Even though cannabis is mostly known for its psychoactive ingredient – THC, responsible for the “high” associated with marijuana, the plant is much more than that. Inside it, there’s a hidden gem that is becoming more and more popular due to its number of potential health benefits – cannabidiol, most commonly known as CBD.
While CBD is not a psychoactive ingredient, it’s still important that you don’t overdo it, as taking too much of it can, and most likely will, result in unpleasant side effects. So, how much CBD should you take? Well, that depends on several factors actually, and we’ll talk more about them (and more) below.
What Influences the Right Dosage CBD
As mentioned, the right CBD dose will differ from person to person, as there are several things that influence how your body will react to it. Some of those include:
- Weight – In most cases, people who weigh more will need a higher dose of CBD to achieve the same results as a smaller person.
- Reason why you’re taking it – The condition you want to treat using CBD plays a significant role in the right dosage, as in some cases you’ll need a much higher dose to feel relief compared to others. For instance, seizure disorders usually require more CBD than, for example, anxiety.
- Medications you take – There are some medications that might make CBD less effective than normal. Similarly, if you take medication that has similar side effects to CBD, it might result in liver toxicity. That’s why, if you take any medications regularly, you should talk to your doctor about whether CBD will interfere with those drugs.
CBD Dosage Guide Based on Weight
So, what is the right dosage for you? As mentioned, it’s rather complex, but there are some general guidelines you can follow.
Low Strength Dosage | Medium Strength Dosage | High Strength Dosage | |
80 lbs | 8 mg | 24 mg | 40 mg |
100 lbs | 10 mg | 30 mg | 50 mg |
120 lbs | 12 mg | 36 mg | 60 mg |
140 lbs | 14 mg | 42 mg | 70 mg |
160 lbs | 16 mg | 48 mg | 80 mg |
180 lbs | 18 mg | 54 mg | 90 mg |
200 lbs | 20 mg | 60 mg | 100 mg |
220 lbs | 22 mg | 66 mg | 110 mg |
240 lbs | 24 mg | 72 mg | 120 mg |
Generally speaking, you can calculate how much CBD you will require based on your weight using three simple formulas.
- Low strength dosage:
0.1 x Your body weight in lbs
- Medium strength dosage:
0.3 x Your body weight in lbs
- High strength dosage:
0.5 x Your body weight in lbs
Although, as mentioned, there are some things that impact just how potent the dose of CBD will be, these act as a good foothold – if you don’t feel the effects, you can further increase the dose.
CBD Dosage Guide Based on Conditions
A 2020 review titled Therapeutic Efficacy of Cannabidiol (CBD): A Review of the Evidence from Clinical Trials and Human Laboratory Studies combined the most common conditions for which CBD is used, and gathered the average dosages – keep in mind, they are very broad, and just because they worked for those participating in the studies included in the review, the case might be different for you.
Another thing is not all of the participants took CBD in the same form. So, for example, some of them took it in an oral form, others as a transdermal gel, yet another group as a spray, etc.
So, take it all with a grain of salt.
Medical condition | Dosage of CBD |
Anxiety | 150 – 900 mg |
Pain and inflammation | 250 – 500 mg |
PTSD | 1.5 mg |
Sleeping troubles | 300 mg |
Type 2 diabetes | 100 mg twice a day |
Intraocular pressure | 20 – 40 mg |
Parkinson’s disease | 300 mg |
Huntington’s disease | 10 mg/kg |
Schizophrenia | 200 – 800 mg |
How Much CBD to Take as a Beginner?
If you are just starting your CBD journey, the “less is more” saying will be your best friend. As a beginner, you don’t know how your body will react to the substance, which is why it is always recommended to start with a small dose, and gradually make your way up.
A starting dose of between 20 to 40 mgs should be more than enough for the first time. Then, each week you can increase the dose by 5 mg, then a week after that by another 5 mg, and so on, until you reach your desired CBD effect.
What Is the Maximum Allowed CBD Dosage?
This is actually very unclear. FSA (Food Standards Agency) from the UK and Food Standards Scotland initially recommended that healthy adults do not consume more than 70 mg of CBD daily – later on, however, they changed it to 10 mg daily. FDA, on the other hand, does not provide any official recommendations.
At the same time, however, there have been several studies where study subjects have been given up to 1,500 mg of CBD and the dosage was well-tolerated. So, truthfully, there’s no “official” maximum dosage – as long as you take it responsibly, you should be good.
How to Calculate the Dosage When There Is No Information on the Packaging?
CBD comes in many forms, and while it’s usually very easy to tell the dose in cases of CBD gummies or capsules, the matter is not as easy when it comes to CBD in liquid form, such as oil or tinctures. In some cases, the amount of CBD per drop will be specified on the packaging, but not always.
So, what to do in that case? It’s actually pretty easy to calculate and requires basic math.
Let’s say you have a 150 ml CBD oil bottle. On the packaging, it is only written that the whole bottle contains 4,500 mg of CBD. Another thing you should know is that a drop is roughly 0.05 milliliters. So, based on this information, we can calculate:
4,500 mg ÷ 150 ml = 30 mg/mL
Based on this initial calculation, we know that there’s around 30 mg of CBD per each milliliter of the CBD oil. Now, we have to calculate the amount per drop. Here’s how to do it:
30 mg/mL x 0.05 mL = 1.5 mg/drop
This calculation tells us that each drop of this CBD oil contains 1.5 mg of CBD. At this point we have all the information we need to calculate how many drops you need to consume in order to meet your ideal CBD dosage.
Let’s say that your recommended CBD dosage is 50 mg.
50 mg ÷ 1.5 mg = 33.3 drops
33 x 0.05 mL = 1.65 mL
So, to reach your desired daily dosage, you would need to consume around 33 drops of this specific CBD oil – or 1.65 mL.
Can You Develop a Tolerance to CBD?
Contrary to THC, you actually can’t develop a tolerance to CBD, meaning that the same dose won’t become less effective overtime – this is mainly due to how CBD interacts with the body.
Can You Take Too Much CBD?
Just like with any other substance, you can also take too much CBD. While it is not lethal, CBD overdose can cause you to experience some very unpleasant side effects, such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, dry mouth, drowsiness, lightheadedness and more. In rare cases, it might also result in liver damage.
The Bottom Line
While CBD dosage is a very individual matter, there are some general guidelines you can follow, at least in the beginning – later on, once you understand more how your body reacts to it and whether your symptoms become elevated, you can adjust the dose to yourself. Just be careful to not take too much, as you might have to deal with the not-so-pleasant side effects.
CBD comes in many forms – oil, tinctures, capsules, gummies, spray, edibles, and more. Which of those will be the best for you, depends mostly on your personal preferences. If you want something you can easily add to your beverages or food, then CBD oil will be a good choice. If you don’t want to deal with measuring a dose and prefer to have something with already divided dosage, then capsules or gummies are definitely something to consider.
Regardless of the CBD form, remember to buy your CBD products from reliable sources – like Get Kush. Our online dispensary takes the quality of our products very seriously, which is why only products that meet our strict criteria are available for purchase. Browse through our selection of CBD products and find the right one for yourself today!