Have you ever experienced sticker shock when buying CBD oil online? From the farmers who grow the hemp to the laboratories that process the biomass and turn it into finished products, every CBD oil product represents an enormous investment in terms of the time, equipment and labour needed to grow the plants and produce the finished products. Here at Blessed CBD, we pride ourselves on offering the most competitive prices in the UK CBD industry – but there’s a limit to how low prices can go because of the increasing costs associated with making CBD products.
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could enjoy the benefits of CBD oil without spending so much money? If you look for cannabinoid oil at an online marketplace like eBay or at many local health food stores, you might find products designed to give you the impression that you’re spending too much on CBD oil. Those look essentially the same as CBD oil. They come in amber glass bottles with droppers.
There’s just one difference: The labels don’t say “CBD oil.” Instead, they say “hemp oil.”
So, is hemp oil the same thing as CBD? Have you discovered an amazing new way to save money on CBD oil? Unfortunately, the answer is “no.” You’re about to learn why.
Is Hemp Oil the Same as CBD Oil?
We’re going to begin this guide with a quick answer to the question that brought you here. Hemp oil is definitely not the same thing as CBD oil. The two products are completely different from one another. If a bottle of hemp oil has a design element intended to give you the idea that the product contains cannabinoids – a milligram strength, for instance – you should steer clear because the product is being marketed in a dishonest fashion and probably costs much more than it should.
What Is Hemp Oil?
Before the benefits of CBD came to light, industrial hemp was primarily grown for two purposes. The strong fibres in the plant’s stems are useful for the production of textiles, rope and construction materials, and the seeds are highly nutritious and full of healthy oils. Hemp can even be used in the production of biodiesel.
Hemp oil is a food oil that’s produced from hemp seeds. Hemp seeds contain almost 50 percent fat by weight, making it possible to obtain oil from the seeds simply by cold pressing them. Hemp oil is useful for a wide variety of culinary purposes. Its pleasantly nutty flavour makes it a good ingredient in foods such as salad dressings.
Does Hemp Oil Contain CBD?
No. Hemp oil does not contain CBD and generally contains no detectable cannabinoids at all. Before a female hemp plant can begin producing seeds, it needs to be pollenated by a male plant – and once a female plant is pollenated, it stops producing cannabinoids.
When farmers grow hemp for CBD production, they actually do everything possible to keep the plants from producing seeds because seed-bearing hemp plants contain virtually no CBD. To ensure that the plants will be rich in cannabinoids, CBD hemp farmers grow only female plants. In other words, apart from the fact that hemp oil and CBD both come from hemp plants, the growing processes have very little in common.
When companies make hemp oil, their goal is to produce a product that’s completely free of detectable cannabinoids. The seeds themselves have no cannabinoid content, but hemp oil producers go a step further by carefully sorting and washing the seeds to ensure that cross-contamination doesn’t occur.
What Is CBD Oil?
CBD oil doesn’t just come from a completely different growing process compared to hemp oil – it also comes from a different part of the plant. Hemp seeds are produced by female hemp plants after their flowers have been pollenated by male plants. CBD oil, on the other hand, is extracted from the flowers of female hemp plants that haven’t been pollenated.
Unlike hemp oil, CBD oil doesn’t simply come out of hemp plants when they’re pressed. CBD oil isn’t a culinary oil – it’s more like the essential oils used in perfumery and aromatherapy. We produce our CBD oil in a solvent-free process that uses supercritical carbon dioxide to dissolve the membranes of the hemp flowers and release the essential oils for collection. The CBD distillate is then filtered and purified before being combined with a carrier oil and bottled.
Read our CBD FAQ to find answers to other questions that you may have about CBD oil or learn more about how CBD oil is made.
Why Is There Confusion Between Hemp Oil vs. CBD Oil?
The reason why you’re likely to see hemp oil masquerading as CBD oil on marketplaces like eBay is because those platforms don’t fully allow the sale of CBD products. The reason why those products come up when you search for CBD oil is because that term appears constantly in the customer questions and reviews. Since the word “CBD” doesn’t appear anywhere in the official product description or on the label, companies can make customers believe that they’re buying CBD oil when they’re actually just buying hemp oil in a small bottle with an eyedropper – and they can do it without violating the marketplace’s rules.
So, what’s the motivation for selling hemp oil with a package that makes it look like CBD oil? Looking at those products, the first thing you’ll see is that they cost significantly less than real CBD oil purchased from legitimate sellers. The pricing structure preys on consumers who see the high prices for true CBD oil and wish that they could save a little money.
For further insight into the motivations of sellers who sell hemp oil on marketplaces as if it were CBD oil, simply look at the typical price of hemp oil when it’s sold for culinary use. As you’ll see, hemp oil is a very inexpensive product. You can sell it for significantly more if you package it in a small bottle with an eyedropper and a label that makes vague health claims.
Does Hemp Oil Have Any Health Benefits?
Hemp oil is very nutritious. Hemp seeds are rich in antioxidants and minerals, and hemp oil has a healthy ratio of omega fatty acids. It’s an excellent addition to your diet – but you shouldn’t consume hemp oil expecting it to have any of the wellness benefits of CBD oil.
Don’t Get Scammed When You Buy CBD Oil
We’ve explained the differences between hemp oil vs. CBD oil and why it’s so important to avoid products labelled “hemp oil” – no matter how legitimate they may appear – if you’re expecting those products to contain cannabinoids. A real CBD company tells you exactly how much CBD you’re getting in a bottle of CBD oil because it’s right there on the bottle. Moreover, we verify the CBD content of our products with third-party lab reports that you can download and view yourself.
Legitimate and high-quality CBD products aren’t cheap, but we’ve worked hard to make our prices the best in the UK. Buying a hemp oil product and expecting it to provide the benefits of CBD is a costly lesson that we don’t want you to have to learn.
References
1. Industrial Hemp Production, https://extension.psu.edu/industrial-hemp-production
2. Hemp Seeds: Are They Good for You, https://www.webmd.com/diet/hemp-seeds-good-for-you
3. Hemp oil benefits list, https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/324450
