CBD Guides

CBD Oil buyers guide you can trust

We firmly believe that an informed customer is a happy customer. That’s why it is our goal to empower you to make the best possible decision when it comes to buying CBD products.

Cannabidiol (CBD) oil… You can find it online, in grocery stores, and health food stores across the nation. Startup companies are producing CBD oil like no tomorrow. Most of the CBD companies promote their products as a miraculous health and wellness solution.

Much like you would want to know all the reviews and specifications of your next car or computer, CBD oil should be treated the same way. I mean, it’s going into your body!

It’s wonderful to see the benefits of CBD oil becoming more available, however, the lack of information is leading to low quality and even dangerous products.

At Healspire we care about the health of our customers and that starts with providing a guide that will teach you how to find safe and pure CBD oil.

CBD oil buyers guide

Toxins found in low quality CBD oil

If you decide to blindly buy a cheap or low-quality CBD oil, you WILL be exposing your body to a variety of toxins.

These products tell you precisely what they are when you go to add them to your cart: cheap and low quality. It’s the same idea as buying a cheap mattress and expecting it to last and maintain comfort. It’s not going to happen.

Low-quality CBD can be sold at a lower cost since the sellers aren’t using complex (expensive) analytical equipment to ensure toxins are not present. Nor do they employ trained professionals to formulate, process, and package the products.

Here are some of the most common toxins you could encounter if you purchase a substandard CBD oil.

Heavy metals

Heavy metal contaminants are introduced during the cultivation, processing, and extraction of hemp. Common heavy metals you can find are Mercury, Lead, Cadmium, and Arsenic.

Heavy metals can be found in the environment, especially in areas that have been polluted by industrial activity. They are very toxic and can cause long term health complications.

Hemp is particularly good at removing heavy metals from the soil. Heavy metals concentrate at the flowering portion of the crop. The flowering portions of hemp are used to create CBD products ranging from CBD oil to CBD skincare.

Pure CBD oil manufacturers will consider all potential sources of heavy metals before they start growing. They will also have documentation to verify no heavy metals are present within their products. Many states require hemp/Cannabis companies to test for heavy metals.

Different kinds of heavy metals

Check here to see what your state’s laws for CBD products.

Microorganisms

In addition to heavy metals, microorganisms are found in CBD oils that are not processed or handled properly.

Salmonella, E coli., yeasts, fungi, and other organisms can end up in your CBD oil. That’s bad news for anyone, especially those with compromised immune systems.

Mycotoxins also pose a significant threat to consumers of CBD as well as other agricultural products.

A mycotoxin is a toxic byproduct generated by various species of fungi. Commonly found in agricultural goods, they pose a significant threat to the liver, endocrine system, and kidneys upon consumption.

Reputable sources within regulated markets are the sure-fire way to get pure CBD oil. The state of California does not allow for more than 20ug/kg of mycotoxin in CBD products. Buying from a company in California will provide you with the utmost quality when it comes to CBD oil.

Unknown substances

Due to the lack of federal regulations, some sellers are adding unexpected chemicals to their CBD products.

Things like melatonin, a hormone involved with sleep, has been discovered in some CBD oil. While melatonin isn’t necessarily harmful, the producers aren’t being transparent about what is in their products.

There are many people who are hypersensitive to melatonin and mislabeling like this could cause problems for them.

DXM, a commonly abused constituent of cough syrup, has been discovered in CBD products. This could cause unexpected psychoactive effects and dependence if ingested.

Lastly, a synthetic cannabinoid known as 5F-ADB can also end up in illegitimate CBD products. This intoxicating compound can have very serious side effects like panic attacks, heart failure, and more.

Please make sure that you only purchase from reputable sellers. We take the health of our customers very seriously and we urge you to do your research.

Pesticides

Originally designed to increase agricultural yields for a rapidly growing population, pesticides have been discovered to be very harmful to people and to the environment.

They are synthesized in a laboratory meaning they are formed under the control of the chemist making it. Instead of letting nature run its course, humans take advantage of the tools of chemistry and create pesticides.

They can end up in your CBD products if you aren’t careful. Healspire does not allow the use of pesticides on our hemp. All of the hemp we source is grown in the United States.

We comply with stringent standards imposed by federal, state, and local governing bodies. This means that our hemp is non-GMO, organic, and processed in GMP certified facilities.

This may seem redundant, but you would be surprised. Pesticides are sprayed onto crops. On a windy day, they can end up in fields that are nearby. Therefore, we take the extra step to ensure that you only are ingesting pure, pesticide free CBD oil.

Not all hemp grows the same

The Farm Bill of 2018 legalized hemp in the United states. This removed hemp from the schedule 1 list of controlled substances. As a result, hemp is now a legal commodity that can be distributed into the market.

For hemp to be classified as an industrial grade product it must contain less than 0.3 % THC. This essentially removes all potential psychoactive effects from the plant.

If you purchase a CBD product that doesn’t use industrial grade hemp, you could be consuming THC.

All the hemp we use is an industrial grade, USA grown, and non-GMO. At Healspire we believe that crops should be grown the way that nature intended. This means no GMOs, pesticides, or other synthetic chemicals are used during the cultivation, processing, or manufacturing of our CBD products.

Additionally, we believe that hemp grown in the United States is the golden standard. Hemp that is cultivated in other countries is not held to the same agricultural standards that the United States abides by.

Hemp field facing the sunrise

Good manufacturing practices (GMP)

Healspire has gone the extra step and is GMP or good manufacturing practices certified. This means that all the hemp we use, process, and manufacture is held to the highest standards of quality. Therefore, for us to be certified, the FDA had to verify our methods to ensure we were indeed a GMP certifiable company.

GMPs are a proactive approach to quality assurance. They ensure all steps of the process are free from contamination and other quality reducing activities. A common misconception is that GMPs only cover the manufacturing of a good, when in fact it covers all aspects of production.

This includes:

  • Materials
  • Premises
  • Equipment
  • Storage
  • Record Keeping
  • Staff Training
  • Hygiene
  • Handling complaints
  • Product Development

We are serious about delivering high-quality CBD products. That is why, through every step of the process, we ensure we are holding ourselves to the highest standards.

Other ingredients

CBD oil and accompanying products include other ingredients to either enhance or alter something about it. Fillers, dyes, excipients, and more can be found in CBD products. Below we explain how they work.

Dyes

Dyes hide imperfections in CBD oil and enhance visual quality. They won’t cause any direct harm to you, but some people don’t like the idea of any unnecessary artificial additives.

Binders and fillers

Binders and Fillers come in a variety of forms and uses. Most commonly fillers are things like flavorings and other product supporting ingredients. Binders are usually things like vegetable cellulose to add stability to a product. This is usually the case for CBD capsules.

Flavors, fragrances, and excipients enhance a product. We offer a mint-flavored tincture since not everyone enjoys the natural hemp flavor. As a result, we added a filler (peppermint flavor) for those who don’t care for the original flavor.

Fillers we do not use are things like GMOs, high fructose corn syrup, or gluten. These ingredients are not necessary and pose a health risk. GMOs have unknown health impacts, consequently, we do not know how they could be affecting people. We take the commonsense approach and use what we know: non-GMO, American grown hemp.

High fructose corn syrup is linked to obesity, heart disease, and diabetes so we advise against CBD products that contain it. We also never add gluten to any of our products since many people are allergic to it.

Excipients

Excipients are oil-based fillers that function to increase the bioavailability of CBD oil. Sesame seed oil or hemp seed oil is used for this and has very interesting effects. At Healspire we use hemp seed oil as our excipient, and here’s how it works.

Excipients increase the solubility of CBD oil as well as increase the absorption of the active compounds in your intestines. These two things act to increase the bioavailability of CBD.

Increasing the bioavailability allows you to absorb more CBD and other cannabinoids into your system. When CBD oil is more bioavailable, the effects are more potent. You can think of this as dissolving powder into water.

Dissolving the powder in water allows for it to enter your body more effectively. This is perfectly summed up how excipients make for a more pure CBD oil.

CBD oil product spectrums

Where does your CBD oil fall on the spectrum? There are 3 different types of oil you can purchase. What makes them different comes down to the extraction method and the type of Cannabis used.

Most reputable brands will tell you which type you are getting. It is important that you know this information before buying CBD.

At Healspire we respect the needs and views of our customers, you will know exactly which type of oil you are getting when you buy from us.

Additionally, we only use PCR or phytocannabinoid rich hemp oil. PCR hemp oil contains all the therapeutic compounds present in the hemp flowers along with CBD. This allows for our products to contain a complete wellness boosting profile.

CBD product spectrums

Full spectrum CBD oil

You may have guessed it; full spectrum oils provide the most wide-ranging cannabinoid profile. A cannabinoid profile is the collection of cannabinoids present within your oil. It is important to know if your oil is full spectrum.

Full spectrum oils include the entire cannabinoid profile of the Cannabis plant. This includes CBD, THC, and terpenes.

Terpenes produce aromas in plants and are plentiful in hemp. Found at the flowering portion of hemp, they add beneficial effects that make for a more competitive therapeutic profile.

In a full spectrum extraction, different terpene profiles can alter how the cannabinoids will affect you. Varying terpene profiles can slightly change the effects you feel from your CBD oil.

Full-spectrum oils provide the most complete therapeutic profile, but many people do not want to or cannot consume THC. If you ingest a full-spectrum oil, even from low THC strains like Cannabis ruderalis (hemp), you could still fail a drug test.

Low THC strains, like Cannabis ruderalis, contain less than 0.3 % THC. However, if ingested on a consistent basis, the low amount of THC will compound and can be detectable in your system.

For those of you who must pass a drug test, a full spectrum may not be the best idea for you.

If you don’t have to worry about drug tests and are comfortable with consuming a small amount of THC, then a full-spectrum oil would be great for you.

Broad spectrum CBD oil

If only there were a way to enjoy the benefits of hemp and CBD without trace amounts of THC, and still retain the other cannabinoids and terpenes. Thankfully new refining methods can allow for this to happen.

Broad-spectrum extracts take advantage of new refining methods. They eliminate THC from the extract but retain all the other non-psychoactive compounds. They effectively make psychoactive strains like Cannabis sativa and Cannabis indica non-psychoactive.

At Healspire, we only source industrial hemp, meaning that we only need to remove trace amounts of THC from our broad-spectrum products. Rest assured, all products from us will be THC free, guaranteed.

Pure CBD oil isolate

Finally, the staple of pure CBD oils: CBD isolates. These extracts exclusively contain CBD and CBD only. They do not contain the other cannabinoids or terpenes like the other two extracts.

CBD isolate extracts have advantages and disadvantages compared to the others. Pure CBD oil isolates produce effects solely from cannabidiol (CBD). CBD isolates DO NOT contain THC or any other phytocannabinoids for that matter.

The main drawback to isolate extracts is that a lot of the benefits that people report is due in part to the entire phytocannabinoid profile. The combination of effects is what leads to optimal results when it comes to a comprehensive CBD oil.

The best advice we can offer you is to try each one (if applicable), see which works best for you and your health/wellness goals.  You should consider the advantages and disadvantages of each one to see which type of CBD oil will best serve you.

Pure CBD oil extraction techniques

Extraction techniques are important and you need to know the differences. There are varying ways to extract CBD oil, however, dirty extraction techniques can leave you with toxins in your product.

Extractions concentrate CBD into an oil. High heat and pressure are used to evaporate the solvent away from the ground hemp flower leaving you with CBD oil.

For an extraction to work properly, the substance that you want to extract (CBD) must be able to dissolve into the solvent. Additionally, you want little to no solvent material left behind. This is what defines a pure vs. impure extraction.

Below are the most common extraction techniques you will find in the market.

Hydrocarbon extraction

A hydrocarbon extraction uses class 2 and 3 solvents to extract oils, terpenes, and other compounds from the raw hemp plant material.
These extractions are the most likely to contaminate the product since small amounts of the solvent can be leftover.

Not only that, but flammable gasses under pressure and high heat are also very dangerous and pose a threat to the person extracting the oil. Despite advancements in CBD oil extraction technologies, many companies are still using this dirty technique.

Ethanol extraction

This highly popular technique involves soaking raw plant material into ethanol. This is like the previous technique, but ethanol extractions are less dangerous and less toxic.

The advantage of using ethanol to extract is that you can generate large amounts of CBD oil in one sitting. This makes it an attractive method for companies that have limited capital to invest in more advanced methods.

While ethanol extractions are safe and cheap, they leave behind chlorophyll and other impurities. Chlorophyll and other compounds can leave your oil with a hazy appearance and a bitter taste. Removing these compounds requires extensive processing.

These extra processing steps lower CBD concentrations in the oil as well as increase the price you pay. It doesn’t seem to make sense to pay more for less.

Supercritical CO2 extraction

Instead of using a traditional solvent, supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) is used to extract CBD and other compounds. Supercritical CO2 forms under high pressure and temperature using advanced technologies. Interestingly, it displays properties of both a liquid and a gas.

When supercritical CO2 is condensed, you are left with a pure CBD oil. No solvents, no quality degrading compounds, just pure CBD oil.

At Healspire, we only use supercritical CO2 extractions. We believe in providing the highest quality product on the market at a reasonable cost.

Why pure CBD oil?

The health and wellness boosting properties of CBD are becoming more and more well documented. CBD oil could potentially change everything. Battling insomnia, reducing anxiety, relieving pain, and making your skin glow are all things CBD oil can potentially assist.

Part of Healspire’s mission is to provide the most conscientious approach to your wellness. That starts with providing a high-quality product you can trust.

We truly believe in the healing properties of hemp-derived medicines and the potential they have to change your life.

Shop our premium CBD oil products Here and start taking Health into your own hands.

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I specifically like CBD Isolate Crystals because they do not contain any THC so I have peace of mind in the case that I have to take a drug test for work because I work for the government.

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