CBD in Functional Foods: A Guide

Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the more than 100 cannabinoids in the cannabis plant. However, CBD is most popular, as it is most abundant in the plant, readily extractable, and is well studied by science. In addition, CBD has completely changed the way people perceive the cannabis plant. Now, they associate this plant with health benefits rather than substance abuse.

What is incredible about cannabinoids is that they have many different functions. Sometimes, various cannabinoids work in synergy with each other, and other times in an opposite way. Since CBD has so many health effects, it is surely a time to include it in a regular diet to recognize it as one of the most potent functional foods.

There are other reasons why It is necessary to start exploring CBD as a functional food. These days, 70% of all clinical conditions are non-infectious chronic ailments. One of the problems with chronic disorders is that they are difficult to treat with medications and cause significant pain and disability.

Just take an example of obesity, diabetes, hypertension, dementia, joint pains, lower back pain, and more. Most of these conditions are lifelong, or they tend to reoccur.

Studies show that most chronic ailments are lifestyle disorders. It means that they are prevented and better managed through lifestyle interventions rather than through the use of pharmacological drugs.

It means that there is an urgent need to understand the role of CBD in managing various chronic disorders. However, using health supplements daily is a challenge. On the other hand, consuming CBD as a part of the diet may better manage these conditions.

functional foods and CBD

What Are Functional Foods?

These are food items with health benefits extending beyond their nutritional value. It means that they not only provide energy and vital nutrients to the body but also help prevent and even manage health conditions.

Thus, for example, many spices like turmeric are not only used to color the food, improve its aroma, or for nutritional value, but it also has many other health benefits.

Similarly, CBD is excellent functional food. It mainly means creating products high in nutritional value and having the health benefits of CBD. It could be CBD-infused foods or even food products solely made of various parts of the cannabis plant.

Thus, take the example of hemp seed meal or hemp seed cake. It is what is left of the hemp seed after extracting its oil. However, this hemp cake is rich in vegan proteins, vitamins, and minerals, have small amounts of essential fatty acids and can be readily sourced. If we add CBD to this, we can create a food product that is nutritious and has all the health benefits of CBD.

Another example could be hemp seed oil, healthy oil that is quite rich in omega-3 fatty acids. However, hemp seed oil is naturally CBD-free. But, adding CBD to hemp seed oil would create excellent functional food.

Unlike healthy supplements, functional food is primarily for regular consumption as a part of a regular diet. Thus, for example, one can create smoothies using CBD-infused hemp seed meal or CBD-infused hemp seed oil as a salad dressing.

What Are Some Key Functional Food Benefits?

Functional foods provide many unique benefits over other products like food supplements or natural remedies. Perhaps the biggest advantage is a better nutritional profile and palatability. When consuming functional foods, one does not feel like taking some medicine. Thus, functional foods are easier to add to the daily regime. These foods are consumed just like any other food, and yet they have many health benefits.

When it comes to health benefits, the possibilities are limitless. It is because functional foods are not necessarily made using a single plant extract. Thus, one can add CBD to different healthy foods to create functional foods.

As already mentioned, one can use hemp seed meal with added CBD to make smoothies. One can use it before and after the workout. However, unlike conventional high protein supplements, it would also have the benefits of CBD, which may mean low anxiety, better focus, faster recovery, and the lesser problem of delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS). It may also mean improved metabolic health and more.

Similarly, using hemp seed oil as a part of the diet is good, as it is quite nutritious. But hemp seed oil with CBD would be even more wonderful.

As already said that one can create even better products by combining different foods. Thus, just think about having CBD-infused multi-fruit juice daily in the morning. This would have all the benefits of multi-fruit juice, along with the health benefits of CBD. Furthermore, one can even fortify this juice with vitamins and minerals to create a highly beneficial and unique offering. Thus, as one can see possibilities here are endless.

CBD and funcional foods

What Are the Stages of CBD-Infused Functional Food Prep?

As the CBD market is quite saturated,  one of the ways of getting into the CBD business is starting with functional foods. Moreover, here the possibilities are almost endless. For example, one may create CBD infused food range focusing on physically active individuals or foods focused on managing certain ailments.

Creating CBD-infused functional food is pretty straightforward. Perhaps the simplest way of starting is just to come up with an idea of some food supplement range and then merely add some CBD to them. These could be food supplements for sports people like vegan protein powders, pre or post-workout shakes, meal replacement plans, and more. Or one can focus on specific disorders like foods for joint health, diabetes, brain health, and more.

Once you have come up with an idea, one of the most important things you need to know is whether your food item is oil-based or water-based. It is vital to know as CBD is naturally fat soluble but is poorly soluble in the water.

Thus, when it comes to adding CBD to oil-based products, it is pretty simple. One can buy CBD wholesale, like CBD isolate or THC-free broad spectrum CBD distillate, and then add these to foods.

However, if you want to create a CBD-infused energy drink, then you would need to use water soluble CBD isolate or water soluble distillate. Unfortunately, there are very few companies in the market like essentiapura that produce water soluble CBD. It is essentially a nano-emulsified liquid concentrate that is ready to add to just any water-based food and has excellent bioavailability.

Additionally, when creating products, one should also think about adding other beneficial ingredients to differentiate the product from the market. For example, a CBD-infused sports drink with curcumin and vitamin Bs reduces post-workout inflammation.

What Is the State of the Functional Food Market in 2022?

It is relatively difficult to say as there is no clear data. Moreover, definitions of functional foods differ globally. However, what we know is that the wellness market is almost $4 trillion, which is massive. Additionally, we know that CBD has been one of the major growth drivers of the functional food market for the last few years.

There are many reasons for the lack of accurate data. Just take an example of fortified juices. Some would say that it is just a food item, another would call it a health supplement, and yet others may classify it as a functional food. Generally, criteria differentiating between foods, functional foods, and healthy supplements vary significantly between the various nations, creating significant challenges.

Nevertheless, it is evident that the CBD market is growing in North America and Europe. Another encouraging point is that the market will continue to grow for a decade or more. The demand for CBD products is continually growing, and the market is still struggling to meet consumer demands. Thus, though the CBD oil market may be much saturated, the market of CBD-infused foods is still nascent and offers many business opportunities.

Top Ways to Boost Functional Food Intake?

If you have decided to get into the functional food segment, there is still lots to think about before launching any food product. One of the ways to start is to identify the segment that one wants to enter. For example, some may come up with a vegan range of products, others foods for brain health, and more.

If you want to know more about ways of boosting functional food intake, it is not very difficult. Here the secret is pretty simple, instead of choosing usual foods, better choose food products with some added health benefits.

Just take an example of dietary oil intake. Everyone consumes oil in one way or another. However, instead of going for regular vegetable oil, one may opt for organic, cold pressed, omega-3 fatty acids rich vegetable oil. If one can find such vegetable oil with CBD, that would be even great.

Similarly, instead of a regular glass of juice in the morning, why not consider multi-fruit juice fortified with vitamins or other beneficial herbs. Thus, such a juice would be not only nutritious but also beneficial to health.

if you are interested in CBD-infused functional foods, we can help you by giving more information.