Recommended CBD Dosages

How to Find your Best CBD Dosage: From People to Pets

Cannabidiol (CBD) is finally being recognized around the world for the countless health benefits and therapeutic effects it offers. But because the CBD industry is still in its early stages, it’s very common for users to find themselves feeling lost when trying to discover what CBD dosage is best for them.

There are a few steps to figuring all this out, so here’s a quick guide with everything you need to accurately determine your CBD dosages.

Getting Started: The Difficulties with CBD Dosages

Although the popularity of CBD has risen dramatically over the last couple decades, without established CBD regulations, official resources designed to help CBD users manage their dosages don’t really exist.

In fact, the FDA hasn’t published a recommended daily intake for CBD products and nutritional supplements, meaning CBD doesn’t even have an official serving size.

Because of this, it can be hard for newcomers to accurately gauge what dosages are right for them. Plus, there’s no one-size-fits all rule when it comes to CBD, which is why the dosage recommendations you might hear from friends and family usually equate to random shots in the dark (which we don’t recommend you follow).

Rather, to make the most of CBD treatments it’s important to understand that every individual body is unique, and the efficacy of certain dosages will differ from person to person.

With all this in Mind: You’ll need to do minor calculations, and some slow and steady experimentation, before your ideal dosage is found.

Discovering your Ideal CBD Dosage

To determine a comfortable and effective dosage of CBD, multiple factors need to be considered, including:

• Your bodyweight
• Your diet and metabolism
• The condition you are treating
• How CBD reacts to your unique body chemistry
• Your tolerance to CBD

Taking all these influences into account for a starting dosage may seem a little complicated at first, so we’ve put together a handy CBD dosage chart to help you out.

Step 1: Calculating your Starting CBD Dosage

From the chart above, you’ll notice the biggest factors in finding a good starting CBD dosage are your body weight, and a personal evaluation of the discomfort you’re feeling.

Depending on the severity of a user’s pain, 1-6 milligrams of CBD are recommended for every 10 pounds of body weight. Like with most substances, someone with a low body mass will need a smaller dosage of CBD to feel the same effects as someone maintaining a higher body mass.

So, while a person weighing 140 pounds who’s experiencing relatively low pain would want to take about 15 milligrams of CBD, another person weighing 200 pounds experiencing a similar pain would need closer to 20 milligrams of CBD to achieve the same relieving effect.

But Remember: Because every individual reacts to CBD a little differently, the numbers seen above are only a suggested starting point. Once you’ve calculated a good place to start, it’s time to experiment with small dosage adjustments to find that perfect balance.

Step 2: Evaluating Effects and Adjusting Treatments

The best way to find your ideal CBD dosage is by starting small and gradually increasing doses until obtaining desired results. However, as is true is for all medicines, users shouldn’t take more CBD than they require.

The reason being, excessive CBD intake builds a body’s tolerance against it, meaning higher dosages will become necessary to achieve the previously felt effects. By measuring and monitoring intake responsibly with self-imposed CBD regulations, users will be able to continually enjoy the benefits of CBD treatments unhindered.

From the CBD dosage chart above, choose a reasonable starting dosage on the low end of your body-to-pain calculations.

Experiment with that dosage for at least three days to allow your body to acclimate to that level of CBD. After those days are complete, evaluate the effects and adjust to a higher or lower dosage as desired. Repeat this process until your perfect dosage is discovered.

But Remember: If you experience any uneasiness when trying a higher dosage, immediately decrease to a lower one before trying again. When used correctly, CBD should not produce any negative effects in its users.

Measuring CBD Dosages by Product

Understanding the right amount of CBD to start with is a big step, but unfortunately, you’re not done yet.

Now that you know your desired dosage in milligrams, next you need to accurately enter that amount into your system. The problem is, when it comes to measuring dosages, every type of CBD product works a little differently.

So, here’s a look at a few of the more common CBD industry products and how to gauge their dosages:

CBD Tinctures

CBD tinctures are one of the easiest ways to consume CBD treatments.

All you need to do is fill the dropper with oil from the tincture, place the drops beneath your tongue, leave it there for 30-90 seconds, and swallow. However, to accurately administer a CBD dosage you must first determine how much CBD is in a drop.

Tinctures are labeled with their contained concentration of CBD, and usually come with droppers that hold 1ml of oil. By applying some simple mathematics, we can use that information to figure out how to apply an accurate dosage.

For Example: If you purchase a 30ml tincture that contains 500mg of CBD, then by dividing the total CBD in the tincture by the milliliters of oil in the bottle, you’ll determine how many milligrams of CBD fit in a 1ml dropper.

Here’s what the equation looks like.

[Milligrams of CBD in Tincture] ÷ [Milliliters of Oil in Bottle] = [Dosage in a dropper]

Inputting those numbers, this equation reads as the following.

500mg CBD ÷ 30ml Oil = 16.6mg of CBD

Using this number as a frame of reference, from here your CBD dosages are easily adjusted.

If you wanted to take an 8mg dose of CBD, then just fill your dropper halfway. Or say you want a 24mg dose, but don’t have a tincture with a higher concentration of CBD. In that case you’d simply fill your dropper with CBD oil one and a half times.

CBD Vaping

As you’ve likely seen from CBD oil news reports, vaping is one of the most common ways people intake CBD. This method’s popularity is largely because, when compared to other treatments, vaping provides the fastest bodily response to CBD.

It works by inhaling vaporized CBD oils with an electronically heated vape pen to absorb CBD directly through the lungs. Vaping requires either CBD e-liquids or CBD cartridges to be loaded as fuel, with both choices being equally effective in administering treatments.

Just like tinctures, cartridges and e-liquids typically come in 1ml sizes and are labeled with CBD concentrations that can be used to calculate your dosage.

For Example: If you are using a 450mg bottle of e-liquid, we can perform some quick calculations to figure out how much CBD a single tank of e-liquid contains.

Let’s look at this in equation form.

[Milligrams of CBD in e-liquid bottle] ÷ [Milliliters of Oil in an e-liquid tank] = [Dosage in a Vape Pen]

Replacing the formula with our example numbers, we get this.

450mg CBD ÷ 1ml e-liquid = 45mg CBD in a Vape Pen

What’s important to keep in mind with vaping, however, is that the amount of e-liquid vaporized and inhaled depends on the drags of the user. Unless an entire tank is consumed in a short session, the exact amount of CBD inhaled is harder to determine.

This makes the intake of dosages through a vape pen tricky to monitor precisely, but with regular use, most users report being able to quickly acclimate to, and reliably predict, vaping’s effects.

CBD Salves

CBD salves are great for relieving localized pain, inflammation, swelling, soreness, and other bodily discomforts through topically applied CBD treatments.

Salves work best when they are massaged into an area of skin, and then left undisturbed to ensure the treatment is completely absorbed. To prevent CBD salves from accidentally smearing away, it’s a good idea to keep treated areas lightly covered with clothing or bandages.

When it comes to determining how much to use, salve containers are labeled with their concentration of CBD and are usually sold by the ounce. We can take that label information to more accurately apply our dosages.

For Example: If you are working with a 2oz of salve that contains 1000mg of CBD, some quick weighing and measuring will help determine how much to apply.

Let’s look at how to calculate all that.

[Milligrams of CBD in Salve] ÷ [Ounces of Salve in a Container] = [Dosage per Ounce]

With a 2oz container, that’s easily translated to the following.

1000mg CBD ÷ 2oz Salve = 500mg CBD per Ounce of Salve

Meaning, if you want to apply a 100mg dosage, you’d simply need to weigh and rub 0.20 ounces of your CBD salve to the irritated area of skin. For 60mg, you would want 0.12 ounces. Accurate measurements will require a measuring container or a digital scale to determine the exact ounces of a salve treatment. However, if those tools are unavailable, estimations and experimentation will provide valuable results as well.

Regardless of how you choose to measure your CBD salve, after the first few treatments, most users find it easy to estimate and apply an amount of salve that works best for them.

CBD Softgels

For users seeking the most accurate CBD treatment possible, Softgels provide exact CBD concentrations in convenient pre-measured doses.

Softgel treatments are generally preferred for their reliability, and for being one of the easiest ways to intake CBD. Simply pop them in your mouth and swallow.

When it comes to measuring dosages, CBD gels are sold packed together and state their CBD concentration on the label. With this information in hand, determining an accurate CBD gel dosage becomes simpler than a cakewalk.

For example: If you have a 750mg container of CBD gels, with 30 individual gels packed together, the following formula will calculate the dosage size of a single gel.

[Milligrams of total CBD in Container] ÷ [Number of gels in Container] = [Dosage per Gel]

Inputting the numbers from this example, here’s what we get.

750mg CBD ÷ 30 Gels = 25mg of CBD per Gel

Because CBD gels contain precise amounts of CBD, users can effortlessly achieve their desired dosages from here. If you want a 25 milligram treatment, just take one gel. If you desire an 80 milligram treatment, take three or four gels, understanding you’ll fall either just short or above that exact dosage.

Remember: Dosages do not need to be 100% exact to be effective. But knowing roughly how much CBD you take is important to gauge your effects, and eventually achieve best results.

Determining CBD Dosages for Pets

Veterinarian approved CBD treatments are great for maintaining the health and wellness of your furry companions at home.

From treating symptoms of anxiety and digestive issues, to relieving the aches and pains that come with aging, CBD treatments have already helped countless animals manage their ailments. This includes more severe conditions as well, such as treating cancer symptoms and preventing epileptic seizures.

Really, there isn’t much difference between the ways humans and animals are able to benefit from CBD. But when determining dosages for your household pets, you’ll need to account for their different body composition and lower weight.

Step 1: Calculating your Pet CBD Dosage

Like with humans, the main factors to keep in mind are the animal’s weight and the severity of their condition. But as shown above, when it comes to pets you’ll want to reduce dosages down to a range between 0.25 milligrams to 0.5 milligrams of CBD for every pound they weigh.

So, while a cat weighing 8 pounds who’s experiencing a relatively mild condition would be well treated with only 2 milligrams of CBD, a dog weighing 30 pounds experiencing a similar condition would require about 7.5 milligrams of CBD for effective results.

But Remember: Every single body is unique, regardless if it belongs to a human being or an animal friend. While this chart is a great starting off point to find an effective dosage for your pets, some additional experimentation is required on your end.

Start with low dosages and observe how well your furry friends respond to treatments for at least three days of administration. If results are lacking, only then should you consider adjusting toward higher CBD dosages.

Step 2: Measuring Pet CBD Dosages by Product

When you’ve determined the right amount of CBD to begin giving your pet, the last step is finding a way to accurately administer that dosage to them.

Thankfully, CBD industry pet products work identically to treatments designed for humans, so figuring out the dosages here shouldn’t be anything new.

Whether you want to feed your dog flavored CBD treats, or apply sublingual drops of CBD oil to your cat orally, all necessary information about a product’s CBD concentration and volume will be listed on its packaging.

By applying the same equations for product-types we’ve shown above, and correlating those results with your animal’s bodyweight and condition, you’ll be able to easily calculate and administer effective CBD treatments for them.