Hemp Flower Buds — What are the uses & health benefits of hemp flower? How to use CBD hemp flower for best results.
High CBD Hemp Flowers — The many uses and applications of CBD hemp flower explained
With the meteoric rise in popularity, the world has seen with Hemp, CBD, and the many ways to consume CBD products. It comes as no surprise that high CBD hemp flowers have seen colossal market growth since the passing of the 2018 Farm bill ( Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018).
With the sudden spread of hemp flower and CBD products now available, many are still learning how to use CBD or only recently hearing about such products as hemp flower buds.
Here at Absolute Nature CBD, we advocate education without bias and want to educate our readers and customer base about every aspect of CBD; it’s many health benefits, uses, variability in quality. Most importantly, how do you ensure you’re getting quality products for maximum benefit without any fear or miss-guidance.
In this educational article about hemp flower, we will cover the basics of hemp flower, the many uses of CBD hemp flower, what you can expect from CBD hemp flower buds. Furthermore, how to ensure you’re buying legal, safe, clean & high-quality CBD Hemp Flowers buds and get the best use out of them.
CBD is an incredible molecule; It has shown to not only be safe but extremely powerful in many different avenues of wellness. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reported after in-depth studies that CBD reveals no adverse health effects but some tangible medical applications for CBD, furthermore, cannabis should be rescheduled.
Source: Entourage Effect — Cannabinoids, Terpenes & Flavonoids …. https://absolutenaturecbd.com/entourage-effect-cannabinoids/
First of all: What are CBD Hemp Flower Buds?
CBD Hemp flower buds are the flowers from female, specifically bred hemp plants that contain high CBD (Cannabidiol) and low THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) (<0.3% by dry weight is the legal definition).
These hemp plants are a type of cannabis but not classed as marijuana, which contains high THC and low CBD. THC is the commonly known compound that produces the high psychoactive effects and is illegal in many countries and states across the U.S.A. Both hemp “cannabis” and marijuana “cannabis” plants belong to the same family Cannabaceae.
Hemp flowers contain over 80 other phytocannabinoids like CBDa, CBG, CBC, CBGV, CBN, THC, and THCv, along with terpenes such as a-Pinene, Myrcene, Limonene, and Caryophyllene. As well as flavonoids (the compounds that give each strain its unique smell, taste and sometimes effects), plant proteins, essential fatty acids, and other phytonutrients (which include polyphenols).
When a ll of these individual components of hemp/cannabis work in harmony, they are responsible for a synergistic process, scientists have called the entourage effect.
High-quality full-spectrum CBD products are typically created from extracting all of the beneficial compounds from the whole-plant, which includes the flower — Sometimes referred to as whole-plant, full-plant, or aerial parts. These types of CBD products often produce the best results as they contain all the beneficial components and multiple cannabinoids.
When all of these individual components of hemp/cannabis work in harmony, they are responsible for a synergistic process, scientists have named the entourage effect.
What are the Benefits of Hemp CBD buds?
The reported benefits of using Hemp flower buds are predominantly based on the aforementioned full-spectrum entourage effects. And the fact flower is delivering everything it contains in much larger volume with a much higher bio-availability as inhalation bypasses the gut and enters the bloodstream without undergoing metabolization. This is correctly known as “ The first pass effect” (also known as first-pass metabolism or presystemic metabolism) — a phenomenon of drug metabolism whereby the concentration of a drug, specifically when administered orally, is greatly reduced before it reaches the systemic circulation. ( source)
We need to be very clear on the fact we cannot inform you of the benefits due to FDA restrictions. We can only discuss the reported benefits.
Many people consider smoking or inhaling vapor from CBD flower to be a much more calming and relaxing option over other delivery methods giving an effect of a “body high” opposed to a THC related head high.
How Do I Use CBD Hemp Flower Buds?
There are many ways to utilize CBD flower, here’s a list and brief explanation to help you get started.
- Smoking CBD Flower
- Dry Vaporizing — Dry Herb Atomizing CBD Flower
- Eating CBD Flower
- Making CBD flower Capsules
- Making CBD Oil Capsules
- Cooking & Baking with CBD Flower
- Making CBD Oil from Hemp Flower
- Making Hemp CBD cannabutter
As you can see, hemp flowers are very versatile, and in truth, the options are unlimited and only limited by our own imagination.
One crucial part of using hemp flower is to understand that dried, raw, and cured hemp flower contains mostly CBDa, the acidic pre-curser form of CBD. In order to achieve the full benefits of using the buds, they require heating to activate many compounds that are in a pre-curser state.
This process of heating is known as decarboxylation or decarb/decarbing. Decarboxylation (heating) activates (turns) cannabinoids like CBDa into CBD. This process instantly happens when you smoke/vaporize the buds. To use the buds to there full potential in foods or dry capsules, you will have to slowly heat/cook the buds before use.
Although decarboxylation sounds very technical and challenging, it’s actually straightforward. So don’t be scared off by the term and follow the below fundamental steps to get the best from your CBD flower.
How to decarboxylate your hemp flower in 6 simple steps.
- Preheat your oven to 250 F.
- Grind or blitz up your hemp flower buds. If you do not have a herb grinder, break it up into tiny pieces with your fingers or use a food processor on the pulse setting. You’re looking to make small pieces akin to dried thyme leaves — not dust.
- Spread your ground hemp flower out onto a cookie sheet or baking tray, creating a very thin layer — a few millimeters in depth.
- Place the tray in your oven on a middle rack.
- Bake for approximately 45 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and let cool. The hemp flower should look brownish and feel dry to the touch. It should also crumble when rolled between your fingers.
That’s it! Your Hemp flower is now de*carbed*, the CBDa has converted to CBD, and you’re ready to make your own dry herb CBD capsules, CBD oils, butter, cakes, cookies. You can even add it to soup if you wanted! Simple eh!?
How do I smoke Hemp Flower Buds?
It’s really as easy as it sounds. You can simply use a tobacco pipe, roll up a hemp smoke, use a vaporizer, or any other ways you might smoke something similar to tobacco.
Vaporizing, however, requires a specific bit of hardware: called a dry vaporizer. You can use any dry herb vaporizer you wish. Your choices are somewhat endless.
Can I make a tea with Hemp Flower Buds?
Although making tea might seem like a very suitable option to ingest hemp or CBD, it’s unfortunately not as simple as it might sound.
While there are many “CBD TEAS / HEMP TEAS” on the market, it’s honestly not a very economical or beneficial way to consume CBD. Why?
Because; CBD is fat-soluble and requires other fats or lipids for absorption.
CBD is also nonpolar & hydrophobic (meaning: it repels water & only wants to bind to other neutral, nonpolar molecules). Putting CBD into water results in the molecule getting repelled away from water molecules ending in a cup/mug or containers walls getting covered in CBD.
If you want to make a drink with CBD, you’ll be best off making a fat-based (think milk or similar) drink to add your CBD too. Alternatively, take your CBD oil, CBD Capsule, or CBD infused foods or CBD edibles and enjoy a nice cup of tea, put your feet up and enjoy a relaxing few minutes out of your day.
Is Hemp flower legal in the U.S.A?
Since the Hemp Bill passed in 2018 hemp flower has been de-scheduled, is federally legal and falls under the section 5 of The Controlled Substances Act. Meaning; Schedule V drugs, substances, or chemicals are defined as drugs with lower potential for abuse. Source: DEA
With that said commercial hemp production does require licensing and/or permits. These are issued by each state using varying regulations and controls.
Possession & use of hemp flower is legal so long as it contains <0.3% thc by dry weight. Any CBD producer and vendor should 100% of undergone testing and clarification that their products are legal as per the guidelines.
How do you know if such products are legal? The first port of call is to check the companies batch specific end product 3rd party lab reports. Such as these independent lab reports for our products.
The section you need to look at is the line that says: Δ9-THC — This should show a value of 0.3% or less. The below report image shows this highlighted.
Although some states can have varying laws regarding smokable hemp flower so it’s worth checking with your states law department to verify.
One word of warning to be sure you’re on the safe side. Is, don’t walk around in public smoking hemp rolls, as this may draw unwanted attention towards you.
If you want to learn more about hemp regulations Purdue University’s Hemp project has in depth articles that cover most aspects.
