Adding a new product to your wellness routine is exciting and it is common to expect results quickly. After a week or two, you might find yourself questioning "how long does it take for CBD to work?" "Why is CBD taking so long to notice results while others talk about how it was noticeable on day 1?"

When first integrating CBD into your wellness routine, we sometimes hear people lament that “CBD doesn’t work” after trying it sporadically for a couple of days.

The reason is complicated, but some simple things to understand are knowing what CBD feels like, knowing that everyone is different and not everyone follows the directions on how to take CBD, and knowing that everybody's internal systems are at different degrees of homeostasis.

To address these things we wanted to explore how CBD works, how long CBD takes to work, and how to use CBD when you’re just starting out.

When first adding CBD to your wellness routine, or when re-starting a CBD regimen, it can take a little time before you start to notice its impact on your body and in your life. With that, we’ll begin with a brief outline of factors that contribute to the efficacy of CBD in your life.

How to Start Using CBD

First, consistency is paramount when you’re looking for the long-term benefits of CBD. While some notice they slept a little better or recovered from workout quickly in the first week, others will tell you it can take anywhere from4-6 weeks to notice results (and even sometimes longer).

We suggest using it twice per day and starting with a low dosage and increasing it slowly. Most adults start with 10 mg per day and increase the dosage until desired results are achieved.

If using a CBD tincture, check the Supplement Facts panel to determine the amount of mg of CBD per mL. In a 30mL bottle, 1ml can be measured by emptying the dropper, then squeezing the top completely and letting the dropper fill, which is .5 mL.1ml serving size is two droppers full. In a 100mL bottle, one dropper full (it will fill about 1/3 of the dropper), equates to 1 mL.

CBD capsules provide a precise dosage per capsules indicated on the Supplement Facts panel on the label.

Many of our family members find success using it morning and evening as those are easy moments of routine – with your morning coffee, or after dinner while you’re getting ready for bed. Others notice the benefits by having a serving with lunch, and then again right before bed. One way to identify the dosage that’s best for you is to track your progress by keeping a journal to document your sensations over time.

It’s important to keep in mind as you’re beginning your CBD journey that supplementing your wellness routine with CBD is not a “quick fix”. Similar to many wellness routines like mindful eating, yoga, and exercise, it takes time for the benefits to be fully noticed. When it comes to providing long-term support for overall wellness, there are many contributing factors. With all of this in mind, let's dive deeper into how CBD works within your body and how long it takes to work.

How Long Does it Take CBD to Work?

Our amazing customer care team tells us they are often asked, “Why does CBD take so long to do anything?” We’re here to help answer that question, but also provide the science behind it.

CBD takes time to work because of how your body processes cannabinoids and how your endocannabinoid system (ECS) responds to phytocannabinoids (or plant-based cannabinoids like CBD).

While your friend might swear they felt instantaneous results from consuming Charlotte’s Web™ CBD supplements, it may take you a little longer to notice similar results. After all, each of our bodies is different. Everyone's experience with consuming CBD is different. There is ultimately no right answer when it comes to the question of “how long will it take until I feel the effects of CBD.”The answer to this question lies in the way that our bodies process CBD as well as other cannabinoids. We all possess an Endocannabinoid System (ECS). The ECS is a lipid-signaling network that works as a regulatory system in your body. It assists in maintaining a sense of internal and external physical wellbeing by interacting with other bodily systems. The main function of the ECS is to help the body achieve homeostasis. This lipid signaling system is involved in many important physiological functions in the central and peripheral nervous system and in the endocrine and immune systems.

According to scientific journals, the ECS has been linked to supporting the proper functioning of processes involved with appetite, sleep, mood, and memory. Cannabinoids, including CBD, work in conjunction with the ECS to support a variety of bodily processes and can help our bodies maintain a sense of internal and external balance.

Ideally, we would be able to achieve balance without any external support, but because we live in a world where things like stress and sleepless nights exist, sometimes we need a little help.

How much CBD do I need?

An additional factor in the length of time it takes to notice the benefits of CBD is the starting point of your body’s systems and how much CBD you’re consuming. As suggested above in the how to get started section, we suggest following the serving size listed on any bottle of full-spectrum hemp extract with naturally occurring CBD.

We all exist at different states of wellbeing so for someone whose ECS needs a little more support than someone else’s it may take a while longer to see change. Or, you may need to change CBD concentration. Charlotte’s Web™ products are labeled by how much CBD is in each mL to prevent confusion. If you’re looking for a more precise delivery system, liquid capsules contain an exact measurement in each capsule.

The benefit of using CBD oil is that you can increase (or decrease) the amount of CBD you’re taking each day based on how your body is responding to it and based on what life throws your way! If your week is extra stressful, it might be a good time to increase your frequency to 3x per day or have a little more in the morning and evening. If restful sleep cycles aren’t coming as easily as they used to, play with the times of day you’re taking CBD. Maybe a couple of hours before bed works better, or maybe minutes before bed.

When do I know it isn't working?

Before you give up on CBD try incorporating it into your routine for 4-6 weeks before you pass final judgment. Ultimately, figuring out what works best for your wellness routine requires some trial and error, but before you rule out CBD as being able to help you feel more balanced in your day-to-day consider increasing the amount of CBD you consume in a single serving, or even taking it more than twice a day. In that same vein, the way in which you choose to consume CBD also affects how your body and mind respond. Ask your friends how they consume their CBD – is it via an oil placed under the tongue for a minute before a sip of coffee? Is it mixed into a morning smoothie? Is it drizzled on top of avocado toast each day? Or, is it on-the-go from the gym to work via capsules?

Choosing capsules over oil is a personal preference. While there are studies about the differences between a body’s metabolism of CBD capsules vs. CBD oils or tinctures, we recommend finding what works best for your lifestyle. After all – the hardest part of a new wellness routine, especially cannabinoid-based wellness, is the routine of using it each day!

There is a world of options out there when it comes to adding CBD to your wellness routine, and we stand by the purity and quality of our product and advocate for the benefits of adding CBD to your daily routine.

Most reputable CBD companies want to help people integrate their products into their lives. For example, we offer a free 30-day guarantee. If the product you started off with just isn’t right for you, give us a call and we’ll talk you through suggestions for which product to try and refund whichever product didn’t work.

Creating a Routine

To heighten your chances of a positive outcome with CBDis to build a routine. By taking CBD capsules or oil at the same time each day you’ll be able to better notice whether the CBD you are taking is impacting your body and mind. It will help you identify how you feel before taking the CBD vs. how you feel after. Keeping a journal of your physical and mental state before and after could help you track changes. You’re more likely to recognize the difference CBD is making in your life if you have a record of how you were feeling before you started consuming CBD vs. how you feel after a period of 4 weeks.

By timing your consumption to around the same time each day you’re helping your body establish consistent levels of CBD in your system which could affect how your body ultimately responds to the phytocannabinoids(plant-based cannabinoids) found in Charlotte’s Web™ products.

Think back to your high school biology and chemistry classes when you had to perform experiments. Remember how one of the biggest elements that impact your scientific outcomes were each of the factors of the experiment that varied from your control?

Well, one of the ways to truly see how CBD is impacting your wellbeing is to recreate specific conditions. Give yourself a set of variables to test and set control. Remove as many outlying conditions as you possibly can and begin your CBD experiment.

So, for example, if you’d like to see how CBD impacts your sleep, try your best to create the same conditions for yourself each night. Put your electronics away for the night at the same time and mitigate factors that could lead to poor sleep such as light and noise best you can.

If you happen to be the kind of person who isn’t very good at remembering to do something at the same time every day try setting a daily alarm on your phone. Or keep your bottle of CBD supplements by your toothbrush or in another location that has something you’ll use daily (your coffee maker could be a good alternative for those who would rather take their CBD in the morning).

In general, the more consistent you are in your routine, the more likely you are to see Charlotte’s Web™ CBD positively impact your life. If you’re having trouble figuring out a place to start check out this blog post to help set you on the right path to creating a CBD supplement routine.

Why Quality Matters When Picking a CBD Product

There are no two ways about it. Quality matters. Especially when it comes to things that you are going to be consuming and will potentially impact your bodily functions.

Unfortunately, there are companies out there that don’t meet the quality and concentration standards of the products they market to contain CBD. Sadly, some companies are taking advantage of the buzz around CBD and sell products that make claims about the potency and purity of their product without having any evidence (like third-party lab testing or GMP certification of their facilities) to back them up.

When it comes to Charlotte’s Web™ products you can rest easy. Charlotte’s Web is not one of those companies. In fact, Charlotte’s Web has all our products tested and verified by a third-party company and you can see those batch results via our website. A third-party lab tests every batch for things like heavy metals, pesticides, and solvents as well as running tests for potency ensuring that the amount of CBD listed on the label is exactly the amount that you will receive.

Charlotte’s Web is dedicated to creating the best product possible. Our products are tested over 20 times before they ever reach our family of customers. Know you’re in good hands and you never have to worry about whether you’re consuming more (or less) than you intend to. This level of accuracy will help you see results when you also practice other habits such as taking your CBD at the same time every day.

What is Full-Spectrum CBD?

The fact that Charlotte’s Web creates full-spectrum products and you’re off to a good start with your CBD routine. What does it mean to create a full-spectrum CBD product? It means that Charlotte’s Web uses the entire plant when creating its products. Hemp contains so much more than just CBD. It contains a wide variety of other cannabinoids and beneficial plant compounds like terpenes and flavonoids, all of which have the potential to help your body find balance. When terpenes and flavonoids work in tandem with cannabinoids it can create what is known as the Entourage Effect. The Entourage Effect is the phrase coined to explain what happens when all of the compounds that are found in full-spectrum products work synergistically. They act together which can work better than if any compound, like CBD, were isolated. Some products contain only CBD isolate, meaning you’re missing out on the Entourage Effect that results from using a full-spectrum product.

Is CBD Legal?

The 2018 Farm Bill set the stage for this to change. It removed hemp from the Controlled Substances Act and established the federal legality of CBD: as long as a hemp-derived CBD product contains less than 0.3% THC (meaning it’s non-intoxicating). While the DEA is now officially out of the hemp regulation business, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) retains its authority to regulate ingestible and topical products, including those that contain hemp and hemp extracts. Hemp-derived CBD, no longer a controlled substance, may be sold through interstate commerce as a matter of federal law. See our infographic comparing THC vs CBD to get some facts.

Potential Effects of CBD in your Life

So, where does all of this leave us when it comes to how CBD can impact your life?

Some of the widely used applications at this time include: helping reduce exercise-induced inflammation, supporting healthy and restful sleep cycles, and helping support calm and focus while dealing with everyday stress.*

If you are still on the fence about adding CBD to your wellness routine, we urge you to not just take our word for how CBD can positively impact your life. There are countless people who have turned to CBD on their journey to whole-body wellness who can vouch for the impact it has had on their lives. We in turn promise to keep making the best product possible with each and every one of our customers in mind.

CBD is widely considered safe with an abundance of potential applications. Because of its non-intoxicating nature, it has potential uses for people of all ages.