There are many health benefits associated with hemp seed oil, but they do not share the same effects of CBD. In addition to being used as a culinary oil and dietary supplement, hemp oil can also be found in skincare and beauty products. On product labels, you will often see this versatile ingredient simply go by “hemp oil” or “hemp sativa seed oil,” hence some confusion surrounding hemp oil and hemp-derived CBD oil.
So what exactly is hemp oil really bringing to the table? For starters, it’s rich in omega-6 and omega-3 essential fatty acids and is a good source of protein, a naturopathic doctor and lead health advisor at LuckyVitamin. Hempseed oil also contains a variety of vitamins and minerals, including vitamin E, phosphorus, magnesium, calcium, iron, and zinc.
Though hempseed oil packs a nutritional punch and has immune-boosting properties, it’s not going to help relieve pain or ease anxiety like CBD oil promises to do (more on that later).
Benefits of CBD oil
CBD oil in the right amounts can provide a number of health benefits. Studies have shown that CBD can help relieve pain, decrease inflammation, reduce anxiety, and treat neurological disorders like epilepsy (2).
CBD can be taken many different ways depending on your ailment, including by inhalation, oral or topical. For example, CBD salves are often recommended for people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis or muscle pain (2, 3). For conditions such as epilepsy, anxiety, insomnia, and schizophrenia , CBD can be taken orally in capsule, liquid, and tincture forms, or inhaled through a vape device.
How to Choose CBD Oil Products
If you are looking for the medical benefits of CBD, what should you look for when choosing a product to ensure it is the true deal? A good first step is to identify the source of the CBD and the practices the brand is using to grow the hemp plant, extract the CBD, and create the product.
“Do your research on what the brand is and where they are actually sourcing their material from,” cautions Tyler Dautrich, one of the founders of Green House Enterprises, an investment and development firm for the hemp and hemp industry. Many CBD products are white-labeled, meaning they are produced by one company and rebranded by another as their own, he explains.
Unfortunately, quality control is an issue with CBD products. In 2016, the FDA purchased and tested 24 products labeled as hemp or CBD and found that a majority of the products were mislabeled (4), Wolf cites.
Commercial hemp production was only recently legalized in the United States with the passage of the 2018 farm bill. Since the industry is so new within the country, laws have not been put in place to ensure customers are getting the right amount of CBD advertised.
“Since hemp-derived CBD is no longer on the controlled substance list and there are no regulations around it, everyone is coming out with a line of CBD now,” Dautrich says. “Because there’s no government surplus that, there’s no quality control there.”
When choosing a CBD product, “look for organic-grown hemp whenever possible and know the laws and legislation in your area,” Wolf advises. “Make sure the products have very minimal amounts of THC. True regular-grade hemp should always contain less than 0.3 percent THC.”
Looking up reviews on CBD products is also a good way to get firsthand accounts of how each individual product works.
If you want to find great information about CBD lotion, you can follow their page to learn more.