You know how you can be at work just doing your job and suddenly, out of nowhere, you’re worried about where you left your passport? Wondering how many calories are in CBD oil is sort of like that. You’re a full supporter of CBD. Like me, you probably have CBD products you swear by and tell all your friends about them. And maybe the question never even crossed your mind because you don’t have to worry about it with your CBD massage. But then, one morning out of the blue, there it is. You’re trying to take your morning CBD oil to launch into the day ready for whatever work has to throw at you, and your head gets caught up on calories.
First of all, take the CBD and calm down. We’ll get to CBD oil nutrition in a second, but you’re not taking enough to throw off your diet. One tablespoon of hemp oil has 126 calories, but you’re taking nowhere near that much with your daily dropper of CBD oil. (For the record, there’s a difference between hemp oil vs CBD oil, but we’ll get to that.) Yes, you can still lose weight and keep it off while taking CBD, and no, you don’t have to adjust your calories for the rest of the day if you happen to be a calorie counter. (Same goes for you, macro counters.)
Understanding CBD oil nutrition
The bulk of what you’re taking with your morning tincture is not CBD oil. We checked in with Eileen Konieczny, RD and Lauren Wilson, co-authors of the newly released book Healing with CBD: How Cannabidiol Can Transform Your Health without the High so you could get the expert explanation on this. “The way the CBD oils are typically made is by extracting the cannabinoids, terpenes, etc. from the plant and then that extract is added to a carrier oil,” they explained. Different brands use different carrier oils, and that’s where the difference in calories comes from.
You’ll see everything from coconut or MCT oil to hemp oil used as the carrier for this CBD extract. While, yes, technically this will change how many calories are in CBD oil, the difference is minute. Different oils do have slightly different nutrition profiles, but they become negligible when you’re taking so little of them.
And yes, while the calories in CBD oil are almost entirely of fat, that’s not a bad thing. Hemp is rich in healthy fats and essential fatty acids like heart-healthy omega-3s. Coconut oil is rich in medium-chain triglycerides, which are metabolized differently than other fats. These types of fat can help you burn more calories compared to the same number of calories from longer-chain fats, according to a 2015 study.
How many calories are in CBD oil?
Hemp oil has 126 calories and 14g of fat per tablespoon, but you’re taking only a fraction of that amount. For CBD companies that use coconut oil in their formulas, you’re looking at 120 calories and 14 grams of fat per tablespoon. So how small is your serving? That depends on the dose you’re looking to take of CBD each day.
For example, I use Cured Nutrition’s Peppermint CBD Oil in the 500mg bottle. I take one whole dropperful each morning. I weighed the dropper empty and again with the CBD to see how much oil I consume each morning. The total was 1 gram of oil. One tablespoon of coconut oil is 13.6 grams. So how many calories are in CBD oil? If your CBD oil has a coconut base, you’re looking at around 9 calories per dropperful. For hemp, you’ll take in roughly the same: 9 calories per dropperful.
But CBD dosing is individual, so what if you take more than I do? You’re still taking in enough calories worth worrying about if you’re taking an oil, If you’re getting your cannabidiol from some of the delicious CBD edibles in NYC, though, that’s another matter.