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Best CBD for the Outdoors

Bluebird Botanicals CBD Oil
Bluebird Botanicals CBD Oil

If you haven’t heard of CBD (cannabidiol) by now, you’ve probably been living under a rock—or in the case of most of our readers—climbing rocks. 

CBD, since hitting the U.S. market in 2012, has become the latest health and wellness craze. And while there are brands touting CBD as the be-all, end-all savior of everything, it’s important to note that because of the regulations around CBD in the U.S., companies selling the products aren’t allowed to make direct medical or functional claims about what it can do.

Before jumping on the CBD bandwagon, I highly encourage you to do your own research about the potential benefits to see if CBD is right for you. Because CBD can be tricky. When you research potential benefits, you’ll see a common throughline. But everyone has a slightly different experience based on the formulation and strength of the product, the company’s quality standards, as well as a different experience based on the makeup of their own bodies and endocannabinoid system.

But that is exactly how Bluebird Botanicals got on my radar.

Bluebird Botanicals

Bluebird Botanicals CBD Oil
Bluebird Botanicals CBD Oil

Bluebird Botanicals started formulating a line of CBD products back in 2013. At the time there were only three other companies in the U.S. formulating and selling CBD products.

They started as a family-owned business, and still are one today—their CEO, Brandon Beatty, is the longest standing CEO in the hemp CBD industry, which means something when there are 3,500+ other CBD companies in the U.S. And in 2019, they became one of the first hemp CBD companies to achieve Certified B Corporation® status.

Back in 2013, they were true pioneers within the hemp industry. Brandon Beatty saw the potential of this plant before there even was an industry and began to work closely with various federal and state legislatures and regulatory agencies, being partially responsible for the language in the 2018 Farm Bill that cleared the path for the industry’s explosive growth over the last two years.

Quality Standards

Bluebird Botanicals Sport CBD Cream
Bluebird Botanicals Sport CBD Cream

Bluebird Botanicals was also one of the first CBD companies to extensively test their products via third-party labs and post those results on their website. This is hugely important because the hemp plant is a bioaccumulator—meaning that it’ll absorb into the plant anything that’s in the soil. The results they post will tell you everything that’s in your bottle of CBD—confirming potency, but also confirming that there aren’t harmful levels of heavy metals, pesticides, fungicides, or other contaminants—resulting in a product that works.

Their manufacturing facility is also registered with the FDA and has consistently passed third-party good manufacturing practices (GMP) audits with flying colors. Additionally, they recently received self-affirmed Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) status under strict regulatory and safety guidelines put forth by the FDA.

Products that Work

Bluebird Botanicals Immune Support Oil
Bluebird Botanicals Immune Support Oil

Personally, I didn’t stumble upon CBD until 2017, and it was at a time in my life when I needed some balancing (to avoid making any medical or functional claims). That journey was full of hits and misses. I’d try one CBD company and have great results off that first bottle, but those results changed with the second bottle. Those inconsistencies continued until I found Bluebird. 

Because of the extensive testing Bluebird does on their products, it results in a product that is consistently potent and highly effective.

The first time I shopped on their online store, I was a bit confused. For their flagship products, they have three different formulations and 2-3 different strengths of tinctures and soft gels, and if you aren’t familiar with CBD it can be a little bit intimidating.

I have to believe that the reason they have these options is because of how customizable everyone’s CBD experience should be—it’s not a one stop shop like other CBD companies. They have their Classic formula with just full-spectrum hemp oil and hemp seed oil; Complete with additional CBDA and terpenes; and Signature with frankincense and black seed oil. The varying ingredients and botanicals help each user decide which product is best for them based on their own set of needs.

While they have sample packs of their regular and concentrated strengths, let me try to break down the differences in layman’s terms based on my own experience.

Go Big or Go Home

Bluebird Botanicals CBD Oil
Bluebird Botanicals CBD Oil

One of the biggest complaints people have about CBD is whether or not it is working. It doesn’t help that so many companies are touting CBD as the next Snake Oil. But because of that sense of expectation placed on the product and the industry, let me be clear: CBD takes time sometimes. I know, that’s not super clear, but it’s the truth. For myself, I was taking CBD consistently for a month, wondering if it was working, and one day when I was navel gazing I realized that I didn’t feel [insert medical claim] any more.

Self-care is a journey and you have to commit to that fact before jumping in.

But, one of the consistent trends in CBD usage, is people taking more than 25 mg a day. That’s why, I’d highly recommend, Bluebird Botanicals concentrated tinctures or their soft gels. Their concentrated tinctures are 25 mg per 0.5 ml, while their CBD soft gels are 15 mg per soft gel. 

Last year, I was running a 50 mile race in South Dakota and at some point I started up a conversation with another runner. When he learned I lived in Colorado, his first question was whether or not I used THC while running. I said that I used CBD and he commented that before the race he took 300 mg of CBD and 200 mg of THC. WHICH IS INSANE!! But he placed 4th in the race, so there’s that.

Based on my own usage, Bluebird’s Classic Concentrated Soft Gels are my daily go-to. When I have heavy days of running or cycling, I will usually do 25 mg of their Concentrated Signature CBD Oil before and for races, I’ll typically have soft gels on me as well. I have to say, though, I am really excited about next race season and Bluebird’s new CBD gummies. Those will definitely accompany me during any ultramarathons.

Bluebird Botanicals CBD Gummies
Bluebird Botanicals CBD Gummies

Speaking of CBD gummies, Bluebird has some of the best CBD gummies on the market. Their lemon flavor tastes just like a lemon meringue pie. What sets their gummies apart from others is that they were still able to use their award-winning full-spectrum hemp extract without creating a gummy that tastes like sugar-coated grass.

Summary

Bluebird Botanicals is a legitimate, trustworthy, high-quality CBD company with amazing premium products at affordable prices. But you don’t have to take my word for it. Bluebird has a 30-day money back guarantee. If you try their products and aren’t completely satisfied, it’s no harm, no foul.

Best CBD Product for Outdoor Enthusiasts: Charlotte’s Web

Best CBD Products Charlotte's Web CBD

CBD use is gaining in popularity across the U.S., not just in the general public, but among athletes who are looking for better ways to manage inflammation and stress.

For the newbies, CBD, or cannabidiol, comes from the leaves and flowers of the hemp plant. It’s one of over 80 cannabinoids that can be extracted from hemp. It isn’t derived from marijuana. It contains less than 0.3 percent THC (the psychoactive chemical in marijuana), but it isn’t intoxicating. Because of this, you can find CBD online or in health and wellness stores across the United States.

Legal Challanges

Even though it’s legal, the legislation around CBD is still a bit muddy. The 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp and its derivatives (including CBD). But CBD still faces a lot of restrictions from the FDA on its uses, what they can claim, and the language they can use in those claims.

Because of this, CBD companies aren’t able to tell the full story about the positive effects CBD has had for many people.

They can tell you that CBD can provide a sense of calm and focus; relief from everyday stresses; help in recovery from exercise-induced inflammation; and support for healthy sleep cycles. (But please note that I’m required to tell you that these statements have not been evaluated by the FDA and that CBD products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease).

Now that we have that out of the way…

My Story

Several years ago, I reached a point where I needed relief from “everyday stresses.” I first turned to my primary care physician, who prescribed (after a 15-minute consultation) something, to help counteract the challenges I was having.

After 30 days, the issues didn’t change, and the dosage was upped.

By the time I hit 90 days, I had, under the instruction of my doctor, maxed out my dosage. When he mentioned changing up the regimen to something a little bit more intense and I knew something had to change.

I turned to alternative medicine, scheduling an appointment with a wellness physician who spent 90 minutes interviewing me about my “everyday stresses.” Afterward, she scheduled lab work. She built a plan that included dietary changes (including a delicious low-sugar spinach smoothie in the morning) and a pretty intense vitamin regimen to help balance me out.

It worked. I felt normal.

My family and I moved, and my vitamin regimen changed, and every once in a while I’d have flare-ups of these “everyday stresses.”

Moving to Colorado heralded my first interaction with CBD. After hearing a TED Talk from Josh Stanley, one of the brothers who founded Charlotte’s Web, I became interested and inspired by what this plant could do. I picked up a bottle from the apothecary section of a local grocery store and started to take it daily.

Best CBD Products Charlotte's Web CBD

When I first started taking CBD oil, I didn’t feel an immediate response to it. But over the course of a month, I noticed that those times I felt unbalanced due to stress or a lack of calm were growing further and further apart. I felt more balanced. I felt like a better version of myself that I hadn’t felt in years.

During the summer months, my activity level increased while I was taking CBD. If I wasn’t running, I was commuting to work on my bike. Mileage had increased, as did exercise-induced inflammation. I was pushing my body further than I had in years.

Because of the limitations around CBD, I can’t go into the details of two different experiences I had this summer. To say I experienced exercise-induced inflammation is true, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. During these events, I continued using Charlotte’s Web CBD oil, as well as their hemp infused cream, and it helped reduce inflammation. I was surprised by how fast I was able to recover and be active again.

How does CBD work?

The body naturally produces endocannabinoids, and these affect an array of functions throughout our bodies, including the maintenance of proper cell function and healing. Sometimes the endocannabinoid system can fall off the rails, affecting our sense of calm, how we respond to stress, sleep, etc.

That’s where CBD can help. The endocannabinoid system can respond to external cannabinoids, including the phytocannabinoids found in CBD. CBD in turn interacts with our neurotransmitters and subdues the immune responses that cause inflammation, helping users retain their sense of calm, relief from everyday stresses, etc.

Not all CBD is equal

Best CBD Products Charlotte's Web CBD

If you search Amazon, you’ll see a lot of products listed as CBD. There’s expensive lotions, gummies, oils, water, and beauty care products. Right now, Amazon prohibits the sale of products containing cannabidiol. Most of these products contain hemp oil, which doesn’t contain CBD, but are designed to capitalize on the hype around it.

When it comes to true CBD, the quality varies from company to company. Some versions are weaker than others, others source hemp from overseas, and still others deliver products that are inconsistent between production batches.

Charlotte’s Web is a broad-spectrum cannabinoid whole plant extract with CBD and other cannabinoids, as well as flavonoids and terpenes plant compounds. The best analogy I’ve heard is that a whole plant extract, like Charlotte’s Web, is similar to eating an orange. If you just eat the orange flesh, you’re only getting part of the full benefit from the orange. If you eat the skin—as delicious as that might be—you get a nice dose of B vitamins, calcium, copper, magnesium, vitamin A, folate and dietary fiber. A whole plant extract maximizes the benefits delivered through the body, delivering additional wellness components.

Quality versus Quantity

When the Stanley brothers set out to create a high-quality CBD product, they created rigorous standards for quality and consistency. From their seeds, soil, and hands-on approach to farming—they are consistent. This is important, because as hemp grows, it absorbs whatever is in the soil—good or bad.

The most dramatic example of this happened at Chernobyl in the late 90s. A company called Phytotech began experimenting with industrial hemp to remove radioactive elements from soil and water. They found that hemp could be used to clean up metals, toxins, pesticides, solvents, explosives, crude oil, and polyaromatic hydrocarbons.

This is why the Stanley brothers pay special attention to their crops. During conversations with them, I heard a story of a crop they destroyed because during testing, they found cross-contamination from another neighboring farm had blown in. They oversee the entire growing and production process—testing along the way to ensure correct phytochemical profiles.

Best CBD Products Charlotte's Web CBD

Conclusion

I’m a big believer in CBD based on my experience this past year and a big believer in the Charlotte’s Web brand.

Charlotte’s Web CBD is an affiliate with Huck Adventures, so when you shop with them and use our code HUCK, you’ll save 10%, and we will earn a commission at no additional cost to you. You save money and your purchase supports the Huck community.

CWHemp.com


If you’re new to CBD and don’t know where to start, they offer a one-month bundle starter pack. Their Full Strength CBD Oil or Capsules are great, as well.