How to Dose CBD Edibles
Knowing your ideal CBD dose as a new consumer feels near-impossible.
Between all the different CBD infusion methods, wide ranges of doses needed for different health applications, and shifting effect needs from day to night, it can feel overwhelming trying to find what works for you.
This is especially true of CBD edibles, as the time delay from consumption to feeling final effects can make pinpointing the right CBD edible dose an especially frustrating process.
We’ve already provided some general guidance on how to use CBD edibles for seniors in our past blog, but we found dosing CBD to be the most important aspect of using CBD successfully for consumers of all ages, deserving of its own examination.
With this guide, you’ll be able to confidently begin experimenting to find the right CBD edible dose ranges for your unique needs, day and night.
CBD Dosing: The Basics
Factors Impacting CBD Dose “Strength”
While how much CBD you should take is a main concern with new consumers, it’s important to note that the CBD molecule is only one piece of the puzzle in your hemp product, especially if it is full spectrum.
CBD edible dose strength is affected by the “Entourage effect” of active hemp compounds maintained in full spectrum CBD products, as many of these compounds have unique interactions with CBD and affect how our bodies are able to metabolize the products.
Active hemp compounds beyond CBD include:
THC - also called Delta-9-THC is the euphoric cannabinoid (which must be below 0.3% by weight in hemp & CBD products) which works synergistically with CBD to produce unique benefits. Visit our “THC” page for info on how this cannabinoid impacts dosing & drug testing when found in CBD products.
Minor Cannabinoids - other molecules similar in structure to CBD & THC that occur in low levels in hemp. Some minor cannabinoids, like Delta-8-THC, have euphoric effects at some doses, so be sure to consider their concentration in your final edible dose! Click the hyperlink above to explore the individual effects + benefits these cannabinoids might offer on their own & in full spectrum products.
Terpenes - Modern craft hemp has a rich diversity of beneficial terpenes you may already be enjoying from other natural sources. Use the Hemp Terpene guide linked above to learn the effects, scents & health benefits of the common hemp terpenes.
The presence of these additional active compounds will directly impact how your dose of CBD feels.
So how can you know if these compounds are present in your CBD products?
The best way is to check the lab results & confirm the labeling of your product, which we’ll dive into in Section 4 of this blog, “How to Verify Your CBD Dose”.
Beyond the chemical matrix of your CBD product, the dose of CBD needed can also be impacted by several other factors, including:
consumption method - ingesting CBD in a tincture, a CBD edible, or inhaling smoked hemp flower/a CBD “vape” will all produce different experiences!
CBD edible infusion method - such as full spectrum vs CBD isolate vs broad spectrum “distillate” - read our blog on CBD infusion to learn more!
your hydration & hunger level when consuming CBD
your current midset & emotions when eating CBD edibles
your overall health & medication schedule - check with your doctor about possible cannabinoid interactions with your current medications, as both CBD and THC may interfere with the liver enzymes that break down other medicines in the body.
Onset & Duration - Key Considerations for CBD Edibles
You may have heard the terms “onset” and “duration” in relation to edibles - these two metrics are vitally important when experimenting with your CBD dose!
Figure 1: Onset of CBD Edibles
Onset is the amount of time that passes from when you consume the CBD edible to when effects are first felt.
As you can see in Figure 1, initial onset of your CBD edible may take as little as 15-20 minutes to up to 2 hours or more for those with slower metabolisms & digestion cycles.
Be sure to allow ample time to pass after consuming your first dose to allow a chance for effects to begin before taking any more CBD.
This will help prevent overconsumption, which may lead to possible negative side-effects and unnecessary waste of your CBD products.
Figure 2: Duration of CBD Edible Effects
Duration is how long the effects of your CBD dose will last before you need to reconsume.
CBD edible effects typically last an average of 2-6 hours for most standard CBD doses, and up to 8+ hours for higher doses taken at once.
While Figure 2 shows a typical duration curve for CBD edibles, your peak effects point and total experience duration will likely vary.
Keep your ideal effects duration in mind when deciding what your dose should be - do you need your CBD effects to last all day, or through the night for sleep support? Would you prefer to regularly micro-dose CBD for lighter effects over long periods of wakefulness?
Consider your individual needs to decide what’s best for you on the preferred duration of your CBD edible and dose accordingly.
What CBD Edible Dose is Right for Me?
There are several key points to consider to help guide you to the right CBD edible dose.
1st - consider whether you need to use CBD during the day or night - most CBD edible consumers find heavier doses to be more relaxing, so use during the daytime may require a lighter CBD dose, especially for new users.
Therefore, the CBD dose needed for sleep support will likely be significantly higher than a CBD dose for daytime use to offer consistent sleep-supporting effects throughout the night.
Because of the delayed onset and prolonged duration of CBD edibles compared to CBD tinctures or vapes, edibles will often be the best product choice when using CBD for sleep support.
2nd - Be sure to consider your personal experience with cannabis and cannabinoids in edibles to gauge how CBD & full-spectrum edibles might effect you.
Always check the THC concentration in your CBD edible - including both Delta-9-THC and the less-psychoactive Delta-8-THC - and consider the possible intoxicating effects of residual THC before trying a dose, especially for daytime CBD edible use when you may have work or errands to attend to without potential psychoactive effects intruding!
You should also consider the severity of the symptoms or health conditions you’re looking to manage with the help of CBD to inform your dosage & consumption frequency needs.
The correct CBD dose for specific medical conditions is best determined with the help of an informed cannabinoid medicine practitioner.
Plant medicine experts like our “Periodic Effects Podcast” recurring guests Dr. Dustin Sulak & Dr. Michele Ross are working to help patients determine how to best use CBD medically for specific needs and lifestyle preferences.
In general, consumer surveys suggest that the average CBD edible dose is about 25mg of CBD per dose, with most consumers taking between 2-4 doses per day - but this can vary widely depending on when and how you want to use CBD!
For CBD edibles with Delta-8-THC, be sure you’re starting low & slow on both cannabinoids - Delta-8-THC is less psychoactive than Delta-9, but can still have euphoric effects for many consumers. Start with a Delta-8-THC dose of 10mg or less for your first consumption, and go slow on increasing your dose until your optimum effects are felt.
Your daily CBD dose range will depend on the severity of your symptoms or other health factors at play that day. You may need an extra CBD dose post-workout to help with fatigue & recovery after physical exertion, or to decrease your dose based on a particularly busy schedule for the day to avoid feeling too relaxed to stay motivated.
Age & existing medical conditions also play an important role in CBD dosing!
The CBD dose for elderly consumers with common senior health concerns will likely be substantially higher than a daily dose for a younger person using CBD for light mood enhancement during the day.
Seniors often benefit from not only higher CBD doses, but also mixed-ratio CBD + THC products with medically beneficial terpenes to better address a range of health conditions.
Seniors can also benefit from re-dosing CBD edibles throughout the day and evening for more prolonged, gentle CBD effects & health benefits.
However, some Seniors may feel especially sensitive to the effects of cannabinoids due to a lack of experience with taking them in the past, especially in edibles.
If you’re sensitive to medications or intoxicants like alcohol or THC, or if you feel an hesitancy about trying CBD & THC for senior health needs, be sure to start low on dosing and increase your dose slowly to avoid an overconsumption event leading to discomfort.
What’s a Good CBD Edible Dose for a First-Timer?
Figure 3: Click CBD Edible Dosing Chart to Expand Size
If you’re completely new to consuming foods with CBD and cannabinoids in general, we recommend starting with a standard single edible dose of 10mg of CBD or less to test the effects, especially in full spectrum edibles that contain Delta-9 or Delta-8-THC.
You can even start as low as 2.5mg of CBD for your very first edible dose if you’re sensitive to medications or concerned about possible effects.
Use the CBD Edible Dosing Chart we’ve created here (figure 3) to guide your experimentations with the right CBD dose for your experience level & the type of effects you’re looking for.
Keep in mind that this is just a general set of guidelines for most adult consumers, and not a definitive dosing guide for all users!
CBD dosing recommendations to the mg/kg level, like those a doctor uses for traditional pharmaceutical medications, are not yet widely available and will require more research & refinement of hemp product formulations to establish industry-wide standards for CBD edible dosing.
Finally, remember that there can be a significant delay in CBD edible effects onset, so avoid re-dosing before you feel effects unless several hours have passed.
The Golden Rule of Cannabinoid Edible Dosing is: Start Low and Go Slow.
How long it takes for a CBD edible to kick in can vary from consumption to consumption based on the factors we discussed in the first section, so give yourself plenty of digestion time to allow CBD effects to be felt before considering increasing your edible dose.
Dosing CBD Carefully - How to Verify your CBD dose
It’s important to note that you as the consumer need to do some due diligence to confirm that you are dosing carefully & correctly - you can’t always trust the labeling of CBD products!
FDA consumer safety reviews of CBD products on the market have found that the majority of CBD products are mislabeled with either far more or much less CBD than they actually contain, due to testing irregularities, supply issues, shoddy business practices and more - this could mean that what you think is a 5mg CBD edible dose is actually anywhere between 2mg to 20mg+ of CBD!
To verify that your CBD edible dose is what you think it is, try these steps:
Figure 4: the Periodic Caramels dosing guide for pre-scoring 50mg CBD caramels into doses.
check labeling for the CBD mg measurement - including the dosage in the entire package, and the recommended per-dose CBD amount listed in the nutrition facts
check lab results for the edible’s batch & starting CBD/cannabinoid source(s) - do they match the info on the label? Check all cannabinoids & terpenes, if available
Does your edible have a dosing guide included if it is served in one piece or container? You can see an image of the Periodic Caramels dosing guide in Figure 4. Look for CBD edibles that are easy to separate into consistent dose sizes or come as pre-dosed pieces.
A reputable CBD edible company will share lab results that allow you to do these verifications for each batch of CBD edibles, and will label or package their products with guides that make dosing easy and repeatable for you as the CBD consumer.
However…if you’re not used to reading lab results, these documents can look very confusing.
Use our multi-part guide “CBD Product Lab Results Explained” to better understand how to verify the presence of all the active compounds your CBD product that can affect your dose.
Final Thoughts
We hope that this comprehensive CBD dosing guide & the included CBD Edible Dosing Chart have helped you feel more confident in dosing CBD edibles for your specific needs throughout the day.
If you still have questions about how to find the right CBD dose for your lifestyle, and what hemp products you should try for your needs, use the resources below to learn more or contact us directly for personalized CBD coaching!