What is CBD Microdosing and How do You do It?

What Is CBD?

If you’re interested in taking CBD as a natural remedy to improve your health and wellbeing then you may be wondering how you should take it and how much you should take. CBD microdosing is getting a lot of attention recently and we’re here to tell you why, by answering a few of the basic questions you may have, such as “what is microdosing?”, and “how do you microdose CBD oil?”. Whether you’re thinking about microdosing CBD for pain, or microdosing CBD for anxiety, microdosing CBD is the best way to spread the beneficial effects of CBD throughout your day to keep those annoying symptoms at bay for longer.

What is CBD Microdosing?

CBD microdosing is the process of using a series of very precise and small amounts of CBD. Microdosing CBD is especially useful for the management of chronic symptoms or conditions as it spreads the beneficial effects of CBD more widely and effectively throughout your day. Instead of a single “daily dose”, which will peak at some point and then wear off after a few hours, microdosing keeps you topped up across the entire 24 hours.

Less is More?

Let us explain in more detail… CBD produces a bell-shaped dose-response curve, meaning that its effectiveness increases with increased dosage but then peaks at a certain level, after which its beneficial qualities begin to decrease. Research has been steering us toward this idea for years, but it was only first tested on humans in 2018 with results published in the Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry in early 2019.

A group of scientists, led by Linares IM, conducted the research, which involved 57 healthy males performing a simulated public speaking test. Test subjects received either 150mg, 300mg, or 600mg of CBD, and there was also a control group that was given a placebo before taking the public speaking test. Anxiety levels were unchanged in the placebo, 150mg, and 600mg groups. The only group that showed a marked reduction in anxiety symptoms was the group that received 300mg of CBD.

This study set out to prove two things that many in the industry already believe to be true. Firstly, that CBD is an effective anxiolytic (anti-anxiety) compound for humans, and secondly, that getting the dosage right is hugely important. More doesn’t necessarily mean better when it comes to pure CBD. What’s worth noting, however, is that if you’re looking at microdosing cannabis or microdosing a full-spectrum hemp-derived CBD product, then you don’t have to worry so much about this bell response curve, as it seems to disappear when CBD is administered as a whole-plant extract, probably because of the “entourage effect”. At Green Goods, we stock a wide selection of both CBD isolates and full-spectrum products to ensure our clients have a wide range of CBD options to choose from, and CBD hourly microdosing is something you can choose to do with any of them.

Finding Your Ideal Dose

The most popular methods of CBD microdosing are dropping a CBD oil or tincture under the tongue, or vaping it with a CBD vape pen. You can also microdose with CBD edibles or capsules but the effects will take longer to kick-in, and will vary depending on several factors, including how recently you’ve eaten, which will make it harder to accurately work out your CBD sweet spot.

We recommend that you begin with CBD oil drops, placed under the tongue, as they are the easiest to control, and effects take just 45 minutes to kick in, so you can easily monitor and alter your dosage on the hour if needs be. You should start off by making yourself a microdosing CBD oil chart to keep track of how much CBD oil you have taken and how you feel during your trial period. Rate your symptoms and feelings of wellbeing, using numbers one through ten, before you start your trial and record these numbers on your CBD microdosing chart.

Your CBD Hourly Microdosing Trial:

• Take a 1mg dose of CBD and wait 50 minutes before checking to see if you feel different.
• If you feel the same, then take another dose of 2mg and wait another 50 minutes before you rate yourself again.
• If necessary, take a dose of 3mg, and so on, increasing your dose by 1mg each hour, every time that you feel no difference in mood or wellbeing.
• Once you find your CBD sweet spot, add up the total number of milligrams you’ve taken in the last four hours and use that as your new minimum dosage.

Microdosing Your Minimum

Your personalized minimum dosage will reflect the amount of CBD that was in your body when you were experiencing the most beneficial effects from it. This is because the effects of taking CBD sublingually are felt for around four hours at a time. Your personalized dosage can now be taken whenever you need it, or “microdosed” in four-hour interims for optimal effectiveness that lasts all day.

If you want to work out your ideal amount for CBD microdising with another product type, such as edibles or vapes, then remember to start low and go slow. When you vape CBD, it enters and leaves your bloodstream quickly, whereas edibles operate at a much slower rate.