Our CBD
CBD is a legal, naturally occurring substance which is extracted together with over 100 other nutrients from hemp plants. If taken regularly with food or drink it can support the body’s endocannabinoid system which helps maintain your health and balance but with no risk of getting high.
If taken regularly it can support the body’s endocannabinoid system
The plant
Your body
Myth-busting claims about CBD
We recognise that there is a lot of information online and in the media about CBD and, while taking CBD is known to support the body’s endocannabinoid system which helps maintain your health and balance, there are also many misleading and unproven claims floating around. We have set out below some myth-busting information to help you make an informed decision for yourself:
CBD / hemp is illegal in the UK - FALSE
This seemed an easy one to start with – growing hemp under licence and selling CBD products in the UK is legal and hemp has been grown in the UK for hundreds of years. During the reign of Henry VIII, it was even compulsory to grow a quarter acre of hemp for every 60 acres of land under cultivation. Today, hemp can be grown in the UK as long as you have a licence from the government and the plant is an approved variety containing less than 0.2% THC (tetrahydrocannabinol), the psychoactive substance found in some varieties of the cannabis plant.
CBD will get you ‘high’ - FALSE
Unlike THC, which is another cannabinoid found in the cannabis plant, CBD doesn’t get you high. Mary-Jane’s products are extracted from a specialised low THC variety of industrial hemp and have been laboratory tested showing that no THC has been detected. We also get it tested for loads of other things so read on for more fun test facts.
CBD can replace modern medicine for treatment of illnesses and will make you more beautiful - FALSE
The truth is that there haven’t been enough recognised clinical trials to support medical claims so Mary-Jane’s provides CBD as a food (or drink) supplement and not as a medicine. However, we do know that regularly taking CBD will support the endocannabinoid system which helps maintain your health and balance. So while we can’t promise to cure your illness or make you more beautiful, it still gets our thumbs up.
Taking Full Spectrum / Isolate CBD is best - FALSE
CBD Isolate is when just the CBD compound is extracted from the plant and it is isolated from all other compounds i.e. pure CBD. Full Spectrum CBD is an extract that contains all naturally occurring compounds found in the plant, including terpenes, essential oils, waxes and other cannabinoids. Research indicates that the “entourage effect” of taking CBD together with all the other naturally occurring cannabinoids, terpenes and oils from the plant magnified the effects of the CBD. So why is Full Spectrum not necessarily the best? At Mary-Jane’s we want customers to be reassured that they are not taking any THC with their CBD so we specifically use “Broad Spectrum” CBD which uses full plant extraction to offer the full benefits of the hemp plant, including cannabinoids, terpenes, amino acids, vitamins, flavonoids and omega 3, 6, and 9, as well as other fatty acids but without THC. All of the good stuff, no high.
More CBD = a stronger effect - FALSE
Each individual has their own ‘optimum’ level of CBD supplement. Taking a dosage below that can result in no effect being felt at all and taking too much may also have the same effect. For that reason, Mary-Jane’s recommends that if you haven’t taken CBD before you should start with a small dosage (around 10mg per day) and build up until you find your balance. Most of our food and drink is available with a dosage of around 10mg so all you have to do is choose which coffee or cake to start with.
Hemp that is not organically certified contains pesticides and other nasty contaminants - FALSE
The hemp we use is grown using strict organic farming practices. Our CBD oil is 100% natural and vegan friendly. The plants from which the CBD is extracted are controlled from cultivation to harvesting and the final product is independent laboratory tested and contains no herbicides, pesticides, heavy metals or contaminants. Each batch processed is tested using state-of-the-art High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) equipment and a copy of the latest laboratory certificate is available for review in our shop if you love your statistics.
Extraction processing introduces contaminants into the oil - FALSE
For some CBD oils this may be the case but at Mary-Jane’s our CBD is extracted using a plant-based Ethanol extraction process. We believe this is the best method for extracting the fullest range of cannabinoids and plant compounds but we also ensure that no Ethanol is left in the final product (and have independent laboratory tests that confirm this). No one likes a coffee that tastes of Ethanol.
Pets can take Mary-Jane’s CBD too - FALSE
While we love our furry / feathery friends and want them to experience all the joys of CBD, the Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD) have made a statement that they consider products for animals containing CBD to be “veterinary medicines”. We don’t hold ourselves out to be vets (too many years of training) so feeding our CBD to your pets is a no no we’re afraid.
CBD can be taken by anyone - FALSE
Sorry folks, we do recommend that CBD is not taken by people that are pregnant or breastfeeding and we won’t serve anyone under 18 years old. We are not medical practitioners but understand it may interact with medicines that are affected by grapefruit (mainly blood thinners). That said, we also stock loads of delicious non-CBD food and drink options so for those missing out, why not console yourself with an extra slice of cake!
CBD is a drug and could be addictive or cause side effects - FALSE
Aside from the fact that our CBD is a food supplement so not technically a drug, we’d like to hand over to the World Health Organization for this one. They have recently stated that “In humans, CBD exhibits no effects indicative of any abuse or dependence potential…. To date, there is no evidence of public health related problems associated with the use of pure CBD.” Enough said really. That said, we are not medical practitioners but understand CBD may interact with medicines that are affected by grapefruit (mainly blood thinners) so if your medicine falls into this category then we recommend you opt for a delicious non-CBD cake or coffee.
You can overdose on CBD - FALSE
There are no known cases of fatal overdose reported that we are aware of. However, even water can be potentially lethal if too much is consumed within too short a time period. Taking heed of advice from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the Cannabis Trades Association UK, we recommend that customers don’t take more than 200mg of CBD in one day although you should probably read the section on dosage as less can sometimes equal more in the CBD world. Having said that, more cake is always better than less cake.
You know what you’re taking by reading the label - FALSE
Unfortunately with exciting products like CBD there will always be chancers who think they can get away with selling dodgy products with inaccurate measures of CBD. A study done a couple of years back looked at 84 different CBD products and found major discrepancies in the majority of products tested. Some contained too little CBD, others contained too much. Some didn’t have any CBD at all and some contained illegal levels of THC. That’s seriously concerning but luckily reputable companies such as Mary-Jane’s are members of the Cannabis Trades Association UK. This means that we ensure that CBD products are of high quality, meet legislative requirements as set out by the Food Standards Agency and we have every batch of our products independently tested so we know exactly what goes into them. No lies and no highs in Mary-Jane’s supplies. We should definitely trademark that slogan!
Measuring accurate CBD doses is easy - FALSE
The internet is a minefield of different ways to measure / describe CBD doses. Here at Mary-Jane’s we like to keep it simple and only refer to our doses in mg (milligrams). We also want to offer a consistent amount of CBD in each of our coffees so we sat down to do some maths. Our CBD is carried in an oil (rich with nutrients and providing the entourage effect described above) and we worked out that adding 0.2ml of our CBD oil to each coffee would be equivalent to a 10mg dose of CBD which is a suitable level for most people to take when they first try CBD. We don’t know how technical you like to get in the kitchen but accurately measuring out 0.2ml (equivalent to 4 identical drops) of oil into a coffee or cake recipe is super tricky. Never liking to accept defeat though, we decided to invest in some super accurate pump dispensers usually found in biology labs. For the real geeks out there, these have an accuracy tolerance of ±1.2% and a reproductivity tolerance of ±0.2% meaning that every pump of our CBD dispenser is pretty darn accurate and consistent.
CBD tastes like earth - TRUE(ish)
Ok, you got us on this one. When we first tried CBD it truly did taste like earth and not the good stuff you ate as a child. However, we spent a lot of time testing different CBD oils to select one with the most palatable flavour and have worked closely with our coffee roasters to develop a coffee blend specifically designed to work with those earthy undertones and bring out only the delicious terpene flavours that subtly hide within the CBD. You might look out for hints of limonene and pinene in particular. Our CBD cakes and CBD smoothies, shakes, salad dressings, honeys and compotes are pretty awesome too.
