While CBD is becoming a go-to health and wellness remedy, you might have asked yourself a common question: how long do CBD’s effects last? After all, you don’t want to waste time trying something that doesn’t provide results long enough to impact your quality of life. That only leads to frustration and buyer’s remorse, so it’s good to ask the tough questions before you make a purchase.
However, when it comes to CBD and how long its effects last, the answer isn’t straightforward, and it’s not because CBD is inherently complicated. It’s just because several factors help determine the answer, including the type of CBD you buy.
What is CBD?
Before diving into the nitty-gritty, it’s essential to cover the basics. As a brief overview, CBD is short for cannabidiol, a naturally-occurring compound in the hemp plant. Because of the 2018 Farm Bill, CBD products are legal to produce, sell, and use in the United States.
However, the THC content has to be extremely low. Specifically, hemp-derived CBD remedies must contain less than 0.3 percent of THC to be federally legal. This level of THC ensures that CBD products don’t cause a psychoactive effect.
The only thing that should happen with a CBD remedy is an interaction with your endocannabinoid system (ECS), a complex network responsible for several functions that help maintain balance in your body. When you use CBD, it’ll bind with CB1 and CB2 receptors in your endocannabinoid system to provide multiple health benefits.
The benefits of CBD
The therapeutic effects of CBD are vast. Once this natural remedy is in your system, it can significantly enhance the quality of your life, and studies prove it. For example, here are just three research-backed ways that CBD improves your health and wellness.
1. CBD may decrease pain
While chronic pain is a common condition, it’s not easy to alleviate. Around 50 million adults in the United States are suffering from it, and 19.6 million adults believe their chronic pain interferes with their work and ability to live a normal lifestyle.
Thankfully, CBD has pain-relieving properties. In a 2018 review, researchers examined CBD’s ability to decrease pain, including chronic pain, cancer-related pain, neuropathic pain, and fibromyalgia. And ultimately, they found that CBD is effective and has no adverse side effects.
2. CBD may provide healthy skin
Studies suggest that CBD may be an excellent natural remedy for reducing acne. In fact, one study discovered that CBD is more effective at reducing acne than vitamin E and vitamin C alone.
In a separate study, researchers also found that CBD may decrease acne because it has anti-inflammatory properties that reduce oil production. Specifically, the cannabinoid may reduce sebocytes that create oil in the skin and lead to acne.
3. CBD may alleviate anxiety and depression
One of CBD’s most popular benefits is its ability to reduce anxiety and depression. A 2020 review suggests that CBD’s effectiveness alleviates anxiety in healthy individuals with various anxiety conditions. The conditions mentioned in the review include social anxiety disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and PTSD.
Another study also indicates that giving repeated CBD treatments helps reduce the impact of social anxiety disorders. The participants in the study were teenagers between 18 and 19 years old.
Factors that impact how long the effects of CBD last
How long the effects of CBD last will depend on a handful of factors. This truth means the length of time that you experience CBD’s benefits could easily differ from someone else. Keeping that in mind, here are the elements that contribute to how long CBD’s effects last.
1. Dosage
If you take a larger dose of CBD, the cannabinoid’s benefits may last longer. However, it’s not always necessary to take a large dose of the cannabinoid to achieve your desired result. In fact, it’s best to start with a smaller dose and work your way up until you feel the effects you’re seeking.
2. Frequency
Maybe you love CBD so much that you decide to use it for everything. You might have CBD drinks, CBD oil, CBD edibles, CBD gum, and so on. But if your frequency becomes that high, you can build a tolerance to CBD, making its effects last for shorter periods.
3. Your lifestyle
Your lifestyle impacts your metabolism, and your metabolism affects how long the effects of CBD last. If you have an active lifestyle, your metabolism will be high, allowing your body to process CBD faster. As a result, the effects of CBD may not last as long as expected.
4. Your Weight
Another crucial factor that influences your metabolism is your weight. CBD is fat-soluble, which means it lives in your body’s fat cells. If you don’t have a lot of body fat, you may not store as much CBD, and your body might process it faster, decreasing the duration of the cannabinoid’s effects.
On the other hand, maybe you have a high body fat percentage. If so, the effects of CBD will last longer since your body needs more time to process the significant amount of CBD in your fat cells.
Types of CBD and how each one lasts
The above factors are essential to consider when trying CBD remedies. But ultimately, the type of CBD product you purchase will have the biggest influence on how long CBD’s effects last. There are four primary consumption methods, and the therapeutic benefits of each one last for different lengths of time.
1. CBD oils
CBD oils are remedies that you take sublingually. For them to work, you should put a handful of drops underneath your tongue for at least a minute. From there, the mucous membrane and capillaries underneath your tongue will absorb the CBD into your body. Usually, the effects of this delivery method will last four to six hours.
2. CBD edibles
CBD gummies, chocolates, and capsules are all great examples of CBD edibles. This consumption method is a fun, easy way to enjoy CBD, especially for kids—and it’s popular because its effects last for a while. Specifically, the therapeutic benefits of CBD edibles last up to 12 hours, especially when you take a higher dose.
3. CBD topicals
CBD topicals are wonderful if you want to relieve pain or have healthier skin. And because your skin is absorbent and porous, CBD topicals have a significant influence. They interact with the endocannabinoid receptors on the second layer of your skin to provide relief—and the effects of CBD topicals typically last up to six hours.
4. CBD vapes
If you’re looking for a fast-acting remedy, CBD vapes are the best option. They enter your bloodstream faster than other consumption methods, but their effects don’t last as long. When you use a CBD vape pen, you’ll experience its benefits for one to four hours.
Choose the best CBD remedy for you
Regardless of the CBD product you choose, you’ll experience the remedy’s benefits for a reasonable amount of time. Of course, certain factors will affect the duration, but the impact won’t be significant enough to render the remedy pointless. If you’re using the proper dosage and a high-quality product, you’ll experience the effects of CBD long enough for the remedy to be worth it.
For vegan, organic, and third-party verified CBD products, check out Kat’s Naturals’ CBD remedies!
