In this review of NuLeaf Naturals CBD oil, you're going to learn why we have consistently ranked it as one of the highest quality CBD oils in the past few years.
NuLeaf Naturals CBD Oil is the simplest and most natural CBD oil that you can get.
Every compound inside this CBD oil comes either from the hemp plant or the hemp seed.
This is the only CBD oil on the market that's 100% hemp.
But that's not all that it has going for it…
NuLeaf Naturals Full Spectrum Hemp CBD Oil 900mg (60mg/mL)
Features
- Product-type: Oil |
- CBD: 60mg/dropper or 6.94% |
- THC: 0.14% |
- Other Cannabinoids: CBC(0.26%), CBG(0.18%), CBDV (0.1%) |
- Terpenes: 0.25% |
- Price(CBD/$1): 11.36mg |
- Price(30ml/ct): $79.2 |
- Extract-type: Full-spectrum |
- Satisfaction Guarantee: No |
- 3th-Party Lab-Tested: Yes |
- Price-category: Mid-cost
Pros and Cons
- True full-spectrum product
- Made from organic Hemp grown in Colorado
- Best customer-rated CBD oil
- No satisfaction-guarantee
First Impressions
NuLeaf Naturals sends its CBD oil in discreet cardboard boxes.
Nothing on the outside gives away that the package is related to CBD oil.
When you open the package, besides the bottle of CBD oil itself, you get a flyer with some information about NuLeaf Naturals ‘the company', and how they source/produce their CBD oil.
You also get a page with dosage recommendations and a 15% discount code for your next purchase.
But looking at the fact that our discount code herbonaut always provides 20% off, you're better off using our discount code for all of your NuLeaf Naturals purchases.
NuLeaf Naturals CBD Oil Potency and Effectiveness
One way to check for the potency of a CBD oil is checking test results that show cannabinoid-profile and -content, plus terpene-profile and terpene-content.
These cannabinoid and terpene test-results can also give you an indication of the ‘full spectrumness' of a CBD oil.
At Herbonaut we always recommend a full-spectrum CBD oil over broad-spectrum and purified CBD oils (oils that only contain CBD and/or a few other beneficial compounds).
Here's why:
A full-spectrum CBD oil makes the best case for the ‘entourage effect', which refers to the effect of all the compounds in the Hemp plant influencing each other in a synergistic way, increasing each other's positive effects.
A recent study found that epilepsy patients that used a full-spectrum CBD oil to treat themselves, sometimes needed 4-times less of a dose (in terms of CBD mg) to achieve the same effects as epilepsy patients that used a purified CBD product.
A true full-spectrum CBD oil should contain a wide profile of cannabinoids and terpenes, but also should also contain these various cannabinoids and terpenes in significant concentrations.
That said, let’s scrutinize the latest (August 2019) lab test results of NuLeaf Naturals and see what they can tell us about this CBD oil.
Cannabinoid- and Terpene-Profile Receptra Naturals (Theoretical Effectiveness Rating)
NuLeaf Naturals CBD oil contains significant concentrations of other cannabinoids than CBD.
Although there are many more cannabinoids (over 70 are known in scientific literature), the 3 most well-known and well-researched cannabinoids, other than CBD (THC, CBG, CBC), are present in significant amounts in NuLeaf Naturals CBD oil.
This means from a cannabinoid-perspective, we can qualify NuLeaf Naturals as a full-spectrum CBD oil.
Also, even though NuLeaf Naturals CBD oil is produced with the CO2-extraction method, and CO2-extraction generally isn't the most effective and efficient way to extract cannabinoids and terpenes especially…
It contains comparable concentrations and the same cannabinoid-profile as an ethanol-extracted CBD oil like Receptra Naturals for example.
NuLeaf Naturals shows that CO2 extraction can produce the same results, cannabinoid-wise, as ethanol-extraction extraction.
But for a CBD oil to be truly full-spectrum, it also needs to contain significant concentrations and a wide enough profile of terpenes.
The two terpenes present in the highest concentrations inside NuLeaf Naturals CBD oil are:
- beta-caryophyllene, and;
- alpha-humulene.
Then there are 5 terpenes that are present but in less significant concentrations.
But what do these concentrations mean for you as the consumer?
Well, to get the most benefits from CBD oil, your oil should also contain significant concentrations of terpenes. Terpenes also play an important role in the afore-mentioned entourage effect.
We can clearly see here that NuLeaf Naturals contains significant concentrations and a relatively wide profile of terpenes.
But here's the catch:
Although NuLeaf Naturals indeed contains significant concentrations of beneficial terpenes, these concentrations are still much less than in a CBD oil that's produced with the use of cold-ethanol extraction (and not decarboxylated at high temperatures, OR in the case it is, the evaporated terpenes are re-introduced into the end-product).
This means even though NuLeaf Naturals is ‘more full spectrum' than the majority of CBD oils, it's not as full spectrum as a CBD oil that's produced from high-resin hemp flower and extracted with cold-ethanol extraction, and didn't undergo a decarboxylation process with high heat OR if it did the evaporated terpenes got re-introduced into the final product.
Toxins (Heavy Metals, Pesticides, Mycotoxins, and Residual Solvents)
Here we can clearly see that NuLeaf Naturals CBD oil is clean and doesn't contain any toxic compounds or any levels of toxic compounds that could be harmful to your health.
Our Test Results with the Product (Practical Effectiveness Rating)
Now that we have looked at the theoretical effectiveness of this product, we have to see if its great cannabinoid- and terpene-profile results in potent effects when taking it for:
- Improving sleep;
- Relieving exercise-induced inflammation and pain, and;
- Reducing tenseness and irritation on ‘bad' days.
Sleep
This is how we tested NuLeaf Naturals CBD oil for sleep:
- Take a full dropper of NuLeaf Naturals oils sublingually 15 minutes before sleep;
- Check how fast I fell asleep;
- What time I wake up the next morning;
- If and how many times I woke up between me falling asleep and me getting up in the morning, and;
- Check how well rested I feel the next morning.
For me, good sleep means uninterrupted sleep of 7-8 hours and feeling well-rested the next morning. Well-rested means I don't feel tired and have a clear mind.
To test how well NuLeaf Naturals improves my sleep, for a full week, I took a full dropper (60mg CBD) 45 minutes before sleep.
Before we get to the results, please keep in mind:
How ‘well-rested’ I feel is probably more dependent on other factors than taking CBD oil. For example, I sleep very well when I had at least 1 hour of physical exercise on that particular day. I don't stop exercising when I do these tests. But checking how well I sleep on days where I don't exercise but do take CBD oil is a more reliable way to test how well a particular CBD oil improves my sleep.
The results?
Well, I can say that this product improved my sleep. How well? It's hard to quantify…but on days where I didn't exercise I definitely fell asleep easier and woke up feeling more refreshed compared to days where I don't take this tincture.
So why wouldn't I use this oil every day for sleeping better? I believe using any product or compound to improve something on a daily basis isn't healthy. It might create a dependency.
RELATED: Best Quality CBD Oil for Insomnia
Inflammation and Pain
I don't have chronic pain or any other pain conditions. But when I do a knee-dominant workout, the cartilage inside my knee gets irritated and inflamed. It's nothing extreme, but it's there.
A potent CBD oil definitely reduces the inflammation and pain inside my knee within 2 hours of taking it. NuLeaf Naturals CBD oil effectively reduced the inflammation and pain in my knee within 2 hours of taking it. Its results are very comparable to other high-quality full-spectrum tinctures like those from Receptra Naturals and R+R Medicinals.
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE: CBD Cream for Pain Relief
Irritation/Anxiety
On days where I had bad sleep the night before, I easily get irritated, aggressive (not physically) and can feel some anxiety.
A high-quality CBD oil puts me in a more calm and centered mood on days like these.
To test the effectiveness of NuLeaf Naturals CBD oil in relieving me of irritation, aggressiveness, and anxiety, I make sure that I have one day where I sleep badly. I only do this test a single day, because it's not necessarily a nice experience.
On that ‘bad' day, a few hours after waking up, I took a full dropper of NuLeaf Naturals tincture (equals 60mg of CBD). The next step was staying aware of and documenting how my tendency to get irritated, aggressive and my general feelings of anxiety develop.
NuLeaf Naturals was very effective in putting me in a calm and centered mood on this ‘bad' day.
Based on my tests, I have to conclude that this product's amazing cannabinoid and terpene-profile indeed
Please keep in mind:
These tests are unscientific and highly subjective. We can’t objectively ‘proof’ that one CBD oil is more potent than the other for sleep, pain, anxiety, or anything else.
ALSO READ: Best CBD Oil for Stress
Safety and Transparency
For the safety of NuLeaf Naturals products and transparency of the brand in general, please read the brand review page.
For general safety concerns and potential side effects related to CBD in general, we refer to the Side Effects of CBD.
Extraction Methodology
Onto the extraction methodology.
NuLeaf Naturals produces its CBD oil by means of CO2 extraction. They make use of both subcritical and supercritical CO2 extraction.
In theory, CO2 extraction is ‘cleaner' and ‘greener' than other extraction methods, but less effective and efficient in extracting especially terpenes.
Supercritical CO2 extraction is more efficient and works well for extracting just CBD and some other less volatile cannabinoids. But supercritical CO2 extraction is too harsh of a method to preserve especially terpenes. Subcritical CO2 extraction works with lower temperatures and lower pressure, this means if you're using CO2 extraction, subcritical CO2 extraction is the preferred method if you want to preserve highly volatile compounds like terpenes.
As we saw earlier, of all the CO2-extracted CBD oils, NuLeaf Naturals CBD oil definitely contains the highest concentrations and widest profile of cannabinoids and terpenes. But compared to a well-manufactured, premium quality cold-ethanol extracted CBD oil, it contains lower concentrations of terpenes.
Bottom line?
NuLeaf Naturals CBD oil is a true ‘full-plant extract' or full-spectrum CBD oil, but slightly less full-spectrum than the highest quality cold-ethanol extracted CBD oils.
Taste
Although NuLeaf Naturals CBD oil doesn't have any sweeteners, additives, or taste-bettering carrier oils, it doesn't taste as bitter as you would expect from an oil that's so close to nature and the original plant.
Most CBD oils do have 1 or 2 additives to better the taste, and while these oils will taste better than NuLeaf Naturals CBD oil, Nuleaf Naturals CBD oil doesn't taste as bitter as some other full-spectrum CBD oils.
The best way to describe it as follows:
It's not necessarily a pleasant taste, but definitely not horrible either.
Price
NuLeaf Naturals CBD oil isn't the cheapest, but also not the most expensive. Its cost-range is ‘average'.
Compared to many other high-quality CBD oils you get approximately the same amount of CBD, but a better cannabinoid- and terpene-profile with NuLeaf Naturals, for the same price.
NuLeaf Naturals CBD oil gets significantly cheaper, the bigger your bottle:
A 900ml bottle gets you:
- 11,36mg CBD per $1, and;
- 12,84mg hemp-extract per $1.
A 1800ml bottle gets you:
- 12,56mg CBD per $1, and;
- 14,19mg hemp-extract per $1.
A 6000ml bottle gets you:
- 17,08mg CBD per $1, and;
- 19,3mg hemp-extract per $1.
As you can see, with the 6000mg bottle you get 50% more CBD and hemp-extract for one dollar. If you think you will finish such a big bottle within a single year, it may very well be worth it to buy a big bottle and save yourself some money.
Use our coupon and click the button below to go to the NuLeaf Naturals Website:
- NuLeaf Naturals 20% off discount code: herbonaut
Conclusion
At Herbonaut we're the biggest fans of true full-spectrum CBD oils. Most CBD oils today that get marketed as full-spectrum, in reality, are ‘broad spectrum' CBD oils. Broad-spectrum CBD oils don't contain the full spectrum of cannabinoids and terpenes found in Hemp plant and/or don't contain them in high amounts.
Therefore it's highly important to validate the claims done by CBD companies.
Looking at the:
- Certificates of analysis done by an independent 3th-party laboratory, and;
- Effects that NuLeaf Naturals produces with regards to sleep, inflammation and bad mood,
I feel confident to say that NuLeaf Naturals CBD oil is a true full-spectrum CBD oil.
If you're looking for a simple, 100% natural and hemp-based CBD oil that comes with a great variety of hemp-derived cannabinoids and terpenes…
This tincture is one of your best choices:
- NuLeaf Naturals 20% off coupon code: herbonaut
If you want to learn more about CBD or see our reviews of other CBD oils, check out the articles below:
