Does all the talk of SPECTRUMS when it comes to CBD have you seeing red?

Let’s try to clear things up so you have a better understanding of the hemp lexicon and feel empowered to make a more educated buying decision. Ultimately, choosing a product based on spectrum has a lot to do with personal tolerance and preference. It’s all about what you are looking to experience (or hoping to alleviate).

When talking about CBD there are three different kinds: full spectrum, broad-spectrum, and isolate.

FULL SPECTRUM
 
Full spectrum CBD contains CBD and other natural plant components such as terpenes, flavonoids, which are phytonutrients of the cannabis plant^[1], and other cannabinoids, with trace amounts of THC. This allows for what is known as the entourage effect.^[2] Essentially, keeping the plant “intact” allows for each component to work synergistically to produce the most effective result when taking CBD oil. Beyond CBD and THC, other cannabinoids exist, such as CBDA and THCA, which also work towards this effect. Many argue that full spectrum is the best form of CBD because of this effect. Full spectrum products contain small amounts of THC, at the legal limit of .3%.

BROAD SPECTRUM

Broad spectrum, similar to full spectrum in that it contains other components of the hemp plant. However, it contains NO THC. This is a good option for those who do not want any THC in their system or scared of the possibility of experiencing any psychoactive effects. Broad spectrum is the same as full spectrum but has gone through additional processing to ensure full removal of THC.

ISOLATE

CBD isolate is CBD in its purest form. The cannabis plant goes through an extensive extraction process to remove any chlorophylls, terpenes, and other cannabinoids to ensure your product is pure CBD. Most isolates boast 99% pure CBD. To achieve this, once the CBD and plant components are isolated through extraction, there is then a filtering and purification process that leaves only CBD as the final product. This is known as winterization^[3], and it allows all the other plant products to be removed. Further refinement can be achieved through short path distillation.^[4]CBD isolates, although no longer able to claim the entourage effect, are useful for certain products such as vapes and gummies, since isolate is virtually tasteless. This allows for the flavor of the hemp plant to be removed, so other flavorings can be added.

^[1]https://www.livescience.com/52524-flavonoids.html

^[2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entourage_effect

^[3]https://www.honestpaws.com/blogs/cbd/co2-extraction

^[4]https://www.leafly.com/news/industry/ethanol-extraction-cbd-both-safe-efficient-for-business-scale

^[5]https://www.apekssupercritical.com/cbd-extraction-process/

^[6]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Short-path_distillation