CBD is getting increasingly popular in the UK, and you could be forgiven for having some questions about its efficacy. After all, CBD comes from the cannabis plant – something that has a long history of prohibition, addiction and other issues. But, you can rest assured that CBD isn’t the psychoactive part of the cannabis plant, so it doesn’t cause intoxication, a sensation of being “high” or any of the issues listed above.
Want to know more about CBD and how it can help support you with things like anxiety? Read on for some expert advice from leading CBD brand, Evopure.
The psychoactive ingredient in cannabis that is used by recreational smokers is known as THC. This remains illegal in the UK and is best avoided for this reason. CBD, on the other hand, is legal and has been found to offer a range of benefits focused around maintaining homeostasis. Benefits have been found for insomnia, inflammation, depression, chronic pain, stress, and other mainstream health concerns.
In this post we’re focusing specifically on anxiety. CBD is commonly used to help manage anxiety symptoms across the full spectrum, from minor social anxiety to crippling panic attacks.
While CBD for anxiety is a fairly recent innovation, and further studies are necessary, evidence suggests that CBD can be an effective alternative therapy for helping to manage anxiety.
In this post we will recommend the most reliable and effective CBD oils for anxiety in the UK – but first, a little more on how this ingredient works.
What is CBD?
The cannabis/hemp plant contains over 100 cannabinoids. These include THC, the psychoactive ingredient for which cannabis is recreationally smoked, and CBD, the therapeutic ingredient commonly used for health benefits.
Of the remaining 100, less is known, and many are present in very small quantities – however, it has been found that their presence boosts the benefits offered by CBD by working together in something known as ‘the entourage effect.’
As a result, pure CBD, known as “CBD isolate”, is actually thought to be one of the least effective ways to use CBD for health purposes. It is still likely to hold some benefits, but ingesting it in this manner removes your ability to benefit from the entourage effect.
“Broad spectrum CBD” contains not only CBD itself, but also all of the other cannabinoids in their naturally occurring ratios. The only thing typically removed is THC, which must remain below 0.2 percent of the overall extract in order to avoid legal issues and psychoactive effects. As a result, this is the best CBD oil in the UK for any sort of health benefit, and should always be prioritised over CBD isolate.
“Full spectrum CBD oil” is the term used to describe CBD with nothing removed at all – meaning it also includes THC. Some full spectrum CBD oil contains less than 0.2 percent THC. This is legal in the UK, but is essentially broad spectrum, as this isn’t enough THC to cause psychoactive effects.
Other full spectrum CBD oil contains the naturally occurring amount of THC, which is a lot higher than 0.2 percent. This is illegal in the UK, but may be available on sale in other countries such as the USA – which is why you should always be cautious when purchasing CBD products online from abroad.
However, by sticking to broad spectrum CBD oil, and high quality UK companies, you can avoid this issue entirely.
Is CBD Legal in the UK?
The answer is yes, as long as the CBD oil remains within certain regulations. As mentioned above, it must contain 0.2 percent THC or less.
All of the products on this list meet this requirement, meaning they are not only legal to use, but also safe to use while driving or operating heavy machinery.
The Best CBD Oils for Anxiety
Here are our suggestions for the most reliable options for the best CBD for anxiety in the UK.
1. Evopure Flow CBD Oil
This is our #1 pick for the best CBD oil for anxiety in the UK. While the bulk of it is pure CBD oil, it also contains a range of stress-busting ingredients that have been added.
On top of CBD itself, the tincture contains maca root, MCT oil and additional relaxation-encouraging terpenes.
Given that MCT oil is the most effective way to absorb CBD, and the other two additional ingredients have both been found to promote relaxation themselves, this is a powerful way to quickly encourage a relaxed feeling and experience the best CBD can offer.
It is also one of the best value CBD oils in the UK providing a massive 1,000mg for as low as £65.99, with 500mg only setting you back £32.99.
Evopure is already arguably the highest standard producer of CBD in the UK. High quality, organic, CO2 extracted ingredients, broad spectrum CBD oil, independent lab testing, and sustainable processes all make this as close to risk free as you can get. Add those additional herbal ingredients and you have a perfect storm of relaxation.
With positive customer feedback across the board and recommendations from publications as broad as Reader’s Digest and NetDoctor, Evopure is an easy choice for the best CBD oil for UK anxiety sufferers.
If this focus on quality isn’t enough to sell you, what really pushes Evopure above the rest of the competition is its environmental policy. All of the company’s CBD comes from organic EU hemp and harvested using unique crop rotation methods that keep the soil rich in nutrients and minimise environmental impact.
Lastly, all hemp used is non-GMO and Evopure offsets its carbon – meaning there is no reason to feel guilty about this product!
The company also offers a pure CBD oil without the additional botanicals if you prefer, but those looking to help manage anxiety specifically have little to lose with the additions.
2. Vibes CBD
A small, family based UK company with a focus on quality, Vibes CBD is one of the best CBD companies in the country. While Evopure just pips them to first place due to their comprehensive environmental strategy, Vibes is comparable in most other areas and if you’re looking to try CBD for anxiety for the first time, it’s hard to go wrong here.
It’s a relatively small organisation with high demand so stock can occasionally be low, but with doses of broad spectrum CBD oil ranging from 1000 to 2000mg, 100 percent organic CBD, and no preservatives or colours added, this is a product you can trust.
3. Hempen
Hempen is less a company, more a co-operative community of CBD lovers. They have been collaborating with organic CBD farms since 2016 to produce a variety of health products.
This makes it one of the best CBD brands in the UK if you wish to know exactly where your hemp is coming from, with sustainable growth and transparency among Hempen’s key goals.
The product range includes the obvious CBD oil for ingesting for health purposes, but also some more out there options including CBD coconut oil, stationery products, cosmetics etc.
Hempen’s crops are grown entirely in the UK and are independently lab tested so you can see exactly what’s in your bottle.
4. Holistic Hemp Scotland
This brand has a bit of a backstory to it – as they originally got into CBD after a family member was helped by it, desiring to spread the news about CBD and its health benefits to ensure other families could go through the same thing.
Its product range matches this intent, with the goal clearly being to bring CBD to as many people as possible. Products include CBD chocolates and CBD honey, making it arguably easier than ever to get your daily cannabinoid intake.
Coming from a small, family-run brand, the products are all hand-crafted and sourced from farms all across Europe.
5. Charlotte’s Web
Another CBD brand with a touching story, Charlotte’s Web is named after a young girl who suffered from seizures. CBD made a huge difference to her symptoms and transformed her life, and as a result Charlotte’s Web became one of the first companies in the UK to offer CBD oil for medical use.
Perhaps due to having an early start in the industry, the company has one of the most exhaustive ranges of CBD products, including CBD gummies, CBD sleep gummies, topical balms, dog treats, skin cooling gel and more.
If you’re looking to treat anxiety with CBD oil, we would recommend sticking to its regular CBD oil, as this has the highest dose and purest CBD content. With that said, the other products provide a great opportunity for those who dislike the natural taste of CBD oil or who are looking for an easier way to ingest it.
As a CBD oil that originated for medical purposes before most other CBD brands existed, the quality is as high as you would imagine.
6. Select CBD
While Select CBD is an American brand as opposed to a British one, they have put a lot of focus on being accessible to the UK market. This includes zero percent THC content, a UK focused website and an entirely separate UK marketing campaign.
This does bring the one downside that shipping is noticeably slower than every other product on our list. However, the product is high quality enough and the brand provides such great customer service that they should be considered a serious option for anybody in the UK regardless.
The oil is lab tested, organic and very strong, making it an excellent choice for managing anxiety. There’s also flavoured CBD oils who dislike the taste of pure CBD oil. These two facts alone are enough to make Select CBD an easy recommendation.
7. Bud and Tender
Bud and Tender is a premium CBD brand that is significantly more expensive than the other entries on our list. If you’ve never tried CBD oil for anxiety before, and are just looking for a low cost entry point to see if CBD can provide any benefits for you – we wouldn’t recommend Bud and Tender, the investment is just too high.
However, for seasoned CBD fans who are willing to spend a little bit extra, this is your best option for a luxury CBD oil – with superlative quality and premium packaging.
This is also the only high quality CBD brand in the UK that offers a higher dose than Evopure, with options going all the way up to an absurd 12,000mg. While this costs a whopping £660, and there is no scientific evidence supporting a dose this big, for those real CBD aficionados with high tolerance, this may be exactly what you’re looking for.
With features in major publications, strong customer reviews, and independent lab testing, the quality here seems to be infallible. Despite their higher price point, Bud and Tender is one of the most popular CBD companies in the UK – l and it’s easy to see why.
Can CBD Help with Anxiety?
Unfortunately, scientific research into CBD’s health benefits is significantly behind where it should be. This is due to decades of unnecessary prohibition making clinical trials difficult or impossible in the vast majority of the world.
However, in recent years, attitudes towards both cannabis and CBD has been becoming more and more open, with many countries legalising the plant’s use – more commonly for medical purposes, but occasionally for any purpose.
As a result, trials are being carried out and evidence is building up quickly.
While it is still in early stages, and new discoveries are likely to come thick and fast in coming years and decades – a lot of the evidence thus far is promising.
Studies have shown that CBD can help to manage symptoms related to anxiety disorder and there has also been evidence that CBD can help with anxiety and sleep, which may be useful if your anxiety makes it difficult to wind down at night.
These are far from the only clinical trials with positive results, and while it is always sensible to wait for more evidence, there is no sign that CBD can cause issues like addiction or overdose, making it relatively safe to try out.
What Should I Look for When Buying CBD?
The recent explosion in popularity of CBD products has led to a massive increase in available CBD oil. Unfortunately, the vast majority of these products are quick cash grabs looking to capitalise on the trend, with many only containing CBD isolate, or a very low CBD content – or in some cases, no CBD at all.
This is a problem because if you’re looking to trial CBD for its health benefits, and your first experience is with one of these low quality products, you may decide CBD holds no benefits for you personally, without realising you haven’t really tried it.
This is why we put together this list in the first place – every product mentioned here is high quality, broad spectrum CBD from reliable sources, and is a great way to try out the cannabinoid for yourself.
The bottom line
If you’re looking to do your own research and find other quality CBD oils, there are some things you should look for:
- A good quality CBD oil must be broad spectrum, or full spectrum with less than 0.2 percent THC. The other two options are CBD isolate, which is not particularly effective for any health related purposes, and full spectrum CBD with higher levels of THC, which is illegal in the UK.
- It should also be organic. Most plant based herbal products should ideally be organic, but this is much more important with CBD for health purposes, even if you don’t usually specifically look for organic products. For example, we have discussed in this article how CBD oil holds benefits for anxiety. However, some pesticides have been found to cause or exacerbate anxiety in farmers who are exposed. Using a CBD oil that contains these pesticides to help manage your anxiety might end up having the opposite effect.
- Independent lab testing is crucial. Most high quality brands should offer this, because if the product is such high quality, why wouldn’t they want to prove it? A company that doesn’t carry out these tests or doesn’t publish the results is not trustworthy.
- CBD should be pure and free from additives. Of course, popular herbal ingredients that offer additional benefits are fine, and all CBD oils need a carrier oil such as MCT oil or hempseed oil. Some further ingredients such as natural flavouring may also be acceptable. But preservatives, synthetic colours, and unnatural flavours should be avoided. They may provide negative health impacts for anxiety such as we discussed in the “organic” point above – but even if not, they will not add anything positive to your CBD oil.
- Lastly, CBD oil should be sustainably grown. Hemp is a rapidly growing industry, taking up more and more farmland every year. It is crucial to support those CBD companies that manage their land in a thoughtful way, meaning this farmland can become rich and sustainable for years to come. Companies that don’t prioritise this will damage the environment, remove nutrients from soil, and likely have a worse quality product to show for it. Such companies should not be supported to grow and become a future major part of the industry for obvious reasons.
