Vaping has been a trendy behaviour dating back to the 1960s. Although most vape enthusiasts have predominantly consumed tobacco, CBD products have been on the rise too. The recent discoveries on the potential health benefits of CBD have helped fuel the rising popularity of vaping.
As more people adopt vaping as a CBD intake method, questions like how much one should vape have come along. It is hard to give a definitive answer as there is no universally recommended dosage yet. However, we will discuss the factors that may affect the dosage and how trial and error can shine some light on the dosage you need.
Why vape CBD?
If you are looking to start using CBD, you might be conflicted on the medium to use. You can take in CBD in several ways like sublingual, topical, ingestion or inhaling. These methods have disadvantages and advantages, but most people edge over vaping. Vaping offers immediate, potent effects, various delicious tastes and no lingering irritating smell (like smoking a blunt) that can impose on others.
Bioavailability is the rate at which cannabinoids and other compounds are absorbed into the body. Vaping is particularly potent, with a bioavailability rate of about 31%, making it one of the fastest absorption rates of all mediums. CBD quickly gets into the bloodstream through the lungs by breathing in the vapour. Therefore, effects kick in quickly, and you can hit peak levels in a matter of minutes.
What are the factors that determine the correct amount of CBD you should vape?
To understand how much
CBD vape juice you should take in before effects kick in, you need to recognize a few factors that come into play. Different people have different waiting gaps before CBD takes effect. Luckily, CBD is well-tolerated in the body even in high amounts due to the endocannabinoid system, while on the flip side, too little, and you may not feel any effects.
This friendly approach ensures that no severe cases of overdosing may occur, but it is always best to play it safe. Factors like the strength of CBD, body weight, metabolism and the purpose to which you intend to accomplish should all be considered. People have different physiological and biological makeup. Therefore, people with larger body weights will need to take a high amount of CBD to have effects.
The vaping method also poses other factors that would ultimately affect how fast CBD reacts with cannabinoid receptors to induce an effect. Taking in giant puffs will enable you to breathe in massive doses of CBD for quicker absorption. The heat and power of your vaporizer are crucial as it determines the amount of CBD per puff and ultimately contribute to more CBD compound intake.
How can you determine the right amount of CBD you should vape?
Due to many factors and variables, there are no standard dosing protocols around for cannabinoids. It often takes some experimentation on an individual level to further understand our bodies and how they react with CBD compounds. It is essential you consult your physician before embarking on your vaping journey.
The recommended dosage
Scientists recommend slowly increasing your dosage until you attain the lowest effective dosage is the best course of action (start low and go low). Vape pens enable you to monitor the amount of CBD intake you have. Therefore, you should take a keen eye on labels and package information to deduce the amount of CBD in the CBD vape oil.
The total CBD in the cartridge can also help you find the proper dosage. You can gauge the amount of CBD leaving your cartridge by doing a bit of math. It is impossible to estimate the amount that gets into the bloodstream, but this method gives you a rough approximation.
For instance, most CBD bottles come in 10 to 30 ml sizes. Take note of the amount of CBD in the container given in mg (milligrams). Cartridges come in different sizes but let's assume the cartridge size is 1ml for simplicity. Henceforth if we have a 30 ml bottle with 1000 mg CBD, the cartridge will contain about 33.3mg CBD per ml.
It is generally recommended that CBD users should not take more than 70 mg of CBD a day. Novices are urged to start with a dose of around 10mg per day and slowly make their way upwards.
Bioequivalence
Bioequivalence is helpful for people already exposed to CBD through other mediums. It refers to the dosage you need to introduce the same amount of CBD into the bloodstream using a different intake method. One can gauge the amount of CBD suitable for them when first trying CBD e-liquids and concentrates through prior knowledge.
CBD per puff
For those with no previous encounters to benchmark their dosage with, CBD per puff can be a helpful way to set you on your vaping journey. Thanks to the cutting-edge technology invested in vape pens, components and mods, you can estimate the amount of CBD you take in with every hit. Advanced vape pens have a mod attached that counts the number of puffs you take.
For instance, if you take 100 puffs for a full 1ml tank with 33.3 mg CBD, it means that you take in approximately 0.33 mg of CBD with every breath you draw.
Type of CBD (CBD concentrates)
The three main types of CBD in the market are full-spectrum, broad-spectrum and isolate. All these types of CBD have different ingredients and subsequently affect the dosage for all of them. It is paramount to understand which of the above three you get and their differences.
The full-spectrum CBD has many extracts from the cannabis plant like terpenes, CBD compounds, essential oils and a small THC compound (about 0.3% of the active ingredients). Broad-spectrum also has a lot of cannabinoid extracts but lacks THC making it ideal for athletes. An isolate extract is a pure form of cannabidiol (CBD).
Conclusion
Vaping is efficient for the quick onset of CBD effects. Due to different physiologies, you must experiment on yourself with the help of your physician to find what dose works for you.