CBD Oil's Health Benefits Are Reportedly Locked Behind Poor Absorption Rates — This Pressure-Based Tech Company Says It's Found The Key

As the cannabis market moves steadily toward widespread legalization and acceptance, cannabidiol (CBD), one of the key medicinal compounds derived from the hemp plant, is appearing as an ingredient in more and more mainstream products. Even with legalization still not fully realized yet, the global cannabis market reached a value of $13.4 billion in 2022. The CBD oil segment alone accounted for more than a third of that, with a value of over $5 billion in 2021. 

As this emerging sector could continue to see explosive growth in the coming decade, manufacturers have been racing to develop more potent and cost-effective CBD-infused products. But it’s the pressure-based emulsification achieved by Pressure BioScience’s PBIO patented UltraShear™ platform that seems to have made the biggest breakthrough so far. Here’s why CBD nanoemulsification is key for this emerging market, and what sets PBI’s technology apart from all others.

Why Manufacturers Are Racing To Make CBD Oil More Water Soluble

The reason CBD is becoming an increasingly popular additive in food, beverages, and other consumer products is that it acts as a mood booster and creates an overall sense of relaxation without the mind-altering effects of THC. Those relaxation effects make it the ideal additive for beers and seltzers, and it’s even being used to create alcohol-free beer and wine alternatives that can still offer some of the relaxation effects that consumers look for when grabbing a drink with friends. 

Research has also shown that CBD may act as an anti-inflammatory and a mild pain reliever. These benefits give it the potential to not only be a safer alternative to painkillers for people with chronic pain but also an ideal post-workout supplement to combat muscle soreness or improve recovery after an injury. 

For all its potential, manufacturers have struggled to find a way to process CBD in a way that makes it more water-soluble. The human body can’t absorb oil-based compounds like CBD nearly as well as water-soluble ones. It’s so inefficient, in fact, that some studies show that as little as 6% of the CBD a person consumes actually makes it into their bloodstream. 

So manufacturers typically have to add a lot more CBD than actually needed to make sure enough is absorbed to provide some of those health and well-being benefits. But actual absorption rates can vary considerably even for the same person, so it’s all but impossible to dose CBD with any precision. A consumer might absorb an adequate amount of CBD one day but too little to make a difference the next day, creating an inconsistent experience with the product. 

Processing CBD Oil into a standard emulsion is an inefficient and expensive process, which is why so many manufacturers have been trying to develop a method for processing CBD oil into a water-soluble nanoemulsion. The problem is that the most common methods use either heat or chemical additives, which can often lead to a breakdown in the quality, stability, and bioavailability of the CBD molecules. 

Chemical emulsifiers have been linked to intestinal inflammation, metabolic syndrome and other health problems in recent studies. While heat emulsification doesn’t pose the same health risks, the high temperatures have the potential to degrade heat-sensitive compounds like CBD oil. Some studies suggest that heat-treated CBD may be less potent than its unheated counterpart.

PBI’s UltraShear™ Technology Creates Nanoemulsions Without Harmful Heat Or Chemicals

PBI’s UltraShear™ platform is one of the highest pressure processing homogenizing technologies in the world today. That ultra-high pressure accomplishes what other manufacturers have been trying to do with chemicals or heat. It slices through oil, breaking it down into nano-sized oil droplets that are so small, they are effectively water-soluble. By using pressure rather than heat or chemicals, PBI reports that it is able to unlock the potential of a water-soluble CBD oil without the risk of altering or damaging the active ingredient inside the oil. 

At that nano-size, the oil droplets are also too small to recombine again, making the oil and water nanoemulsion extremely shelf stable. Studies on the shelf stability of PBI’s nanoemulsions have shown that products remained emulsified (did not separate out into layers of oil and water) for up to 18 months after processing. 

The nanoemulsion has already helped PBI secure landmark deals in the cannabis market. In December of last year, for example, PBI shipped $75,000 worth of CBD oral sprays manufactured with the UltraShear™ platform. It was the first of many planned as part of an agreement with Safer Medical of Montana. 

In January, PBI announced the results from a consumer focus group that tested a THC oral spray manufactured on the same UltraShear™ platform. Results showed that consumers who took edibles infused with UltraShear™ processed THC felt first effects in an average of 3-5 minutes compared to the usual 30 to 60 minutes for edibles infused with standard, non-UltraShear™ processed THC.  That same month, PBI signed a new collaboration agreement with One World Products, Inc. OWPC, one of the world’s leading cannabis producers, to develop a line of CBD-infused sports drinks. OWPC is led by Isiah Thomas, the basketball Hall of Famer.

Featured photo by Jan Zwarthoed on Unsplash.

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