It’s often difficult to determine the “best” type of anything, and that includes CBD products.
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Most experts would say that CBD distillate is a better choice than CBD isolate — but there are people for whom isolate is clearly the best alternative. “Distillate vs. isolate” is an even more complicated comparison; the word “distillate” is used by different people to mean different things.
Let’s explain.
CBD (the abbreviation for cannabidiol) is a non-intoxicating plant compound known as a cannabinoid. It’sextracted from hemp and provides many apparent medical benefits including pain and stress relief, cardiovascular protection, and immune support.
CBD is far from the only compound in hemp plants. They also contain terpenes, flavonoids, and many other cannabinoids, and when cannabidiol is extracted, some of those compounds come along. One is psychoactive THC, although it’s only present in hemp in very small amounts.
Extracted cannabidiol is called full-spectrum CBD because it contains the full spectrum of plant compounds found in hemp. It’s the most effective type of the cannabinoid, because all of the compounds work together in an “entourage effect” to maximise the CBD’s effectiveness.
Full-spectrum CBD, though, can be further processed to eliminate some of those compounds.
- Broad-spectrum CBD has had its psychoactive THC removed, although traces of THC may remain behind.
- CBD isolate has had all other plant compounds removed, so it’s pure CBD with 0% THC.
The removal of THC means there’s a lesser entourage effect in broad-spectrum CBD, and removing all other compounds means there’s none at all in CBD isolate. If you were to rank the three types of CBD in terms of effectiveness, full-spectrum would be #1, broad-spectrum would be #2, and isolate would be last.
That doesn’t mean full-spectrum would be “best.” People who are allergic or sensitive to THC, and those afraid of flunking a drug test because of THC in their bodies, would likely think the other two types of CBD would be “best” for them.
What about CBD distillate? That’s where the final complication comes in. Some people call broad-spectrum CBD “distillate.” while others use it for any type of CBD other than isolate.
Not sure which is best for you? Read on.
The CBD Story
We’ve briefly summarized what cannabidiol is and where it comes from. Here’s a deeper dive.
Cannabis and Hemp, CBD and THC
Cannabis and hemp belong to the same plant family, Cannabis sativa, and they’re almost identical. The biggest difference between them is their cannabinoid profile. Cannabis plants are rich in psychoactive THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) and contain very little CBD. Hemp plants are loaded with cannabidiol but only have small amounts of THC.
Otherwise, they’re very similar. Both cannabis and hemp contain a large number of less-important cannabinoids, as well as compounds called terpenes and flavonoids, which protect the plants against environmental stresses and predators, and determine their characteristics including flavors, aromas, and colors.
THC and CBD are also quite similar. Their chemical structures are almost identical, with the only difference being the arrangement of their atoms. They also work in the same way once they’re inside the body, by interacting with a network called the endocannabinoid system (ECS) that governs key functions ranging from thinking and pain control to sleep and inflammation.
THC and CBD each deliver laundry lists of apparent medical benefits once they’re consumed. The lists aren’t quite the same, but their many effects on users’ health and wellness explain why medical marijuana has been legalised in many nations and US states — and why CBD products have been so popular once legalised in most Western countries in the late 2010s.
The difference in THC and CBD’s apparent benefits isn’t the biggest difference between them, of course; THC gets users high while CBD doesn’t. That’s why the marijuana harvested from cannabis (which contains lots of THC) intoxicates users, while the CBD extracted from hemp (which contains lots of cannabidiol) doesn’t impair them in any way.
It’s time to look at CBD more specifically, but as you’ll learn, THC plays an important role in the discussion.
How CBD Gets Into CBD Products
Just as THC can be inhaled by smoking cannabis (or using its derivative products), CBD can be inhaled by smoking hemp.
Most people don’t go that route. For starters, smoking hemp doesn’t make you high and isn’t a longstanding, shared social experience. Additionally, in countries like the UK, the intricate process of smoking raw hemp is illegal even though products made from CBD are legal for sale and use.
Users have a large selection of those products to choose from: CBD oil, CBD capsules, CBD edibles and beverages, CBD vapes, and CBD topicals. CBD oil is essentially the “baseline product,” since it’s what’s contained in capsules and infused into edibles, drinks, and topicals. Only CBD vape juice is created differently.
The key ingredient in all CBD products, of course, is cannabidiol extracted from hemp plants. Many extraction methods exist, and a few are easy for individuals to use. The highest-quality CBD, however, is extracted with a complicated and expensive process that requires special equipment and uses carbon dioxide as a solvent. It’s called supercritical CO2 extraction.
Even that top-shelf method isn’t perfect, though. When the CBD is extracted, hemp’s other cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids come along for the ride. They wind up in the distilled cannabidiol that’s used to make CBD products — and the small amount of psychoactive THC that’s in hemp is one of the hitchhikers. It’s not enough to intoxicate users, but it’s still there.
And that can be a problem for two groups of CBD users. One includes people who are either allergic to THC or whose bodies don’t handle it well. The other, larger group simply doesn’t want to ingest any THC; most are afraid that even a small amount of the psychoactive cannabinoid could cause them to test positive for cannabis use. (That’s unusual, but it can happen.)
For that reason, producers take some of the extracted CBD and process it further. They end up with three types of cannabidiol that they can use to manufacture CBD oil, edibles, and other products.
Types of CBD
When you shop for a CBD product, you’ll often see three options.
- Full-spectrum CBD products: These contain the cannabidiol extracted from hemp plants, complete with the THC and other cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids that were extracted along with the CBD.
- Broad-spectrum CBD products: These contain all of the extracted plant components, but have been further refined to remove the THC. That process isn’t perfect, either; slight traces of THC may still remain.
- CBD isolate products: These contain only pure CBD, as all other plant compounds have been removed through several complicated processes. There is 0% THC in CBD isolate.
Not all outlets that sell CBD products will offer all three options, but those who can’t or don’t want to consume any THC should be sure to choose either the broad-spectrum or isolate versions.
Which one is best? It all depends on the user. For example, most people would consider full-spectrum CBD to be the best choice. Here’s why.
All of hemp’s components have been found to work together in a so-called “entourage effect” to maximise cannabidiol’s benefits, so a full-spectrum CBD product containing all plant compounds will provide the greatest benefits. When THC is removed from cannabidiol, it’s not as effective; when all other compounds are removed, the CBD is even less effective than that.
However, if consuming the small amount of THC that’s native to hemp isn’t an acceptable option, broad-spectrum CBD would be the best choice. And if consuming even a trace of THC would cause an issue for the user, then CBD isolate would not only be the best choice — but the only viable choice.
Is CBD Distillate or Isolate Better?
We answered this question in the last section; now we’re just talking semantics. Many people, even those in the CBD industry, use the word distillate in different ways.
Some call any cannabidiol extracted from hemp “distillate,” unless it has had all of its other plant compounds removed. In their terminology, both full-spectrum and broad-spectrum CBD are called “CBD distillate.” Others use “CBD distillate” to describe only broad-spectrum cannabidiol.
That’s nothing to worry about. The vast majority of CBD products are labelled “full-spectrum,” “broad-spectrum,” or “CBD isolate.” If a website or a shop clerk describes a product that you’re thinking about buying as “CBD distillate,” look further or ask for more details. That will help you choose the CBD product that’s best for you.
