As the debate for the legalization of marijuana grows, the popularity of cannabis-based products has also grown. Probably the most popular is CBD oil, primarily because of studies that have proven its therapeutic effects in the treatment of various ailments from anxiety to chronic pain.
While not as popular, hemp oil has also grown in fame as many seem to confuse the two. Even though there are overlaps, there are still marked differences between the two. First, we can cover the similarities. Both CBD oil and hemp oil are derived from the cannabis plant (technically), are sold as supplements and contain CBD.
The difference is usually in the extraction process. CBD oil is extracted from cannabis plants and run the risk of having significant amounts of THC. This means that such oils cannot be used or sold in countries where THC products are illegal. To understand the difference between CBD oil and hemp oil, we will need to see the difference between CBD and THC.
CBD and THC are the two most famous of the “cannabinoids”. These comprise of over 120 different natural chemical compounds found in the cannabis plant. CBD has been found to have numerous health benefits and, as such, is rapidly becoming a popular and widely used health supplement.
Similar tests have been carried out on THC and the benefits associated with it are not as far-ranging as CBD. Furthermore, the psychoactive element of THC does not appeal to most users as they do not want to experience a “high” when they’re trying to treat their ailments. Furthermore, considering that THC is illegal in most parts of the world, accessibility and usage become a major problem if you happen to mind prison.
While CBD may be extracted from the cannabis plant, it does not have any psychoactive effects whatsoever. This means there are no side effects such as drowsiness or euphoria associated with the usage of CBD.
In contrast to CBD oil, which can be extracted from any cannabis plant, hemp oil is solely extracted from the hemp plant. The hemp plant has more CBD and trace amounts of THC (which some consider negligible) that can be removed in the processing stage. The absence of THC removes the illegality even though hemp oil is being technically extracted from cannabis (hemp is a strain of cannabis).
Removing large amounts of THC from CBD oil would involve a lot of processing which has an effect on the efficacy of the residual CBD. Because hemp oil is not processed as much (with there being little to no THC to remove), the CBD compound is still a lot more active and you preserve a certain organic or natural element of the oil.
It should be noted though, that hemp oil also holds higher concentrations of other beneficial nutrients such as Vitamin D and E. It also holds a lot more minerals including potassium, magnesium, and omega-3. Due to these nutrients, along with the effects of the CBD, most manufacturers are inclined to produce hemp oil rather than plain CBD oil (even though hemp oil would technically be CBD oil as well). One great example is Evopure CBD oil which only uses hemp for its CBD oil and uses every part of the plant to create a full spectrum product.
