Combining CBD and Olive Oil May Help Soothe Some Ailments

CBD has been appear­ing in a wide spec­trum of con­sumer goods recently, from top­i­cal salves to seltzers and soap. Now add olive oil to the list of CBD-infused prod­ucts.

CBD, or cannabid­iol, is a chem­i­cal in mar­i­juana that does not con­tain THC, the psy­choac­tive ingre­di­ent that pro­duces a high. CBD is now com­monly sold in oil, extract or pill form, or as an addi­tive to con­sumer goods.

Though the research on CBD’s effects is still in its infancy, com­pa­nies sell­ing CBD and CBD prod­ucts, nutri­tion­ists and every­day users claim it can be used to soothe ail­ments from anx­i­ety to inflam­ma­tion, and the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its use in treat­ing epilepsy.

But what does the research say about CBD and what hap­pens when it is mixed in olive oil?

Emily Kyle, a holis­tic cannabis prac­ti­tioner and reg­is­tered dieti­cian, said the early research on CBD sug­gests it can help with ​“anx­i­ety and depres­sion, sleep dis­or­ders, epilepsy and seizure dis­or­ders, pain and inflam­ma­tion. It is believed that CBD can nour­ish the body’s own endo­cannabi­noid sys­tem, which is directly respon­si­ble for main­tain­ing home­osta­sis or bal­ance, in the body.”

Though the amount of CBD and its purity mat­ters in its poten­tial effec­tive­ness, Kyle said con­sum­ing it with a fat, such as olive oil, can help the chem­i­cal work.

“CBD, like all cannabi­noids, are lipophilic, mean­ing that they love fat,” Kyle said. ​“They are most eas­ily and read­ily absorbed when paired with a fat such as olive oil.”

Kyle said it is impor­tant to pair CBD with an over­all healthy diet to ensure the best out­comes, and that ​“olive oil is an excel­lent heart-healthy option to pair CBD with.”

Brooke Brun is the co-founded KB Pure Essentials, which sells olive oil and CBD prod­ucts, includ­ing lip balm, deodor­ant, sham­poo, makeup remover, body lotion, tinc­tures and more. KB Pure Essential prod­ucts are made from a blend of CBD and olive oil, in part to improve the taste and aroma of the prod­ucts, but also because of olive oil’s health prop­er­ties.

“CBD is fat-sol­u­ble, so we chose a fatty oil to blend with the CBD,” Brun said. ​“It also helps with the taste. Alcohol or MCT oil sup­ple­ment oils tend to have a really bad taste. High-qual­ity olive oil on its own has many ben­e­fits to the brain and phys­i­cal health so we felt it com­ple­mented the ben­e­fits of the CBD.”

Brun said KB Pure has a trained chemist on staff to ensure the ingre­di­ents in their prod­ucts do not inter­act in a neg­a­tive way. In fact, the process to blend the CBD and olive oil requires atten­tion.

“The CBD con­cen­trate won’t just sim­ply mix with the olive oil,” Brun said. ​“It needs to be heated – but not too hot –and homog­e­nized into the olive oil to make sure you are get­ting a con­sis­tent dose of CBD each time to take it. If you do not do that, the pure con­cen­trate is like sap that will just sink to the bot­tom of the bot­tle of olive oil.”

That said, Kyle added that every­day peo­ple can absolutely com­bine olive oil and CBD at home to cre­ate a mix­ture that works for them.

Brun said KB Pure prod­ucts are com­monly used by seniors and ath­letes to man­age pain, and that she rec­om­mends folks inter­ested in try­ing CBD and olive oil com­bi­na­tions try top­i­cal salves at first.

“About 80 per­cent of our clients are try­ing to man­age their pain and/or get off opi­oids they have been tak­ing for years,” Brun said. ​“Our clients deal­ing with stress man­age­ment or sleep issues typ­i­cally go for the sub­lin­gual oils since there are not really any neu­ro­log­i­cal ben­e­fits from using CBD top­i­cally.”

Keep in mind, as with every­thing that is ingested, that there are risks or at least poten­tial risks. The FDA is still research­ing the long-term effects of CBD, how it affects spe­cial pop­u­la­tion, such as preg­nant women and chil­dren, and its cumu­la­tive effect – if a per­son ingests it, uses it in a salve and takes another prod­uct, the out­come for every per­son is yet to be deter­mined.

And the FDA warns that CBD and CBD prod­ucts are ​“being mar­keted with unproven med­ical claims.” In short, though CBD is legal at the fed­eral level, use it at your own risk. And, Brun said, be mind­ful of its effects.

“It is not a cure, and it does­n’t work for every­one who uses it,” she said. ​“But that’s the same for every med­ica­tion and sup­ple­ment out on the mar­ket today.”