So you finally joined the club and bought a bottle of those CBD gummies that your buddies have been raving about and now you’re staring at the bottle and asking yourself, “How many of these CBD GUMMY BEARSam I supposed to eat?” Well, you’re not the first CBD newbie to ask that and you will certainly not be the last. I bet you Googled this question immediately and were surprised to find a bunch of articles trying to answer this very question, which brought you here. While, regrettably, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all simple answer to that question, this guide should serve to make it easier to figure out the proper CBD gummy dosage for yourself so you can enjoy the benefits of your CBD gummies as soon as possible instead of wasting time and product while trying to figure out what will work best for you.
If you don’t know by now, CBD gummies come in all sorts of different flavors, formulations, and CBD concentrations. There really is no standard dosage that works for everyone and what works for one may not work for another. In order to get the most out of CBD gummies , you should consider your metabolism, body weight, individual body chemistry, potency, body’s sensitivity to cannabis, the CBD user’s specific needs and problems, the severity/intensity of the condition, and desired effect. We recommend that when taking CBD gummies for the first time, you begin with the recommended dose on the packaging and then gradually increase the number of dose until you’re comfortable with the results.
In the following sections, we’ll help guide you through the basics of CBD gummies in order to assist you in selecting the best appropriate CBD gummy dosage for you.
The Right Dosage for CBD Depends on Several Factors
1. Body Weight
If you drink alcohol and/or take any medications regularly, you mostly likely have a good idea about how a person’s body weight can directly relate to their body’s ability to process any given substance. Weight is a key factor in how efficiently your body processes chemical substances, whether it’s CBD, alcohol, THC, or medicines. When figuring out your initial dosage, consider your own body weight. You can always modify your dose if you’re looking for stronger or less intense effects. When establishing an appropriate starter dose, a good rule of thumb is to take 1-5 mg for every 10 pounds of body weight. To figure out your starting dose, simply take your body weight and divide it by 10 and you will have a dosage in milligrams to start with. This dosage can be increased or decreased as you determine your ideal dosage. As an example, if you weigh under 130 pounds, then you should eat between 12 and 14 milligrams of CBD to experience moderate effects. If you weight between 130 and 230 pounds, then you should eat between 19 to 23 milligrams for moderate effects. If you weigh over 230 pounds, then you should experience moderate effects if you take between 24 to 30 milligrams of CBD.
Of course the suggested dosages above could vary quite a lot from person to person and its important to note that there is a big difference between someone who is 130 pounds and someone who is 230 pounds. While you don’t need to take those ratios as gospel, they do serve as a good starting point to calculating the right CBD dosage for you.
2. Your Metabolism
Again, just like with alcohol and various medications, your metabolism can have a significant impact on how various CBD dosages can affect you. Are you a fit person leading an active lifestyle? Do you lead a more sedentary lifestyle that doesn’t include a lot of physical activity throughout the day? Do you have a healthy, well-balanced diet with lots of healthy foods or are you crushing burgers and pizza on a daily basis? Typically people with more active lifestyles and more nutritious diets have a higher metabolism, whereas those who are less active and have less healthy eating habits tend to have a much slower metabolism. If you can’t tell what point we’re trying to make by now then I’ll make it more clear: Your metabolism is a crucial factor to consider when finding the right dosage of CBD.
If you want to increase the rate at whichyour CBD gummies take effect, then you can take CBD gummies on an empty stomach–just like how having a few drinks on an empty stomach will get you drunk way faster than drinking the same amount of alcohol after a large meal. Just like many prescription drugs recommend, for more pronounced but slower-acting effects, we recommend consuming the gummies after or at least during a meal.
Just to clarify, the term “bioavailability” refers to the leftover amount of CBD that circulates in the bloodstream after its ingestion. Because a certain percentage of CBD is destroyed by your stomach acids, bioavailability can be affected by a full stomach versus an empty stomach. Remember however that not all CBD gummies have the same bioavailability so you might consider buying CBD gummies formulated with added fatty acids such as hemp oil.
3. CBD Gummy Potency
Your body’s overall tolerance to CBD is also a contributing factor when it comes to figuring out how many CBD gummies you should eat. Like with alcohol and THC, you may have a tolerance to a particular CBD gummies product whereas some people may need to eat more CBD gummies than the average consumer to achieve stronger effects. If you’ve dabbled with other CBD products, you may find that you have to eat more gummies than others to get the same results that you are looking for.
4. Desired Effect
This is probably a no-brainer but the number of CBD gummies you need to eat depends on why you’re taking CBD in the first place. Figuring out your priorities is perhaps the most important factor if you want to experience specific effects of CBD. Different physical or mental ailments may be best addressed by differing doses of CBD.For example, if you’re looking to alleviate your anxiety, then it is recommended that you take somewhere between 15 to 30 mg to enhance focus and ease the discomfort.
Alternatively, if you are looking for help with getting to sleep or improving your sleep quality, then you might instead try 10 to 25 mg before bed to influence your sleep cycles and have a more positive impact on different stages of your sleep.
As another example, if you just want a more subtle boost to your concentration and to improve your ability to focus in the morning, then 5 mg to 15 mg should suffice to kickstart your workday. You can use this dosage range without actually addressing any specific problem or ailment. Many CBD fans CONSUME CBD GUMMIESevery day in lower dosage amounts to support healthy levels of their own endocannabinoids and to improve their mind-body balance.
Finally, if you’re trying to manage pain and inflammation, the dosages for this use case can vary a bit more depending on the severity of your pain. As a general rule, the optimal dosage range for inflammatory pain can range from as little as 5 mg to 50 mg to mitigate pain signals and reduce soreness. The usefulness of CBD for treating pain depends greatly on the severity of the pain as well as the type of pain you are looking to alleviate. People with severe pain and inflammation may need anywhere close to 600 mg, although these are extreme cases and if your pain is this great, you’ll likely already be prescribed some serious pain medication.
5. Your Body Chemistry
Your individual body chemistry can be a bit more difficult to predict and quantify because it essentially comes down to how different people experience the effects of CBD after specific doses. Some people are very sensitive to CBD, while other people are not as sensitive. For some, CBD gummies provide noticeable results upon their first use, whereas for others, it can actually take upwards of 2 weeks to notice any improvements. In a nutshell, everyone’s body responds differently to cannabinoids like CBD and THC. Additionally, your body may also need a little time to acclimatize to CBD before you can fully experience its benefits.
Despite the relative safety of CBD, it can potentially cause mild side effects because of interactions with certain medications you’re taking or because of some potential allergens. If you believe that you are having a negative reaction to taking CBD, immediately stop all CBD consumption until you havefigured out what the problem is and sorted out any potential negative reactions with whatever medications you may be taking. Unfortunately, not all CBD users react well to CBD and thus can’t enjoy its many benefits. If you aren’t on any medications and aren’t allergic to any of the other ingredients in a given CBD gummy, then you might find that your negative reaction is due to a higher dosage of CBD than your body can handle and you should reduce your dosage and see how that goes.
How Many CBD Gummies Should You Eat
Most people take between 1 and 5 gummies per day, depending on the potency of the CBD gummies and their individual health goals. As we said above, there is no universal dosage for everybody. If you’d like a beginner’s guide to how many CBD gummies you should eat, the following is a recommended beginner’s guide for specific dosages and desired effects:
- Better rest quality: 10 mg – 25 mg
- Stress: 15 mg – 30 mg
- Relief from pain and physical discomfort: 15 mg- 25 mg
- Inflammation: 50 mg – 150 mg
- Daily Focus: 5 mg – 15 mg
- Blood Pressure: 30 mg- 50 mg
Tips for Correctly Dosing Your CBD Gummies
Gummies are one of the easiest ways to enjoy the benefits of CBD. CBD gummies aredelicious, convenient, easy to carry around and contain a predetermined dose of CBD per serving. The product packaging will show the amount of CBD in each gummy. They’re labeled in milligrams such as 10 mg or 25 mg per gummy, depending on their potency. When it comes to CBD gummies, unfortunately, there is no one standard dose. We have some simple tricks you can try if you want to figure out what your correct CBD gummy dosage is. You can buy high-potency CBD gummies and portion them into smaller doses yourself. If you buy CBD gummies with 50 mg of CBD, you can cut them into quarters and use quarters of the gummies throughout the day, or even use half one day and half the next day.
It is also possible for you to experiment with increasing the dosage using smaller increments. When you are first trying out CBD gummies, choosing lowerstrength gummies gives you smaller increments that you can work with to gradually increase your dose and make incremental adjustments without overdoing the CBD and triggering any negative reactions.
If you want to get the most bang foryour buck, you might consider getting high-strength CBD gummies for more potent effects. Some gummies can contain 40 to 50 mg of CBD, so if you pop a couple before you get in bed, you can more easily put yourself to sleep and wake up rested in the morning due to the size of your dose. Such high-strength gummies are perfect if you want to more fully explore the relaxing side of using CBD. The same strategy can also work if you’re seeking to treat pain and inflammation; rather than dabbling around with low-potency CBD gummies for a chronic ache, start big with a stronger CBD gummy and see if it affects your pain.
Are CBD Gummies Safe?
Generally, CBD gummies are overwhelmingly considered safe as long as you purchase them from a reputable source that utilizes natural ingredients, organic hemp, and tests its products in a certified third-party laboratory. Research has demonstrated that CBD gummies are a safe supplement with virtually no negative side effects when used in accordance with the product’s usage guidelines.
In one study conducted to review CBD’s effectiveness in treating addiction, researchers found that “CBD has been shown to be a safe compound in both animals and humans. Many studies evaluated the side effect profile of CBD in various contexts and reported no significant or serious adverse events.” Though CBD is generally well-tolerated by the vast majority of CBD users and is considered safe, unfortunately some people may potentially experience adverse reactions. While no severe side effects have been attributed to the use of CBD, some people have reported experiencing varying degrees of gastrointestinal distress, most commonly experienced as diarrhea and/or decreased appetite. Other users have also reported experiencing noticeable drowsiness or other noticeable changes in alertness such as mild fatigue.
One area in which there is some concern regarding the safety of consuming CBD, is how it possibly interacts with other medications. The use of CBD with alcohol or other drugs that slow down brain activity, such as those used to treat panic disorders, stress, anxiety, or sleep disorders, may increase the risk of drowsiness and sedation, which can potentially lead to injuries. CBD may also interact with commonly prescribed medications such as blood thinners, pain relievers and analgesics, diabetes mediation, as well as antidepressants. Additionally, there is evidence that CBD may potentially cause liver damage in some users. Some studies have shown that about 2-3% of people taking part in some CBD studies experience an increase in their liver enzymes which could potentially lead to liver damage. Because there are few studies reviewing the effects of CBD on various medications, it is advisable to consult your doctor first about possible negative interactions with any medications which you are currently being prescribed before you begin self-treatment with CBD products.
Final Thoughts on Finding the Right CBD Gummies
The most basic advice we can offer you is to not be too concerned with following some sort of dosing rules that you read online and just figure out what works best for you through some basic trial and error. Unless you’re eating fistfuls of CBD gummies at a time, there’s really no wrong way to determine how many CBD gummies are right for you. CBD gummies are simple to dose if you know your own body’s tolerance to CBD and the basic principles behind the metabolism of cannabinoids like CBD and THC.Considering your individual body weight and your individual metabolism is necessary when figuring out a starting point for yourself, whether it’s 5 mg, 20 mg, or 60 mg of CBD every day or multiple times a day. Once you have a starting point, you’ll need to adjust the number of CBD gummies to your optimal dosage, but bear in mind that oral forms of CBD offer lower bioavailability, as we discussed above. If you have to eat more gummies than you thought you might need in order to achieve your desired effects, then you might consider switching to a stronger product.