Broad Spectrum CBD vs Full Spectrum CBD

What’s the difference between broad spectrum CBD (cannabidiol) products and full spectrum CBD products? Both are a higher quality than the isolate form, which is purely the cannibidiol chemical by itself. You’ll find all CBD products consist of one of these forms.

Isolate CBD

This is sometimes called ‘Pure CBD’, some companies label it as Zero THC CBD, and hides the fact that is a subpar product often added to edibles or higher ‘5000mg’ oil bottles sold cheaply. We don’t generally recommend the isolate form as explained below.

Full Spectrum CBD

Full Spectrum CBD is the label we give the product when our processing equipment keeps all the cannabinoids in the plant. There are an estimated 400 cannabinoids in the hemp / marijuana plant, and we’ve been able to identify several of those and start studying the interaction with the body. A good full spectrum product (like ours) will show lab reports with a high amount of CBD, and amounts of other cannabinoids such as CBG, CBC, CBN, and CBD-V, as well as the natural terpenes from the plant. This causes a health benefit much stronger than the isolate itself (as we would expect the natural design to work better); some research points to a fourfold increase in the effectiveness of the plant at modulating the body.

One cannabinoid in particular, THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is also included in our full spectrum products to the allowable < 0.3% Federal level. Some customers look specifically for products including a small amount of THC for specific conditions indicated by preliminary research or because they’ve heard that “you have to have the THC, else it won’t work!”

However, THC is not allowed in CBD products in certain states or regions, can build up in the system and cause one to fail a drug test, and early research is showing brain altering effects in adolescents of this specific cannabinoid. Which leads us to our Broad Spectrum CBD:

Broad Spectrum CBD

In order to provide a product that is as good as possible without the THC, we are able do a second pass on our products to remove the tetrahydrocannabinol itself, while keeping the other cannabinoids and terpenes still in the base. This still gives a great quality CBD oil but helps keep THC out of the system. SunMed offers third party lab testing on broad spectrum products to show the THC is not detectable to a precision of 3 (e.g., .000). Note: we cannot guarantee a passed drug test with any of our products, as some drug tests are not specific for THC or CBD.

There is a little confusion about the labelling – some manufacturers label their products as ‘Full Spectrum – 0THC’ when it should really be called a Broad Spectrum. Both are a good options as long as the third party labs verify

Generally speaking as our culture adapts, if you’re in a workplace that can drug test you, you may choose to stick to the broad spectrum line of products (or simply talk to your employer about the use of full spectrum products). If you aren’t concerned about drug testing and want the possible benefits of the added THC, go with the full spectrum. (We do not advise giving full spectrum / THC to adolescents or children, and generally not pets)

Make sure you know what’s in your CBD! – We’re transparent with ours as we know ours is the highest quality possible. All our labs are available here. (Different labs available for full spectrum than the broad spectrum).