Welcome to The CBD Expert. Since 2014, we’ve navigated the massive growth in the science and understanding of cannabidiol. The market today can be confusing, filled with conflicting information and questionable products. Our goal with this CBD guide is to provide a clear, honest, and authoritative guide to help you understand what CBD is, how it works, and how to choose a product that delivers real results. This legitimacy is supported at the highest levels. In a landmark 2020 decision, the United Nations commission reclassified cannabis to officially recognize its therapeutic uses, based on recommendations from the World Health Organization.
1. What is CBD? A Simple Explanation
Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of over 100 natural compounds known as cannabinoids found in the cannabis sativa plant. It is the second most abundant cannabinoid after THC (tetrahydrocannabinol).
The most important fact to know about CBD is that it is completely non-psychoactive. It does not produce the “high” associated with cannabis. Instead, CBD is celebrated for its ability to support overall health and well-being without intoxicating effects. As we like to say, “The side effects of CBD are health and happiness.”
2. How CBD Works with Your Body (The Endocannabinoid System)
To understand how CBD works, you first need to know about a remarkable system in your body: the Endocannabinoid System (ECS). Discovered in the 1990s, the ECS is a vast network of receptors found in nearly every part of the human body, including the brain, organs, immune cells, and connective tissues.
Think of the ECS as your body’s master regulator. Its primary job is to maintain balance, or homeostasis. It helps regulate everything from mood and memory to sleep, appetite, and your body’s response to discomfort.
Your body naturally produces its own cannabinoids (called endocannabinoids) to interact with this system. CBD, a plant-based cannabinoid (or phytocannabinoid), can supplement and support your ECS, helping it perform its vital balancing act more effectively.
3. The Benefits of CBD: Supporting Your Body’s Balance
While CBD is not a cure-all, its primary role is to support your body’s Endocannabinoid System in maintaining balance, or homeostasis. By promoting this internal equilibrium, high-quality, whole-plant CBD can offer a wide range of benefits.
Based on extensive research and user feedback since 2014, some of the most profound benefits include:
- Supports a Healthy Response to Pain & Inflammation: CBD is widely celebrated for its ability to help the body manage discomfort and inflammatory responses.
- Promotes Calm and Eases Stress: By interacting with the ECS, CBD can help calm the nervous system, making it a powerful tool for managing everyday stress and anxious feelings.
- Aids in Healthy Sleep Cycles: Many users find that CBD helps them fall asleep more easily and achieve a more restful night’s sleep by helping to quiet a racing mind.
- A Potential Off-Ramp from Opiates: One of the most significant benefits we have seen is its role in helping many people reduce their reliance on dangerous, addictive opiates for pain management.
- Aids in Bone Health and Repair: Groundbreaking research has shown that CBD can significantly help heal bone fractures, making the healed bone stronger and more resistant to future breaks. This has led researchers to investigate its potential for preventing bone loss.
4. Types of CBD: The Expert’s Breakdown
It’s no wonder many consumers are confused; these terms have no official legal or regulatory definition. Since the beginning, manufacturers have often created their own versions of what these terms mean to suit their marketing. As experts in the industry since 2014, here is our breakdown of what these terms should mean so you can make an informed choice.
Not all CBD is created equal. The terms you see on labels—Full Spectrum, Broad Spectrum, and Isolate—refer to the extent to which a product includes the other compounds from the plant.
Full Spectrum CBD
This is the least processed form. It contains all the cannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids, and other beneficial compounds found naturally in the plant,including trace amounts of THC (less than 0.3% by law in the USA, and often lower, such as 0.2%, in some European countries).
- Advantage: Provides the complete “entourage effect” for maximum benefit.
Broad Spectrum CBD
This form is nearly identical to full spectrum, containing a rich array of cannabinoids and terpenes, but it has undergone an additional process to remove all detectable amounts of THC.
- Advantage: Offers the benefits of the entourage effect for those who want to avoid THC entirely.
CBD Isolate
Merchants often call this the ‘purest’ form of CBD, as it has been refined down to a 99%+ pure crystal. However, for medicinal value, ‘pure’ is not better. This intensive refinement process strips away all other beneficial cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids that work in synergy with CBD. Think of it in terms of processed vs. whole foods: a great deal of the ‘good stuff’ from the original plant has been removed.
- Advantage: Completely THC-free and tasteless, but it lacks the synergistic benefits of the other plant compounds.
5. The “Entourage Effect” & The Whole Flower Advantage
Top researchers have discovered that the compounds in cannabis work better together than they do alone. This synergy is called the “Entourage Effect.” Think of it like a symphony versus a solo instrument—while a single cannabinoid has benefits, the full orchestra of compounds working in harmony produces a richer and more profound result.
This isn’t just theory—it’s backed by science. A landmark 2015 study by Israeli researchers found that whole-plant, CBD-rich extracts were ‘superior over [isolated] CBD for the treatment of inflammatory conditions.’ They discovered that while isolated CBD stopped being effective after a certain dose (a ‘bell-shaped dose-response’), the anti-inflammatory and anti-pain effects of the whole-plant extract continued to increase with the dose, making it ideal for clinical use.
The difference is like comparing a freshly picked organic orange to a Vitamin C tablet. There is so much more goodness in that orange than just the vitamin C! Nature grows things together because they work together.
This is why we champion our Whole Flower Fluid. It is the ultimate expression of the entourage effect.
Our proprietary extraction technology was designed to create a product that is vastly superior to common CBD oils and isolates.
- Only the Flower is Used: We extract exclusively from the cannabis flower, which contains the highest concentration of beneficial cannabinoids and terpenes—never from the less potent stalks and leaves. This is a critical distinction. The industry term ‘Whole Plant’ was never clearly defined and can refer to products made from less-potent stalks and leaves of industrial hemp. We purposely use the term Whole Flower because our fluid is derived exclusively from the medicinally-intact flowers of a high-CBD cannabis plant.
- Complete & Raw: Our gentle process keeps the entire profile of the flower intact, delivering a complete, raw plant medicine as nature intended.
- Superior Absorption: Our fluid is naturally water-soluble, not oil-based. This is a crucial point of confusion. When people shop for ‘CBD oil,’ they are often getting a refined extract mixed into a carrier like coconut oil. Our Whole Flower Fluid is different: it is the entire, raw, liquified flower. This is why it’s water-soluble and allows your body to absorb the compounds more efficiently for faster, more noticeable results. Learn more about why water-soluble CBD is superior to traditional oils.
6. Sourcing & Quality: What Matters Most
The effectiveness of any CBD product begins at the source. In an unregulated industry, it is critical to know what to look for.
- Pesticide-Free Farming: The hemp plant is a bio-accumulator, meaning it can absorb toxins from the soil. We only source material from 100% pesticide-free farms.
- Clean Extraction: Our solventless process ensures no harsh chemicals are used to extract the CBD, resulting in a pure, clean final product.
- Third-Party Lab Testing: This is non-negotiable. Always choose products that are verified by an independent lab to confirm their potency and purity. This ensures what’s on the label is what’s in the bottle.
This commitment to quality is why European standards have often led the world. From the beginning, the European market rejected using low-potency industrial hemp for CBD, focusing instead on high-quality, flower-only extracts to ensure purity and effectiveness.
Our commitment to quality over profit has been our guide since 2014. When California banned adding CBD to food and drinks in 2018, many in the industry were frustrated. We saw it as a necessary step to protect consumers. It stopped the practice of companies simply adding cheap CBD isolate to products like candy or dog treats just to ride the trend, without any care for whether the CBD remained effective or provided any real medicinal benefit. For us, it has never been about jumping on a bandwagon; it’s about providing genuine, whole-plant medicine.
Where Does CBD Come From?
All CBD comes from the same plant species, Cannabis Sativa L. The difference between what we call “hemp” and what we call “marijuana” is not biological—it’s legal and chemical.
- Hemp: Is legally defined in the U.S. as any cannabis plant that contains 0.3% or less THC by dry weight. Hemp is cultivated for its high CBD content and is also an incredibly versatile crop for industrial uses like textiles, bioplastics, and even advanced green technologies like hemp batteries.
- Marijuana: Is the term used for cannabis plants that contain more than 0.3% THC. These plants are cultivated for their psychoactive effects.
This strict legal line creates a huge real-world challenge. Farmers can invest millions only to have their crop test ‘hot’—exceeding the 0.3% THC limit—making it legally unusable and forcing them to destroy their entire harvest. This is why working with expert cultivators who use stable, proven genetics is non-negotiable for guaranteeing a product is both effective and legally compliant from the start.
Another major challenge is cross-pollination, where pollen from high-THC cannabis crops can contaminate and ruin entire fields of CBD hemp, which is why some farming communities strictly regulate where hemp can be grown.
Both hemp and marijuana plants can be male or female. The key difference is simply the THC level, which determines their legal status and use. At The CBD Expert, all our products are derived from legally compliant, high-CBD hemp.
7. CBD FAQs
Dosage is highly individual. The best approach is to “start low and go slow.” However, because our Whole Flower Fluid is so potent and bioavailable, most of our customers find they need a much smaller dose (e.g., just 2 drops per day) than with typical oil-based products.
Hemp-derived CBD containing less than 0.3% THC is federally legal in the United States under the 2018 Farm Bill. However, state laws can vary, so it’s always wise to check your local regulations.
This has created a unique challenge for law enforcement. Smokable CBD hemp flower looks and smells identical to illegal high-THC cannabis, making it impossible for an officer to tell the difference on sight. This legal gray area is a perfect example of how the laws are still catching up with the rapidly growing hemp industry.
Because full-spectrum products contain trace amounts of THC, there is a possibility that consistent, high-dose use could trigger a positive result on a sensitive drug test. If this is a concern, a broad-spectrum or isolate product may be a better choice.
This is one of the most important differences between whole-plant CBD and pharmaceuticals. Unlike medications that often come with a long list of negative side effects, the “side effects” of high-quality CBD are typically considered benefits in their own right.
Because CBD works to bring the entire body into balance (homeostasis), the positive effects are rarely isolated.
For example:
Someone taking CBD for pain may find a “side effect” is a better night’s sleep.
Someone using it for sleep may notice a “side effect” of less daily stress.
Someone taking it for stress may experience the “side effect” of reduced inflammation.
This is precisely what we mean when we say, “The side effects of CBD are health and happiness.” That said, CBD can interact with certain medications, so it is always wise to consult with your doctor before adding it to your routine.
Begin Your Journey to Wellness
We believe in the power of whole-plant medicine to help restore balance and improve quality of life.
We hope this CBD guide has answered your questions and empowers you to make an informed decision.
By choosing a high-quality, full-spectrum product, you are giving your body the full range of benefits that nature has to offer.