How to Use CBD Flowers? Best Ways to Consume Them
Enny SoyinkaFollow us on 
Using the best CBD flowers is a great alternative to buying expensive CBD products. From vaporizing to infusing to combusting, there several ways to acquire its benefits. However, to reap its full rewards, you should be aware of the processes and the dangers involved in these methods.
Reminder: Potential Benefits of Using CBD Flowers
Since it is an all-natural product, CBD flowers can have several potential health benefits. From helping relieve muscle inflammation to improving sleep quality, here are some major ways in which it may improve your system.
CBD flowers have the potential to help relieve symptoms of insomnia by helping regulate the body's stress. Cortisol is the hormone responsible for these symptoms as this substance activates the body's fight or flight response. When it gets produced in excess at night, it results in an inability to sleep.
By influencing the production of this hormone, CBD flowers help improve the quality and duration of your sleep.
CBD flowers contain cannabidiol, which helps regulate the body's immune system. This substance interacts with the body's cannabinoids to signal the immune system to stop/reduce the inflammation of joints and muscles.
Studies show that the CBD in CBD flowers can potentially help substance recovery. By helping lower the frequency and strength of “urges,” this substance could help patients recover faster and stay sober.
How To Consume Your CBD Flowers Correctly?
1. Vaporizing CBD Flowers
In the US, only CBD with less than 0.3% THC is legal for federal use, according to the FDA. For this reason, you should ensure that your CBD flowers clear this criterion before vaporizing them. When choosing your vaporizer, you should also opt for one with convection heating rather than conduction heating, as there is a chance of combustion with the latter.
Vaporizing CBD flowers leads to a higher bioavailability as the CBD enters the bloodstream directly via the lungs. As a result, you are typically able to feel the effects of the substance within a minute. In addition, vaporizing is safer than smoking CBD flowers because it involves o combusting. The chemical composition of the CBD flowers thus remains unchanged and does not cause harm to the lungs by transforming into tar or carbon monoxide.
When vapourising CBD flowers, one of the main issues you will face is “cotton-mouth,” caused by the presence of terpenes in the dried buds. When you inhale these CBD fumes, your mouth will likely dry, but drinking water in such a scenario will make the effects of the CBD flowers fade faster.
2. Infusing CBD Flowers
One way to avoid such a situation is to infuse CBD flowers in oil. Not only will this method make intake easier, but it will also increase its applications while helping preserve the CBD longer. To infuse CBD flowers, you need the following items.
- A carrier oil
- A strainer
- A heater/oven
To access the full benefits of CBD flowers, the buds have to go through decarboxylation. This process is crucial because it actives the essential cannabinoids in the cannabis flowers responsible for its characteristic effects.
To do this, you must preheat your oven to 250 Degrees Fahrenheit before putting in your shredded cannabis flowers. Once the oven is ready, you can add your buds and wait 30 to 45 minutes for the flowers to get decarboxylated.
Once the CBD flowers are ready, you will need to have your carrier oil ready. For the next step, add the flowers to the oil and let it simmer at temperatures between 130 to 160 Degrees Fahrenheit for anywhere between half an hour to a full hour. You should use a naturally fatty oil like coconut or avocado in this method because they absorb the CBD better. Once ready, you can use the strainer to remove the plant matter while storing the infused CBD flower oil for future use. You can now use this oil for cooking food, use it as a dressing, or even add it to your pre-made food or drink.
3. Cooking With CBD Flowers
On its own, CBD flowers may be too bitter or earthy tasting for beginners to get into. But incorporating CBD flowers into your food will help mask the hempy taste of cannabis. Unlike infusion or even vaporizing, cooking with CBD flowers takes minimum effort.
When cooking with this substance, you can choose to decarboxylate your flowers during the infusion process. But this step is not mandatory, and you can even use shredded sun-dried cannabis flowers for cooking CBD food. Some of the most popular items when cooking with CBD flowers are brownies.
To make CBD flower brownies, add dried shredded flowers into the brownie mix before popping them into the oven. You can also use the same mix to make CBD flower pancakes by adding the dried cannabis buds into your pancake batter. The flavour of the brownie and pancake will mask the taste of hemp while still providing you with the characteristic benefits of CBD.
However, one of the disadvantages of cooking with CBD flowers is that it results in lower bioavailability. When taken orally, CBD flowers must first be digested before getting absorbed into the bloodstream. Since it is being taken with food in this case, the beneficial effects of the CBD are likely to be doubly dulled.
Dangers of Smoking CBD Flowers
Gum and Teeth Problems
CBD flowers consist of plant matter like terpenes and waxes; these substances, when burnt, resulting in the formation of tar, which can stain your teeth. Smoking CBD flowers also demineralize your enamel layer, making it difficult to whiten your teeth.
Tooth decay and gum disease also result in the absence of saliva. This happens when smoking CBD flowers, which causes a decrease in the mouth's saliva production, also known as “cotton mouth.”
Throat and Lung Damage
As with any form of smoking, smoking CBD flowers can result in significant lung damage. The CBD smoke also damages the throat and larynx, so combusting CBD flowers is not recommended. In addition, CBD flowers are pure lant matter and contain tars and carcinogens, which damage the lungs when smoked.
The side effects of smoking CBD flowers also include
- Palpitations
- Mood swings
- Nausea
- Fatigue
Can Consumption Methods Have an Impact on the Effects?
Consumption methods greatly impact the effects of CBD on the body. Studies show that oral intake is the least effective way to use CBD flowers as it has the lowest bioavailability. This method also takes the longest to produce beneficial effects. In contrast, of the three, vapourising is shown to have the highest bioavailability.
This is because the effects of the CBD flowers get diluted when mixed with food. In addition, it starts having an effect only after it broken by the digestive system, a process that can take over an hour. On the other hand, vaporizing CBD flowers allows the CBD in these buds to enter the bloodstream directly via the lungs. Furthermore, there is no dilution of any sort with this consumption method. Such a technique leads to a more potent result. If you are looking for the best CBD flowers for anxiety, read this article.
Final Thoughts
If you want to experiment with homemade cannabis, vaporizing, infusing, or cooking with CBD flowers is a great way to start. These substances have low THC leading to a lower risk of a psychoactive reaction in your body.
At the same time, be vigilant when choosing your plant from the best CBD flower companies. It would help if you made it a point to choose Cannabis sativa instead of Cannabis indica variants. The former has low to negligible quantities while the latter abounds with THC, the main hallucinogenic in cannabis. For this reason, you should always buy CBD flowers and buds from a reliable brand/ company/ supplier, as mistaking the two can cause unpredictable results.
Sources:
https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT03877991
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4444130/
https://www.fda.gov/news-events/public-health-focus/fda-regulation-cannabis-and-cannabis-derived-products-including-cannabidiol-cbd
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