You’ve got a lot of options when it comes to your CBD usage. A whole variety of products that can be found online or at local retailers. So, what can CBD softgels specifically do for you? Many people are curious about this so we’ve decided to address it.
CBD softgels are an incredibly popular way to go about getting your CBD intake. In fact, you probably even know someone that uses softgels as their preferred way to consume CBD. Do softgels have any real perks to using them over something like a tincture?
There’s a lot to know on this particular topic and we’re going to do our best to be concise about it. Hopefully, by the time you’re done reading this article, you’ll be able to say for sure what you want the next time you wind up at the counter of your local CBD store.
Or when you order online if that’s your preferred method of obtaining CBD. There are really a lot of ways that you could go about getting your CBD and you can choose whatever works best for you. We’re going to be looking at both the pros and the cons of using CBD softgels.
What is CBD: A Brief Explanation of The World’s Favorite Cannabinoid
A lot of people take CBD. You’ve probably seen news articles, blog posts, and maybe even youtube videos on the topic. Most of these sources will tout the amazing claims about CBD, but they don’t always get into what CBD actually is.
CBD is a chemical compound that is naturally occurring in Cannabis Sativa, or just cannabis as you probably know it. The kind of cannabis that gets people high isn’t the same as the industrial hemp that is used in CBD production, so don’t worry too much about legality.
CBD is at least partially legal in 47 states, the only exceptions being Idaho, South Dakota, and Nebraska. If you’re reading this article from one of those states, unfortunately, you won’t be able to indulge in CBD while you’re in the state without having to worry about Johnny Law.
Now, we mentioned that CBD is a chemical compound that is naturally occurring in cannabis. These compounds are known as cannabinoids, and there are approximately 113 that have been discovered to date. That’s a lot of cannabinoids!
We don’t know a whole lot about a lot of them. In fact, we still need to do research on the ones that we do know about if we have any hope of fully understanding what they are and what they do. Here are a few of the most well-known cannabinoids:
- THC
- CBD
- CBG
- CBN
- CBC
- CBCN
- CBDA
- CBGA
- THCA
- CBCV
- CBDVA
There are 103 more of those, and scientists are still working really hard on figuring out what effects they all might have. The ones that we know the most about are THC, CBD, CBG, and CBN. Hundreds of scientific studies need to be conducted before we can get to the bottom of this mystery.
Fun fact, the first cannabinoid ever discovered might not be the one that you think. We’ll give you this sentence to make your guess before we reveal the answer. If you said “CBN” you’d be correct. It was discovered in the very late 1800s and was the first cannabinoid discovered.
Benefits of Using Softgels
Softgels can be a pretty incredible way to take your CBD with a whole lot of benefits. A lot of people consider CBD softgels to be the best possible way to take their CBD, and in this section we’re going to discover why that is.
Of course, you have the normal benefits of taking CBD. In case you don’t know those, we’ll quickly list a few for you right here:
- Elevated mood.
- Decreased discomfort.
- Improved mobility.
- More restful sleep.
- Stress relief.
- General calmness.
These are the reasons that so many people enjoy CBD, on top of the fact that CBD doesn’t have any psychoactive effects like its sister cannabinoid THC. On top of that, CBD is legal in a lot more places than THC is. THC is only legal to some degree in 31 states, which leaves a lot of places where it can get people in trouble.
So, what’s the deal with softgels specifically? Well, one of the biggest reasons that we hear as to why people prefer CBD softgels over other CBD ingestion methods is the fact that it’s simply more convenient than other methods that are around.
That’s because of the way that you ingest the softgels. All you need to do is get a softgel or two, toss it in your mouth, and wash it down with your beverage of choice. It only takes a moment to do this and you’re done before you know it.
For comparison, tinctures need to sit under your tongue for at least a minute. You can taste the tincture and most people don’t consider the taste to be something that could be described as “good” so that minute or more might be somewhat grueling, depending on your tastes.
You can also take softgels midconversation, which makes them great for you if you’re in a rush. You can take them while you’re getting ready for work, in the car, really whenever. It’s the same as taking any other pill for any other reason, which is why people like them.
It is recommended to eat a meal before you take your CBD softgels, but that’s recommended for any CBD usage at all so that’s not too bad. You don’t really have to eat anything with CBD, but it will help it be processed by your body better so it’s up to you.
If you do eat before you take CBD, you can expect to feel more of the effects of the CBD. That can help you get more of the relief you’re looking for without having to up your dose at all, and that’s incredibly useful for those that CBD works very well for.
Negatives of Using Softgels
There are some drawbacks to using softgels over other methods that are well documented. Keep in mind that whether or not you choose to use softgels is really a game of deciding if these drawbacks are worth the benefits. Pros and cons are just a part of life sometimes.
The biggest drawback to taking softgels is that they aren’t as efficient as taking something like a tincture, and that has a lot to do with the way that your body processes things. You take softgels orally while you take tinctures sublingually.
When you take things orally, you have to let them pass through your digestive system. Your digestive system is very good at breaking things down and delivering nutrients and other compounds to the rest of your body. That’s actually why you’re able to eat anything or take anything orally in the first place.
The bad thing about this is the fact that your body is a little too good at breaking things down this way. When you take softgels, your body destroys some of the CBD, meaning that you might not end up with the full dose because your body destroyed part of it.
It also takes some time for things to process through your digestive system. On average, it can take anywhere between 30 minutes and two hours. That’s a long time to wait if you need relief right now, making softgels inefficient in general.
On the other hand, when you use a tincture it gets absorbed much more quickly. Typically, a tincture can be absorbed under your tongue in a matter of minutes. It skips right past your digestive system and is put directly into your blood, meaning that you’ll get relief a lot more quickly than you would otherwise.
The bad thing about tinctures, as we may have mentioned, is that they don’t taste great. Softgels are a lot easier to get down because you don’t really taste them, just throw them in your mouth and wash them down with a beverage of your choice. You only really taste the beverage.
The loss of effectiveness could very well be a fair trade-off for not having to keep the tincture in your mouth for over a minute for you, but it might not be for someone else. We don’t find these drawbacks to be too bad and there are millions of people who agree with us.
Being in the Know About CBD
The world of cannabinoids is full of a lot of information, ranging from scientific papers to some pretty astonishing claims. Learning what you can about them can help you be sure that you’re making the best choice possible about your CBD consumption.
Tinctures and softgels are far from the only options that you have, so if you want to try CBD and neither of those options sound appealing you can definitely find something that’s a lot more up your alley and all it takes is a little bit of effort.