What is CBD Chocolate and Its Benefits

If you’re a consumer of cannabis-derived products then you’re likely more than familiar with edibles like gummies, but what if I told you there was a more indulgent option? We all remember the chocolate bars of our childhood and they’ve finally made their way into the CBD industry.

CBD chocolate is one of the hottest CBD edibles to hit the cannabis industry. Today, we’re going to take a look at how a CBD chocolate bar is made, CBD chocolate bar effects on your health, and the various CBD  benefits that you can now reap in chocolate form.

Let’s get right into it!

What is CBD Chocolate?

CBD chocolate is a combination of CBD (cannabidiol) and chocolate. CBD is produced by the cannabis sativa plant but it is not psychoactive unlike other cannabinoids such as tetrahydrocannabinol — a hemp extract often referred to simply as THC.

How is CBD Chocolate Made?

The sad truth is that most large manufacturers of CBD edibles use chocolate coating when making CBD chocolate bars. These coatings are low quality and the flavor doesn’t stack up to real dark chocolate or milk chocolate products.

We’d recommend choosing products made by veteran chocolatiers. For instance,  Dr. Watson has partnered with the award-winning Melt London to create a vegan-friendly dark chocolate bar with 400mg CBD and ethically-sourced cacao. It only took one taste before we started stocking the product.

CBD Chocolate Benefits — What is CBD Chocolate Good For?

The combination of high cocoa content and cannabinoids makes eating CBD chocolate a uniquely delicious experience, but research suggests there are health benefits that go beyond the inherently delicious nature of eating chocolate.

CBD for Anxiety

One study with 40 participants compared the efficacy of CBD on human anxiety compared to diazepam (Valium), ipsapirone, and placebo pills through simulated public speaking tests. The Visual Analogue Mood Scale (VAMS) and the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STA) indicated that CBD decreased anxiety.

The double-blind, placebo-controlled study stated the following about cannabidiol in comparison to prescription medications like diazepam:

“The results suggest that ipsapirone and CBD have anxiolytic properties in human volunteers submitted to a stressful situation.”

CBD for Cardiovascular Disease

Researchers Christopher Stanley, William Hind, and Saoirse O’Sullivan set out to measure the health benefits of CBD treatment on various disorders. What they found is that CBD has the ability to reduce cardiovascular response to stress. Their paper concluded the following:

“CBD treatment does not appear to have any effect on resting blood pressure or heart rate but does reduce the cardiovascular response to various types of stress. In vivo, CBD treatment has a protective role in reducing the effects of cardiac ischemia and reperfusion, or in reducing cardiac dysfunction associated with diabetes.”

This could be due to the anti-inflammatory effects that CBD displays but further research is required.

CBD for Neurological Disorders

The endocannabinoid system is essential to homeostatic processes in the brain. While CBD has little binding affinity for CB1 or CB2 receptors unlike THC, the Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University found that it can reduce the accumulation of beta-amyloid plaque and improve cognition.

According to Dr. Babak Baban, CBD also reduces levels of the IL-6 immune protein which is associated with high inflammation levels in Alzheimer’s. Furthermore, the researchers found that CBD treatment can increase IL-33 levels by 7x and TREM2 levels by 10x.

Both of these genes are essential to phagocytosis where microglial cells consume beta-amyloid. We may not be curing Alzheimer’s with edibles next week but the research to date is very promising for those studying the impact of the endocannabinoid system on central nervous system disorders.

How Much CBD Chocolate Should I Eat?

There are a few things to consider when trying to figure out how many CBD chocolates you should be eating. The serving size can vary depending on things like your body weight and whether or not there’s a recommended dosage for a specific medical condition that you have.

The best way to get the ideal dosage would be to consult your physician. This applies to both chocolate and CBD but it’s especially important when consuming cannabis products. They’ll be able to tell you how many mg of CBD is optimal so you don’t get carried away after you taste the chocolate.

Will CBD Chocolate Get Me High?

At most, you’ll experience calming effects and an improved mood. It’s extremely unlikely to get high off a dose of CBD unless you’re consuming improperly-made CBD chocolate or chugging a CBD tincture with illegally high THC levels to begin with.

Does CBD Chocolate Help You Sleep?

Most chocolate contains sugar which helps with tryptophan transport and generates a dopamine response — making it ideal for serotonin-deficient individuals. Researchers also found that having enough sugar in your diet can alleviate anxiety and improve your mood.

While this doesn’t guarantee that it’ll be easier for you to fall asleep, lower anxiety levels and improved mood should reduce the odds of insomnia. Studies also show that poor sleep quality is significantly detrimental to your mood the following day, so maybe a bar of CBD chocolate can break that cycle.

Does CBD Chocolate Contain THC?

In general, high-quality CBD chocolates are THC-free, containing only trace amounts or even none at all if liquid chromatography is part of the production process. At the same time, there are far too many manufacturers who get lazy with the THC level, leading to unwanted CBD chocolate effects.

Their sales pages will all say that they’re selling CBD chocolates when, in reality, these have high enough levels to be classified as THC edibles. That would also make them illegal to send and receive via mail meaning the legal consequences could outweigh the benefits.

Is CBD Chocolate Safe and Legal?

While you should steer clear of CBD products that don’t filter out THC properly, it’s worth noting that buying CBD chocolate with low THC levels is completely legal. It’s also legal to grow hemp in the UK but you’ll need a license issued by the Home Office.

Things are a bit more complicated across the pond though, with both federal legislature and state laws being a factor. The 2018 Farm Bill removed hemp from the list of Schedule I Substances in the United States, provided it contains less than 0.3% THC.

That said, we wouldn’t recommend growing a hemp plant yourself in the US and making chocolate with it since not all states that permit hemp-derived CBD have legalized home growing. The following states permit taking CBD medicinally but haven’t legalized the home growing of cannabis plants:

• Arkansas
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Florida
• Iowa
• Iowa
• Louisiana
• Maryland
• Minnesota
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Pennsylvania
• Utah
• West Virginia

You can also check the NCIA’s state-by-state policies page to check for updated cannabis legislation. CBD has an established safety profile which means side effects are quite unlikely. This makes CBD products just as safe as they are legal provided you’re taking CBD chocolate from reputable vendors.

Where Should I Buy CBD Chocolate?

When buying CBD chocolate, it’s essential that you only buy from trusted merchants to ensure that other cannabinoids aren’t present in high levels. With such a wide variety of CBD chocolate products on the market, there’s nothing wrong with being picky about which brands you’re eating.

Whether you want a milk chocolate bar or a dark chocolate bar, we’ve got you covered. Dark chocolate is my personal favourite but I highly recommend trying both to see which flavours suit your personal taste. We also have cookies and brownies if you want to mix things up.

All products on CBD Planet UK contain less than 0.2% THC and meet the legal requirements for the sale of hemp. We also have a price guarantee which means you can get the best CBD chocolate at 10% cheaper than our most affordable competitor.

Conclusion

Let’s be honest, most of us would eat chocolate regardless of whether it has positive effects on our well-being. The research on the positive effects and health benefits of a CBD product may still be early, but that won’t stop me from taking a bite out of a chocolate bar when I’m done writing this. At the end of the day, those who love chocolate should be glad that we can all get our daily dose of cannabidiol through a consumption method that tastes delicious. That’s all for now, stay safe, and go get a bite of CBD dark chocolate with coconut oil and cocoa butter to experience the flavour for yourself.