Let's get one thing out of the way. I can't stand weed.
I hate the smell, taste, and hype. The culture around hemp products, weed, and alternative wellness just isn't my thing. But when I lived in Canada, I did try CBD, and as expected, it was underwhelming.
So when Ned, a CBD wellness brand, reached out to me to try their products, I was skeptical. But I did try it. If you're a hemp oil skeptic like me, here's why I tried Ned and my review on their CBD.
The Ned CBD Full Spectrum Hemp Oil Review
Note: This article contains affiliate links meaning that if you click on a link and purchase, I may receive a small commission at no cost to you.
When in Canada, I thought I sourced a good brand to try CBD. I wanted something with no THC and good for overall wellness, muscular recovery, anxiety, and sleep. I was disappointed. I felt no effects and wasted $50, so my first question to Ned was, "why are you any different?"
Why Full Spectrum Hemp Oil?
Ned is a full spectrum hemp oil. Full-spectrum hemp oils contain all of the compounds within the hemp plant. This includes CBD but also hundreds of cannabinoids. Many CBD products on the market are a CBD isolate, meaning they contain a single cannabinoid: CBD. It's the difference between doing 100 compound movements like squats compared to a single isolated movement like a donkey kick to grow your glutes. The full movement will have the most impact.
A full spectrum hemp oil is much more potent and beneficial for your body than an isolated blend, and that's one of the reasons why the isolated CBD didn't work for me. Ned is an organic full spectrum hemp oil, and they include cannabinoids that I've never heard of, like CBN and CBG.
Does Ned Full Spectrum Hemp Oil Have THC?
Ned has trace amounts of THC up to 0.3%, meaning that it's for 18+ only, and it's not recommended who undergo drug tests for their work. It is under the federal legal limit for THC and legal in all US states. While initially, I wanted something with no THC, if you'd like the full spectrum hemp oil effects, it will have trace amounts of THC.
What Else is in Their CBD?
As a natural full spectrum hemp oil, they include over one hundred cannabinoids within the hemp plant. CBN and CBG are prevalent throughout Ned's blends.
CBN is dubbed as "the weaker version of THC" and has sedative properties to aid sleep and relieve muscles and joints in the body. You'll find it in higher quantities in Ned's Sleep Blend.
CBG is known as the "mother of all cannabanoids" and has anti-inflammatory properties, pain reliever, and is a cancer inhibitor.
How Do I Take Ned?
Ned provides a handy little card to instruct you how to take the blends. They instruct you to hold the extract under your tongue for one minute.
How Do I Take Ned's Sleep Blend
It's ideal to take the sleep blend in the evening to support an uninterrupted slumber. This blend includes CBN, the cannabinoid mentioned earlier that promotes sleep, and 750mg of full spectrum CBD from the purest single-source hemp flower extract. Ned recommends 1-2 droppers per day.
How Do I Take Ned's De-Stress Blend?
Take the de-stress blend whenever you're feeling stressed or anxious in the body. I personally take this one as a part of my wind-down evening routine. An excellent way to tell if you're stressed is by checking in with your breathing. Short, shallow breaths could mean you're stressed or suffering from anxiety.
This blend is dominant in CBG and CBD, extracted from the purest full spectrum hemp, and infused with ashwagandha, cardamom, and cinnamon. Ned recommends 1-2 droppers per day. I haven't had anxiety in ages, and I'm sure this blend helps!
My personal experience with this blend was overwhelmingly positive. I feel relaxed in my body within minutes after taking the de-stress extract, and it helps me wind down. I self-describe my brain as having twenty tabs open at all times and no one knows where the music is coming from. But this blend honestly relaxes me so I can jump on my Shakti mat for meditation and then go to bed. The benefits of taking CBD were almost immediate for me, and my sleep and recovery statistics back it up.
How Do I Take Ned's Brain Boost?
I take the Brain Boost extract on an ad-hoc basis dependant on my focus levels. Sometimes first-thing, and other times in the middle of my day. It blends equal parts CBD and CBG with brain boosting benefits from medicinal mushrooms. Medicinal mushrooms and CBG are anti-inflammatories, pain relievers and support the immune system.
What really sold me
The education and community. Ned does an excellent job at welcoming folks into a community — even skeptics! They want to educate their customers about cannabinoids and are intentional about how they source their hemp.
They self-describe as a wellness brand and treat their products and community in this way too. When I jumped on a call with one of their education specialists, I was curious to understand why supplementation instead of whole foods and exercise?
They weren't trying to push their product onto me and viewed CBD as a tool in wellness. Focusing on the basics like stress management, fueling with whole foods, and getting in frequent movement in conjunction with supplemental boosts like CBD to support your nervous and immune systems is key.
How Does Ned Source Their Hemp?
Ned uses natural, organic and local ingredients in their hemp products. They support local farmers in Colorado, Maine, Oregon, Massachusetts and Washington. You can find more information about the farms they source from here.
What Additives do They Put in Their CBD?
Depending on the blend, Ned will source and add natural ingredients. I recommend checking the ingredients before purchasing. However, the ingredients are sustainably sourced and natural. An example is the addition of ashwagandha in the de-stress blend. Ashwagandha is a root that's commonly used to aid stress and anxiety, so it makes sense to blend it with the CBD and CBG de-stress blend!
How much is Ned and is it worth it?
Ned CBD is on the pricier side, which is to be expected for a natural and organic product. As a local, sustainably-sourced product from Colorado, you're investing in the local economy. They're not diluting their oils, outsourcing from other countries, and definitely not from countries with poor working conditions, and they spend extra time ensuring that their products are organic. A bottle of their high-dosage organic CBD will cost you 90-ish dollars. But I can get you over 30% off.
Sign Up for a North Star Membership (20% off)
Use the Ned discount code LORILEE (another 15% off)
The North Star membership is flexible, so you can skip, bring deliveries forward or cancel easily. In my opinion, it's worth it. I do purchase from Ned each month because of the effects that I feel. I'd also much rather spend 80 ($65 with my discount) dollars on something I can feel working rather than 50 dollars for a CBD isolate that does nothing for me. It's all about the impact of the dollars I'm investing for me.
The Ned CBD Review by a Hemp Oil Skeptic — Converted?
Absolutely. My experience with Ned's CBD blends has been positive. Once a hemp skeptic, now I'm hemp product educator. You won't catch me heading to Colorado or Amsterdam to smoke a joint any time soon, but I certainly have noticed the effects of a natural full spectrum hemp oil and I'll continue to purchase Ned's products on a monthly basis! If you'd like to try them too, check them out and get 15% off with the code LORILEE.