As CBD continues to rise higher and higher into the public eye, people all around the world and from all walks of life continue to learn more and more about it. One of the more popular ways to use CBD is by way of a CBD tincture. Whether you are familiar with this particular form of CBD or not, there is no argument that it is one of the most effective ways to get the most out of the wellness benefits that CBD has to offer. Not quite sure what a tincture is? Keep reading, let us explain.
What Exactly Is a CBD Tincture?
Sometimes the way that products are described is a little confusing. For example, CBD is just one of the over 100 cannabinoids that are present in the hemp plant. The oil that gets extracted from the hemp plant in order to create the tincture is actually hemp oil that has thousands of compounds inside of it besides CBD.
A tincture, in terms of medicine and medical phrases, is when a medicine is extracted from the source then stored in a solvent such as alcohol. Technically, a CBD tincture is when there is a solution of hemp oil that is infused with distilled alcohol and stored within the solution until it is ready for use. Things have changed as technological discoveries continue to come more prominent, including the way tinctures are made.
Supercritical CO2 Extraction
At one point in history when manufacturers created hemp oil tinctures, they would extract and store the oil in a solvent that might not be as safe for human consumption as necessary. Although distilled alcohol and food-grade ethanal are OK for solvents, the best so far is the supercritical CO2 extraction process.
This process takes special equipment that does not come cheap, but it is worth it in every aspect. What happens is the hemp plant that has been processed and ready for extraction gets placed in a machine that has 3 chambers. One chamber is where the CO2 is turned from a gas to a liquid where it becomes supercritical. The next champer is where the hemp solids meet the supercritical solution. The third chamber is where the liquid extract that has the hemp oil infused with the supercritical solution gets pumped to. This chamber is allowed to depressurize and allow the carbon dioxide to dissipate into a gas where it departs from the hemp oil without a trace.
Using a CBD Tincture
Once the hemp oil has been successfully extracted from the hemp and separated from the solution it becomes a pure hemp oil tincture. Some tinctures are full-spectrum, meaning that they include the full spectrum of the hemp plant, including a small amount of the cannabinoid THC. Some tinctures are broad-spectrum tinctures that have been processed in a way that leaves out the THC but keeps the rest of the cannabinoids and flavinoids including CBG and CBN in tact.
The best way to use a CBD tincture is to draw a couple of drops into an eyedropper and drop them under your tongue. The thin skin that covers the veins allows the tincture to enter the bloodstream quickly and directly so that the person that is using it can get the full effects of the product. If you drop tincture drops into your drink, or just swallow them, you are not getting the full wellness benefits that a tincture has to offer because most of it will be burnt up in your stomach acids before they get a chance to hit your bloodstream.
Conclusion
There are many benefits to using a tincture instead of going with other ways of ingesting CBD. However, whichever way works best for you is great too. Just make sure that however you are using your CBD that it is the correct way and that none of the hemp oil goes to waste.
