CBD Knowledge Hub
Understanding the Fundamentals of CBD
CBD can seem complicated because a relatively small number of ideas are often described using a surprisingly large amount of terminology.
Cannabinoids, CBD isolate, broad spectrum, full spectrum, milligrams, concentration, carrier oils and the endocannabinoid system are just some of the terms you may encounter when trying to understand CBD.
The CBD Knowledge Hub is the starting point within CBD 4 Me for understanding those fundamentals.
Here we explore what CBD is, where it comes from, how it relates to other cannabinoids and what some of the terminology commonly used to describe CBD products actually means.
You can start with the basics or explore individual subjects in more detail. The aim isn’t to tell you which CBD product to buy or make claims about what CBD can do. It is to give you the background knowledge needed to better understand CBD and the information you encounter when comparing different products.
Understand the basics. Explore the details. Make more informed choices.
What Is CBD?
CBD is short for cannabidiol. It is one of a number of naturally occurring compounds known as cannabinoids.
Cannabinoids are associated with the cannabis plant, but the word cannabinoid doesn’t describe just one substance. CBD, THC and CBG are different cannabinoids, and understanding those differences is an important part of understanding CBD.
The CBD found in consumer products can also be processed and formulated in different ways. For example, a product may contain highly purified CBD isolate or a formulation containing a broader range of compounds.
This means that seeing “CBD” on a bottle or packet doesn’t, by itself, tell you everything about what is inside.
Understanding CBD therefore involves several separate questions:
- What is CBD and where does it come from?
- What are cannabinoids?
- What is CBD isolate?
- What do broad spectrum and full spectrum mean?
- How is CBD content measured?
- What is the difference between CBD strength and concentration?
- What actually makes something a CBD oil?
- How does CBD differ from cannabinoids such as CBG?
- What is the endocannabinoid system, and why is it so often mentioned when CBD is discussed?
These are the foundations we explore throughout the CBD Knowledge Hub.
CBD Knowledge: Start With the Subject You Want to Understand
You don’t need to work through these guides in a particular order. Each explores a different part of the CBD picture, while linking to related subjects when additional context may be useful.
What Is CBD?
Start with the basics: what cannabidiol is, where it comes from and how CBD became one of the most widely discussed cannabinoids.
Cannabinoids Explained
Explore what cannabinoids are and the differences between commonly discussed cannabinoids including CBD, THC and CBG.
CBD Isolate Explained
Understand what CBD isolate is, how highly purified CBD differs from other cannabinoid formulations and what “CBD isolate” actually tells you about a product.
CBD Isolate vs Broad Spectrum vs Full Spectrum
Learn what these commonly used terms mean and why two products containing the same stated amount of CBD may still have different cannabinoid compositions.
CBD Strength & Concentration
Understand milligrams, bottle size and concentration — and why a larger number on a CBD product doesn’t always mean what consumers assume it means.
CBD Oil Explained
Explore what CBD oil actually is, including CBD ingredients, carrier oils, concentration and the different ways CBD oils can be formulated.
CBD vs CBG
Compare two different cannabinoids and understand why CBD and CBG shouldn’t be treated as interchangeable terms.
The Endocannabinoid System
Explore what the endocannabinoid system is, what scientists currently understand about it and why it frequently appears in discussions about cannabinoids.
Explore CBD 4 Me
Building a Better Understanding of CBD
Understanding CBD becomes easier when the individual pieces are looked at together.
Knowing what CBD is provides a starting point, but terms such as CBD isolate, broad spectrum, full spectrum, cannabinoids, milligrams and concentration describe different aspects of a product. They are related, but they do not mean the same thing.
For example, the amount of CBD stated on a bottle tells you about its CBD content, while the size of the bottle helps determine its concentration. The description CBD isolate tells you something different again — it relates to the cannabinoid ingredient or formulation used in the product.
Understanding those distinctions can make CBD labels, product descriptions and other information much easier to interpret.
CBD Content and Concentration Are Different
CBD content is commonly expressed in milligrams (mg). This tells you the stated amount of CBD associated with the product.
Concentration considers that amount in relation to the quantity of the finished product.
This distinction matters because two bottles displaying the same number of milligrams do not necessarily have the same concentration if their volumes are different.
CBD content tells you how much CBD is stated. Concentration helps put that amount into context.
Our CBD Strength & Concentration guide explores this in more detail and explains how milligrams, bottle size and concentration relate to one another.
CBD Is Only One Cannabinoid
CBD is one member of a wider group of compounds known as cannabinoids.
Other cannabinoids include THC and CBG, and their presence — or absence — is one reason CBD formulations can differ.
Understanding cannabinoids therefore provides useful context for terms such as CBD isolate, broad spectrum and full spectrum, because these terms relate to the cannabinoid composition of a product rather than simply its total CBD content.
Product Formulation Matters
The phrase “contains CBD” doesn’t fully describe how a product has been formulated.
A product made using CBD isolate is not necessarily compositionally equivalent to one containing a broader range of cannabinoids, even where both state the same amount of CBD.
That doesn’t automatically make one formulation better than another. It means they are different, and those differences are worth understanding when comparing products.
From Knowledge to Product Understanding
The CBD Knowledge Hub concentrates on the concepts and terminology behind CBD.
When you want to understand how those concepts translate into different consumer formats — including CBD oils, gummies, capsules, topicals and water-soluble products — the next part of CBD 4 Me is our CBD Product Education Hub.
Explore CBD Knowledge in More Detail
The subjects within CBD Knowledge are closely connected, but each answers a different question.
You may want to begin with What Is CBD? and build your understanding from there, or go directly to a subject you have encountered on a product label, in research or elsewhere online.
Within the CBD Knowledge Hub you can explore:
What Is CBD? — understand cannabidiol, where it comes from and the basic principles behind CBD.
Cannabinoids Explained — explore CBD, THC, CBG and the wider family of compounds known as cannabinoids.
CBD Isolate Explained — understand what CBD isolate is and what the term tells you about the cannabinoid ingredient used in a product.
CBD Isolate vs Broad Spectrum vs Full Spectrum — understand the differences between these commonly used descriptions of cannabinoid formulations.
CBD Strength & Concentration — learn how milligrams, volume and concentration relate to one another and how to interpret the numbers shown on CBD products.
CBD Oil Explained — explore what CBD oil is, how CBD and carrier ingredients come together and why different CBD oils aren’t necessarily equivalent.
CBD vs CBG — understand the distinction between cannabidiol and cannabigerol and why they should not be treated as interchangeable terms.
The Endocannabinoid System — explore the biological system frequently discussed in cannabinoid research and understand why it is relevant to the wider scientific study of cannabinoids.
You don’t need to understand everything about CBD at once. Start with the question that matters to you and explore from there.
Part of the CBD 4 Me Knowledge System
CBD Knowledge is one part of CBD 4 Me, our wider consumer knowledge resource.
Once you understand the fundamentals, you can continue into CBD Product Education to explore different product formats and formulations, Quality, Testing & Traceability to understand the information that can help you assess a CBD product, CBD Safety & UK Guidance for current consumer guidance and safety considerations, or CBD Research & Evidence to examine what scientific research has actually investigated.