For the majority of CBD oil products on the market, the dosing method will mention to take it sublingually. For most people, this isn’t a common term used and we get a lot of questions asking how you properly take a sublingual dose, and what the reasoning is to use sublingual dosing. So this page will hopefully clear up some of the confusion, and help you get the most out of your product!
What’s Special About Sublingual Dosing?
First a definition of the term sublingual.
Sublingual is a fancy word with its roots in Latin – it’s literally defined as “under the tongue”. In medicine the term is used for any medicine or substance absorbed into the body through either a tablet, liquid, film or spray by being held under the tongue for a short time.
While there are definitely other ways to take CBD – there are benefits to sublingual entry into the body. Speed of absorption and the relative level of potency in the body achievable.
Absorption under the tongue is much faster than simply absorbing orally or through the skin. This is due to the mucous membrane being a huge bunch of capillary veins that allow small molecules such as CBD to diffuse directly into the bloodstream. This can take a very short amount of time (30-45 minutes to reach maximum bloodstream levels from a dose) which is perfect for when you want the effects of CBD immediately.
The absorption into the capillaries is also critical to the explanation of the second benefit of sublingual CBD. As compounds are absorbed into the bloodstream directly, they bypass entry through gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Anything that enters your body through your GI tract comes with the risk that the CBD content will be greatly reduced before it manages to make it into your bloodstream.
CBD passing through the stomach will be exposed to various enzymes, bile and stomach acid – which will all destroy or inactivate a percentage before it even passes out to the liver.
Once in the liver it will enter something called “First-pass metabolism”. This is your liver doing its job – inactivating and modifying any compounds that enter the body in order to make them nice and harmless to your body. The downside to this is it inactivates and ruins all that lovely CBD you’ve just spent your money on and you’ll end up getting much less bang for your buck in the long run.
The benefit of being absorbed directly into the blood stream through the capillaries bypasses first-pass metabolism, meaning increased potency of CBD doses can be achieved with much smaller doses.
How To Get The Most Out Of Your Product
CBD taken sublingually will stay in the bloodstream at maximum levels for around 4-5 hours after a dose. Sometimes levels can last longer – it varies from person to person – another explanation could be that some slips down the throat and travels through your GI system, meaning some will enter the bloodstream gradually over time.
The Tried and Tested Method for Sublingual CBD
Using either a dropper or a spray, place one or two drops/sprays under your tongue. Then leave that under your tongue – you can swill it around your mouth to really get it absorbed in all the tissues and avoid saturating a specific area, then let it sit for a minute and then swallow. The whole process before swallowing should take around 1-2 minutes.
Here’s a little extra tip: Absorption rates can be higher shortly after eating. This is because all that chewing increases the blood flow around your mouth allowing the CBD to be absorbed by the capillaries quicker, nice!
Here’s a little diagram below:
Using these tips will ensure you can get a full strength hit of CBD when you need it, wherever you need it!
As always we recommend consulting a physician if you are at all unsure about taking CBD in conjunction with other medication, or to assist with any medical conditions.