CBD SPECTRUMS: FULL VS BROAD VS ISOLATE - ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW
Posted by Lincoln Rand on
When shopping for CBD products, you will likely run across a few terms you may be unfamiliar with: Full Spectrum, Broad Spectrum, and Isolate. To add to the confusion, there isn't a national standard on these definitions yet.
Generally speaking though, these terms suggest which cannabinoids and terpenes are potentially present in any given product. For our SunMed products, we define these terms as follows:
FULL SPECTRUM PRODUCTS
Our Full Spectrum products are produced using a Supercritical CO2 extraction process, which preserves all the plant material, cannabinoids, and terpenes in the final product. After this stage, the extracted oil is added directly to our Full Spectrum line of products.
The result is that every cannabinoid and terpene that could be extracted from the raw plant is also included in the final product you purchase. As a result, our Full Spectrum products do include up to the legally allowed 0.3% Delta-9 THC. The goal of these products is to fully utilize the Entourage Effect.
BROAD SPECTRUM PRODUCTS
Our Broad Spectrum products are produced the same way as our Full Spectrum products. However, these go through an additional alcohol extraction process (we utilize ethyl alcohol, the same type that's in alcoholic beverages). This is done to reduce the amount of Delta-9 THC to non-detectable levels.
The result is that every cannabinoid and terpene that could be extracted from the raw plant, with the exception of Delta-9 THC, is also included in the final product you purchase. As a result, our Broad Spectrum products do not include any detectable amount of Delta-9 THC. The goal of these products is to utilize the Entourage Effect as much as possible, without including Delta-9 THC.
ISOLATE PRODUCTS
We no longer carry any CBD (or other cannabinoid) Isolate products. CBD Isolate is far easier and cheaper to produce than Full or Broad Spectrum extracts, which is commonly performed with alcohol (both ethyl and methyl), acetone, butane, propane, and a host of other solvents. These can be produced safely as long as the solvent is fully removed from the extract (always verify this by requesting the 3rd party lab report for the product you're researching).
The goal of Isolates is in the name, to isolate only the desired cannabinoid (commonly CBD, but can be other cannabinoids also, including the growing popularity of Delta-8 THC products). Isolates do not utilize the Entourage Effect at all, as there are no other cannabinoids present. Drugs such as Epidiolex (the first FDA-approved drug containing CBD derived from the cannabis plant), and many CBD products on the market utilize a CBD Isolate extract.
CBD Isolates can be tricky to dose properly. The amount of CBD Isolate you take compared to the results you desire follow a bell curve (inverted U). This means if you take too little or too much you will not receive your desired results. This is not a problem with Full or Broad Spectrum products, as the more you take, the better they work.
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