Why Bioavailability Matters

Choosing a product to improve your health or to tackle an ailment is harder than ever.

More products are competing for your dollars. In fact, health-related hemp products are expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 22.2 percent for the next five years to reach $23.6 billion by 2025, according to Grand Review Research.

With so many choices—and more to come—how do you determine what product will work for you? Perhaps you subscribe to the more is better theory. Why settle for 200 milligrams when a product boasts 2,000?

Price could be an indication, you think. The more a product costs, the greater likelihood it’s a worthwhile purchase. Or maybe the packaging can help decide. Definitely the reputation of the product’s manufacturer, right?

Push all that aside. Bioavailability should be the primary determining factor. It’s the extent and rate in which a substance enters your bloodstream. For example, the bioavailability of a medicine taken orally is only a fraction of the dose compared to intravenous delivery, which is 100 percent.

The same can be said about hemp oil and the edibles that contain it. Because the oil is processed by the liver, that 2,000 milligram dose is greatly diminished. On the other hand, a water-soluble hemp product or those made through ultrasonic emulsification are processed differently and therefore have higher bioavailability for better and faster absorption.

So as you plough through the sea of hemp products, ask first about bioavailability. Higher bioavailability products with lower milligrams are often better or just as effective as ones with far higher milligrams.