CBD has many health benefits and helps such a wide variety of chronic conditions and severe types of pain in people that everyone is looking for ways to incorporate it into their diets. While some people enjoy using CBD as vaping oil, and others don’t mind taking drops or buying edibles that are in the form of candies, others seek some variation in their routines. 

Many people have turned to using CBD oils as a way to spice up their meals and the trend is catching on. Many manufacturers are stepping up their game and creating products especially for your kitchen. As more people turn to CBD oil and away from prescription pain medications, the demand for new products will be met by manufacturers who are seeking ways of filling each niche and sell their products to people.

Are There Recipes?

There are websites dedicated specifically to cooking with CBD oil and recipes galore. People are creating their own websites and uploading their own recipes and if you are someone looking to break into a food career from home, this might be a fantastic way you can carve out an audience. It’s beginning to boom but it is very new. Who knows? Maybe there will be a cooking show soon?

Some of the delicious recipes that you can find online are basic things like just adding a few drops of CBD oil into olive oil and tossing a salad in it. Other recipes incorporate some of the new flavored tinctures of CBD oil into glazes, frostings on desserts, sauces and more.

Deep frying with CBD oil wouldn’t be a good idea because it breaks down and it will smoke. That said, you can add it to just about any other recipe where you need some flavor and you might already add some oil to. Brownies with CBD oil are great. Strawberry sauce to go over ice-cream? Try using some strawberry flavored CBD tincture to spruce that sauce up a little. 

Cookies that have your CBD oil in them can be frozen and pulled out a few at a time for your daily doses of CBD. If you want to track how much your dosage is each day, you simply divide the entire amount of CBD you add to the recipe and divide it by the number of cookies, brownies, or servings that you make. That will give you an approximation of each dose. Since it depends on how well the CBD is mixed throughout, you can’t determine the exact amount, only approximate. Still, for most people, this is good enough to have an idea whether they are getting the dose that works best for them.

Here is an example of a recipe that is found at www.CBDdishes.com:

Cilantro-Lime Shrimp Scampi 

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 2 Tbsp CBD Unflavored Hemp (CBD) Oil
• 4 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1lb large shrimp
• 1lb angel hair pasta
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
• 2 Tbsp lime juice
• 1 tsp sea salt
• 3 Tbsp cilantro

Directions

• Cook pasta to your liking.
• While pasta is cooking, heat a skillet on high and add the olive oil. Wait until oil is simmering, then toss in the shrimp. Cook them for about 1-2 minutes on each side before moving them to a plate and setting them aside.
• Add red pepper and garlic to skillet. Sauté’ until you can really smell the garlic, then add your lime juice and white wine. Let the liquid reduce for 2-2½ minutes before whisking in the butter and CBD oil. Add ½ cup of your boiling pasta water.
• Drain your pasta, then add it to your skillet. Sprinkle on the cilantro and salt and give it a little toss. Serve immediately while still hot.

This is a wonderful recipe that is low-level difficulty and fast. You can have supper ready in less than twenty minutes and serve up to 5 people. Add salad, garlic bread and a glass of wine or a CBD Cocktail to create a fabulous spread, fit for a king.

Creating healthy meals with CBD such as this one above is a wonderful way for the entire family to enjoy the benefits of CBD and also to get children to take CBD for seizures or ADHD without even knowing they are taking something to help calm them. Since children are so difficult to get to take anything they think is ‘medicine’, adding CBD to their food or drinks is a fantastic way for parents to get them to cooperate without an argument at all. Visit their website for more ideas and recipes.

Which CBD Oil is Best?

When it comes to choosing an oil for cooking, you can use tinctures or drops. Tinctures will have flavors added to them and can come in a wide variety of flavors. One of the best selections can be found here.

You can even purchase honey that has CBD oil infused into it and that honey can be used in several ways. From a spread on biscuits, to whipping CBD with butter to create a delicious, buttery topping for steamed vegetables, toast, and much more. Anything that you can think of that would be wonderful with a buttery sweetness is fair game.

Tinctures can also be added to cocktails that you enjoy. CBD oil pairs well with alcohol because it seems to balance out the tendency of alcohol to cause irritability or depression in some individuals. Strawberry tincture in a strawberry daiquiri, a mint flavored tincture in a mint julep or get crazy and add bubble gum flavor into your favorite drink and see what happens. Experiment as much as you desire. You may create your own mixture of flavors as unique as you are. There’s really no right or wrong when it comes to mixing a drink, a flavor creation, or changing a recipe to reflect your own person tastes. 

When it comes to the oils themselves, and the quality of the products, there are some good guidelines that you should follow. Understanding the terminology of the CBD industry will help you the most. Let’s talk about the lingo of CBD. Here is a short glossary of terms:

• CBD – Cannabidiol, a phytocompound of the cannabis plant.
• THC – Tetrahydrocannabinol, also a phytocompound of cannabis.
• Phytocompound – “Phyto” means plant. Therefore, a plant compound.
• Endocannabinoid System – The ECS is part of the human body that creates its own cannabinoids and uses them but can also use and process cannabinoids introduced from outside sources.
• Full-spectrum – CBD oil that is produced from the entire hemp plant, not just one part. This gives a more uniform concentration of CBD because the concentrations vary per location in the plant.
• CBD isolate – This is CBD that has been extracted by molecular isolation, producing the purest type of CBD and this is sought for those who are suffer in chronic pain or with cancer. This will provide the best benefit in strength.
• Terpenes – The part of CBD that gives it its distinctive odor and color. It is generally strong.
• Flavonoids – The part of CBD that gives it the taste that it has naturally.
• CO2 extraction – One of the ways in which CBD is extracted from the plant matter. It involves pumping high concentrations of carbon dioxide into the sealed container of plant particulate.
• Hemp – The cannabis plant that is used for industrial purposes, including CBD extraction, due to its naturally low levels of THC.
• Sativa – The cannabis plant that marijuana is taken from, specifically from the buds of this plant, because of its high levels of THC. This is used for medical marijuana. Many particular strains are cultivated for their potent levels of THC.
• Cannabinoids – Parts of the cannabis plants. THC and CBD are cannabinoids and so are the products that they are a part of. Marijuana is considered a cannabinoid.
• Hemp Seed Oil – Made from the seeds of the hemp plant only. The seeds have the lowest concentrations of CBD oil, therefore these will be the weakest version of CBD you might purchase. This would be suitable for someone who wishes to take CBD as a supplement or as a remedy for bowels or stomach upset. This is not the best choice for someone in a great deal of pain, with a chronic condition or the like.

This brief overview of the many terms you may come across when researching products will come in very handy. Hopefully, you will not be left completely confused.

The labels of products will tell you what type of oil it is, right on the front label. Typically, you’ll see something like “Full-spectrum CBD Oil” or Full-Spectrum CO2 CBD Oil” which will tell you all that you need to know. Other times you may want to check out the website of a company to know the extraction process if you cannot find it on the label. If it isn’t there, that is typically an indication that it was extracted via chemicals or solvents. You should want to know, since those chemicals or solvents could still be in the oil in trace amounts and you could be introducing those into your body.

Also, on the front of the label underneath the type of product, it will show the milligrams. This indicates how many milligrams (mg) are in the entire bottle. Most bottles will contain 30 servings, which is about one dropper full. If you divide the total amount by 30, you’ll know approximately how many mg you are taking with each dropper of product. If you use only half a dropper, then divide by 60 for your dose. A 1500mg bottle will contain 30 droppers that are 50mg doses.

This is how you’d also determine how much is in a single cookie you make. You’d know how much is in each dropper that you add to your recipe, then divide that amount by how many cookies you made. 3 droppers with 50 mg is 150mg total. 24 cookies will have 6.25mg each. Now you know how to determine the type of oil you are getting and how to apply it to your recipes.

What Else Should You Know About CBD? 

The Farm Bill of 2018 was passed in December of that year. This legalized the growing of hemp products for industrial use. This is expected to open the market up to the sales of products like never before. While many states have their own laws on the books, it is expected that the signing of the Farm Bill will supersede these laws and so far, no one is challenging that. You should still check into your local and state laws in regards to CBD use and possession.

CBD doesn’t contain more than .03% THC which means that isn’t a psychoactive drug like marijuana is. For this reason, many states have legalized the use of CBD already, with certain restrictions. For example, some states require a doctor to write a prescription. Since the Farm Bill was signed, many believe that this is no longer a requirement, but you should do your own research and determine what is best for you.

The absence of THC in the CBD products means that you are not likely to fail a drug test because these tests check for THC and nothing else. Because there are minute traces of THC in the CBD products, there is a slight chance you could have a positive drug test, but it is very unlikely. No one can guarantee you one way or the other though, because it is based on how much product that you are using.

CBD is non-addictive and the potential side-effects are generally mild and only come from using too much oil at once. Taking a small amount and gradually working your way up to a dose that is the most beneficial for your condition is the best thing to do. If you experience any of the common side-effects of diarrhea, headache, cramping, or nausea, simply reduce your dosages for a few days and start with a lower dose, working up more gradually. None of the side-effects are permanent. Most go away in a few hours or a day. Once your body acclimates to the CBD oil, you can taper your dose up.

There are no withdrawals if you stop using CBD oil. You will not face the issues that you do with prescription medications and you’ll also note that CBD oil will take affect on your body faster than most prescription drugs do. If you are using CBD for bipolar or depression, for example, you’ll find that CBD helps immediately whereas prescriptions for the same issue can take weeks to begin working to alleviate your symptoms. For this reason, CBD is a much better choice for most people, and it will not harm your kidneys or liver in the process either. You won’t need constant blood tests while taking CBD to ensure that you aren’t harming your body. That’s a huge benefit and reason enough, for most people, to use CBD oil instead of drugs in their body.

In fact, CBD is so safe that products are made especially for children and for pets. Dogs are known to suffer from separation anxiety. Some are quite destructive when overcome with anxiety in their owner’s absence. Those who have to leave the house for work sometimes find that their dog cries and barks the entire time, as well as needs to be in a crate to keep from destroying the house. CBD oil is also infused in dog treats such as CBD Hemp Treats from InnovetPet and CBD Soft Chews from InnovetPet and pet foods to help your dog with this issue and it seems to have quite a lot of good reviews. You could even add it to your dog’s food if you wanted.

CBD Products for children are made to help with ADHD and with sleeping issues. Anyone who has had a two-year old knows that nightmares and sleep disturbances can go on for months with little sleep for the parents as well. Using CBD in a before bed snack will not only help a toddler to go to sleep, but it will help them stay asleep all night. This is a huge benefit for your child but probably more helpful to the sleep-deprived parents. It’s also better for them than giving them Benadryl or a prescription sleep aid.

Being Realistic

Anyone who wants to use CBD should take the time to understand all of their options and how to use it to their best advantage. You should also understand the law in your area and, most of all, you should understand what CBD does and doesn’t do. CBD will not cure a disease or condition. It may work differently from one person to the next and it may require a much higher dose for some people.

CBD can alleviate symptoms to a point, in some people, that they feel as though they’ve been cured but that is not the case. CBD can only stop signals from reaching your brain and causing depression, overreaction to pain, tremors and seizures, triggers from reaching the brain that start PTSD reactions and similar things. When the signals never reach the brain, the brain cannot react and that means that that you don’t feel the affects anymore. It feels like it could be a cure but don’t imagine that you are cured. Know CBD for what it is, an incredible tool to help you enjoy life. Add it to your food and add it to your life. Start enjoying yourself again and know that you’ve chosen a healthier option.