this far.
