CBD Dosage: Figuring Out How Much to Take

So you’ve decided to try CBD for the first time. Congratulations; welcome to the club! 

But before you can reap the benefits of this super supplement, you need to figure out how much to take. Your aunt may pop a few gummies before she sleeps at night, while your coworker takes two doses of tincture daily to manage chronic pain. 

What about you? 

The main thing to keep in mind is everyone is different. CBD can benefit most people. But it won’t work in the same way for everyone, and one person’s ideal dosage may vary significantly from another’s. Some factors that affect dosing include weight, metabolism, genetics, diet, age, the reason you’re taking CBD, and the product’s potency. 

Because of all of these variables, it’s impossible to provide a precise recommendation. This is even more complicated because the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) does not currently regulate CBD supplements and there is no official recommended dosage. There are, however, numerous clinical studies underway that will help us better understand how CBD works and what dosage amounts and ingestion methods are most effective for various applications. 

For now, though, we can offer some guidelines.

Measuring Dosage

With products like gummies and capsules, determining how much is in each serving is super simple. Each piece contains a certain amount of CBD. The same goes for sprays. You should be able to find this information on the product label or the company’s website. (If it’s not, consider buying something else; trustworthy CBD companies are transparent and label products clearly). But with tinctures and oils, it’s a little more complicated.

Here’s how to measure your desired amount:

Find 2 things: the amount of CBD in the bottle, and the amount per suggested serving.

The amount of CBD and other cannabinoids and other active ingredients should be clearly listed on the bottle.

Take for example, our Bespoke 3C label (pictured above). It lists:

• There are 2000mg of active ingredients in the bottle. Bespoke Extracts only includes cannabinoids in their active ingredient reporting. Use the ingredients listed on the bottle to cross reference.
• As you can see, our bottle lists there are 33mg of CBG and 33mg of Full-Spectrum CBD in the product. These are mgs PER SERVING.

Now, look at the serving size. 66mg includes 33mg of CBG and 33mg of Full-Spectrum CBD. It also tells you one dropper full is one full dose.

66mg of CBD is quite a potent serving. It’s another reason our customers love our products so much – very high doses for a more than fair price. However, some people prefer to cut our doses in half. If you wanted to cut your Bespoke dose in half, you could simply take half a dropper full.

It is this kind of very clear information that will be listed on the bottles of reputable companies.

If you want to find out how many CBD serving are in a product that does not list a suggested serving size, use this formula: Total mgs / Yourr preferred serving size = Total number of servings. 

Ex: If the product has 1200mg and you want to take 40gm a day, 1200mg /40 = 30 total servings

Let’s say you want to figure out the price per serving.

Find the total number of mg in the product and divide that by your desired dose. So, if you buy a product that has 1200mg and you want to take 40mg per day – 1200 / 40 = 30 doses. Now, divide the cost of the product by the number of servings.

Ex: $79 / 30 doses = $2.63 / serving

You can also use the same formula to calculate the cost per milligram of active ingredient, which is very helpful when you are comparing one company to another company. Simply divide the cost of the product by the total number of mgs in the product.

Ex: $79 / 1200 = $0.06 per mg

If your product contains very little information or you want to decrease your dosage to drops from your dropper, try this method:

• Find the serving size (for instance, 1 dropper full) and the amount of CBD per serving (e.g., 40mg)
• Count the number of drops that come out of a full dropper. Let’s say your dropper produces 10 drops (just drip these back into your bottle and count as you go.) Divide the amount per serving by the number of drops a dropper holds.

For instance, 40/10=4mg, so each drop contains 4mg.

**For reference, one dropper usually contains 1ml of liquid. To determine how many milliliters are in a tincture, use this formula to determine how many mg of CBD are in each dropper:

[Total CBD in the bottle] / [Milliliters in the bottle] = mg of CBD in one full dropper.

Delivery Methods

In addition to the amount of CBD you take, the ingestion method matters too.

You have many options, including:

• Full- or broad-spectrum CBD oil
• CBD Isolate (powder, oil, or crystal)
• CBD flower
• Topical balm, cream, or salve
• Capsules
• Patch
• Tinctures
• Gummies
• Other edibles

One of the most common and effective is the tincture. These, you take sublingually by holding it under the tongue, where it immediately enters the bloodstream. This delivery method is highly effective because it bypasses the pulmonary system (lungs) and digestive system (mainly the liver), decreasing CBD’s potency.

However, other methods, like capsules and gummies, can also deliver all of the desired benefits of CBD. Because consistency is crucial, it’s best to find a method that’s easy for you to work into your daily routine. If you hate taking capsules or putting things under your tongue, take gummies instead, or put your tincture in your morning tea or smoothie. Or, if you’re experiencing joint pain, consider rubbing a topical cream directly on the sore area.

If you have any questions about what kind of CBD might be best for you, how much to take, or how to take it, don’t hesitate to reach out! We are here to help.