Vegan CBD Products: Tips to Find Quality CBD Products
Veganism has steadily risen over the last 15 years with over 9.7 million people in the U.S. saying they are vegans, per consumer research. A vegan maintains a lifestyle that focuses on a healthy diet of plant-based foods. For them, using CBD products makes sense because CBD comes from a plant, and there are many vegan CBD products available. They get the benefit of CBD and plant extracts while continuing to adhere to a vegan diet.
CBD is plant-based and suitable for a vegan diet. There are a variety of vegan CBD products available, including vegan CBD oils and drops, gummies and CBD capsules. Not all CBD products are vegan. Some ingredients are derived from animal parts, and you may not know it unless you are familiar with the source of various ingredients. The bottom line is that a truly vegan product contains only plant-based ingredients.
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Is CBD Vegan?
CBD comes from the industrial hemp plant. In its raw form, CBD is one of the plant-based cannabinoids, so it is a good choice for vegans adhering to a plant-based diet. The issue for vegans is choosing CBD products that contain additional ingredients that are also plant-based. It is important to fully understand the CBD product’s ingredients so you know what you are consuming.
Tips to Find Vegan CBD Products
Research has found that a plant-based diet can provide health benefits, including weight control and increased energy. For vegans, it is important to carefully adhere to the diet in order to get the most benefits a plant-based diet delivers.
If you are vegan, CBD is appropriate to add to your diet. The caveat is that not all CBD products are vegan.
Some CBD products have other ingredients added that may not be plant-based. Savvy vegan consumers understand they must carefully read product labels to ensure a product only contains plant-based ingredients. A quality company should clearly list all ingredients to back up its claim a product is vegan.
The following are some tips to help you understand the type of vegan products available.
Vegan CBD Oils and Drops
CBD oils are one of the purer CBD products, even when other ingredients are added. Vegan CBD oils and drops contain at least two ingredients:
- Hemp plant extracts that include CBD and terpenes
- Carrier oil
The carrier oil in vegan products is normally hemp seed oil or MCT oil. Hemp is a plant, and MCT oil is distilled from coconut oil. Both types of oil are plant-based.
There may be other ingredients in the CBD oil certified as vegan. They are:
- Flavoring
- Coloring
Some CBD products would have a grassy or earthy taste because of the hemp plant compounds, like terpenes and chlorophyll. CBD producers may add natural flavoring to their products for people who do not enjoy the taste of unflavored CBD.
CBD oils or drops that say they have “natural flavorings” are using cold-pressed flavorings derived from plants. Common flavorings come from citrus and other fruits; spices like cinnamon that comes from tree bark; berries and other botanicals.
Coloring is not commonly used in CBD products. If it is, the vegan CBD coloring also comes from botanicals.
Vegan CBD Gummies
Vegan CBD gummies may contain:
- CBD extract – from the hemp plant
- Terpenes – from the hemp plant
- Natural sweetener – from fruits and plant sugars
- Coloring – from fruit juices
- Thickener – from pectin
- Other ingredients like melatonin – from plant parts
- Acids like malic acid – from fruits
A vegan CBD gummy uses pectin from fruit and vegetables instead of gelatin for a thickener. Gelatin comes from animal parts, like the connective tissue in pigs. A true vegan CBD gummy may have a color derived from fruit or plant material. It will not have synthetic or artificial coloring.
Other ingredients like melatonin come from plants, including stems, leaves, seeds and fruit. A true vegan CBD gummy is made only with CBD and ingredients sourced from plants.
Vegan CBD Capsules
Vegan CBD capsules may contain ingredients like the following:
- CBD extract
- Terpenes
- Carrier oil
- Herbs
- Vitamins
- Ingredients like melatonin
- Vegetable glycerin for gelatin
- Tapioca starch reinforced with cellulose for the capsule shell
Each CBD product producer develops a proprietary formula. Some CBD capsules vegan identified simply contain CBD extract and a carrier oil encapsulated in a tapioca starch shell. Other vegan CBD capsules may include many more ingredients, like CBD, carrier oil, herbs and vitamins.
The ingredients will vary from brand to brand. The formulations are also designed to address specific needs. For example, vegan CBD capsules for sleep usually contain melatonin. Learning the typical terminology can help you read the product’s label.
What CBD Products Might Not Be Vegan?
There are some CBD products that may not be vegan. Some ingredients to watch for include the following.
- CBD capsules made with animal-derived gelatin or animal-derived encapsulate.
- Any CBD products made with synthetic or animal-derived ingredients, including CBD gummies and other CBD sweet foods.
- CBD products made with honey which comes from bees.
- CBD chocolates that contain dairy.
- Products manufactured with refined sugar made with bone char to remove impurities.
- CBD edibles made with artificial flavors and/or artificial colorings.
When shopping for CBD edibles, vegan products should always contain only plant-based ingredients by definition. That includes items like CBD cookies, candies and drinks.
One of the things to be aware of, if you are strictly adhering to a plant-based diet, is the fact some common ingredients may come from animals. For example, honey is listed because it does not come from plants.
Some refined sugar is still made with bone char to remove impurities. Some vegans allow for ingredients like honey, while a person strictly adhering to a plant-based diet would not.
Many Vegan Products are Available
As the popularity of CBD grows, so do the options for buying vegan CBD products. It is important to always buy from a company known to be transparent and honest about ingredients. Some companies have their CBD products certified vegan by associations like Vegan Action, though this is not yet common practice. For vegan diet followers, the many vegan products available today are good news.
Sources
- https://www.ipsos-retailperformance.com/en/vegan-trends/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6742661/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2635004/
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