They market CBD for just about everything these days. But anxiety is probably the area where the research is most consistent and the benefits most well-established. It’s consistently ranked as one of the top reasons for trying CBD, and there are tons of oils out there designed with anxiety in mind.
So if you’re looking to try CBD oil for anxiety, the main challenge is finding a safe and effective product. We worked with experts to devise our Cannabinoid Product Quality Evaluation framework, and we’ve used it to find the very best CBD oils for anxiety on the market today.
What makes a CBD oil effective for anxiety?
Higher doses help (but aren’t necessary)
The evidence suggests that higher doses are needed for isolated CBD, but if you have a beneficial mix of cannabinoids and terpenes, lower doses can also work well.
THC can help in low quantities
THC makes anxiety worse in higher doses, but low doses actually reduce it. We kept this “biphasic” effect of THC in mind when putting together this list.
CBG works wonders
While CBD is helpful for anxiety, evidence and expert insight suggest that CBG is similarly effective at much lower doses. We emphasized CBG-containing oils for this reason.
Terpene synergy
Limonene and linalool are two key terpenes if you’re looking for an anti-anxiety effect in your CBD oil.
From our initial list of 67 full-spectrum and broad-spectrum CBD oils for anxiety, these three scored the highest on our expert-backed framework.
R&R Multifunctional CBD Tincture
- CBD type: Full spectrum
- Potency: 83 mg CBD, 1.7 mg THC per serving
- CBD:THC ratio: 49:1
- Top terpenes: Menthol, bisabolol, guaiol, eucalyptol
- Price: $88 for 30 ml/2,500 mg CBD ($0.035 per mg CBD)
- Coupon: “LEAF15” for 15% off
R&R’s Multifunctional CBD Tincture is designed for pain, stress and sleep issues, but with a very low THC dose and plenty of CBD, it works really well for anxiety.
From a starting point of single-strain, single-origin, USDA Certified Organic hemp, R&R’s CBD oil is genuine full-spectrum.
Alongside CBD, the oil contains CBC, CBN, CBG and THC, with lower quantities of rarer cannabinoids. The most recent lab report puts the THC level at 1.4 mg per dropper, which is in the pleasant low range where THC actually reduces anxiety.
There are three potency options, but the 2,500 mg option is great for anxiety. It also contains multiple terpenes, but only relatively small amounts of the anti-anxiety terpene limonene.
- USDA organic hemp
- Full spectrum oil: CBD, CBN, CBG, THC and more
- Multiple terpenes
- Three potency options: 1,000 mg, 2,500 mg and 5,000 mg.
- Low THC dose is ideal for anxiety
- Seed to sale brand
- Good price
- All organic ingredients
- Limonene is only at very low levels
- CBG could be higher
Cornbread Hemp Whole Flower CBD Oil
- CBD type: Full spectrum
- Potency: 50 mg CBD, 2 mg THC per serving
- CBD:THC ratio: 25:1
- Top terpenes: Beta-caryophyllene
- Price: $74.99 for 30 ml/1,500 mg CBD ($0.050 per mg)
- Coupon: “LADY” for 30% off
Cornbread Hemp is one of the best hemp brands out there today, starting all of their products with USDA Certified Organic hemp from their Kentucky-based farm and valuing quality every step of the way.
The Whole Flower CBD Oil does just what it says it will: gives you a flower-derived, CBD-rich, full spectrum oil that’s free from nasty ingredients. As well as CBD, the mix contains CBC, CBG, CBN, CBDV and around 2 mg of THC.
While there would ideally be a little bit more CBG, this is a great selection for anxiety relief. Terpenes are rarer, though, with only beta-caryophyllene at detectable levels.
The price is a little high, yes, but the quality is off the charts.
- USDA organic hemp
- Full spectrum: CBD, THC, CBC, CBN, CBG and CBDV
- Flower-derived
- Seed to sale brand
- Low THC dose
- All organic ingredients
- A little expensive
- Only low levels of terpenes
- Low CBG content
cbdMD Deep Relax Tincture
- CBD type: Full spectrum
- Potency: 200 mg CBD, 25 mg CBG, 25 mg CBN, 2 mg THC per serving
- CBD:THC ratio: 100:1
- Top terpenes: Bisabolol, guaiol
- Price: $129.99 for 30 ml/6,000 mg CBD ($0.022 per mg CBD)
- Coupon: “WECARE40” for 40% off
cbdMD’s Deep Relax Tincture has the best cannabinoid mix we found for anxiety. Packing a huge 200 mg per ml of CBD, it’s backed by 25 mg each of CBG and CBN, as well as a 2 mg dose of THC.
The CBG is enough to be effective for anxiety alone, but with 200 mg of CBD on top of it, “Deep Relax” is a great description. It also includes a little CBC, CBL, CBDV and CBT, as well as a couple of terpenes, but the advertised cannabinoids are the real stars of the show.
This is the only entry that isn’t organic, but the very low price – just 2 cents per mg – more than makes up for it.
- True full spectrum: THC, CBD, CBG, CBN, CBC, CBL and CBT
- Excellent price per mg CBD
- Great CBG dose – 25 mg per ml
- Very potent – 200 mg CBD per ml
- Low THC dose
- Ideal blend for anxiety
- No anti-anxiety terpenes
- Not organic
- The price per mg is great, but the bottle is still expensive
Other CBD Oils We Considered
Our initial list of products contained 67 CBD oils marketed for anxiety. However, most of these weren’t eligible for this list after our initial checks. Broadly, we only consider products with a recent lab report that includes full panel safety testing, and that we can confirm to be full or broad spectrum (including terpene testing).
- No recent lab report: 28 products didn’t have a lab report from within the last 12 months. This includes 7, which had no publicly accessible lab report at all. Each new batch should be tested. Any batches beyond a year old have probably changed substantially since they were tested.
- Not full panel tested: 18 products had lab reports, but weren’t “full panel” tested – including heavy metals, pesticides, residual solvents, microbial contamination and mycotoxins. Without this, we can’t be sure products are safe. It’s an automatic disqualification.
- No terpene tests: CBD isolate is only effective for anxiety in high doses. However, without terpene tests, it’s not possible to confirm that a product is really full or broad-spectrum. 16 products were discounted (at least partially) because of this.
This left 10 products to be scored in full. Equilibria, Five, and Vena qualified but didn’t score high enough for any type of recommendation. Sunmed, Feals, Medterra, and Aspen Green didn’t make the list because the competition was stiff.
Aspen Green’s Calm CBD Oil in particular scored excellently on our framework, and if you’re going to pick up any product not on the list, this would be our best recommendation. The broad-spectrum options were more likely to be missing safety tests, but Medterra’s option is also excellent.
Methodology
- Expert guidance: We spoke to two experts in cannabinoids and anxiety to inform our selection of CBD oils and gummies for anxiety. Our framework offers an extensive list of criteria for any cannabinoid product. These interviews gave us specific information about what’s best for dealing with anxiety.
- Product search: We conducted a Bing search for “CBD oils for anxiety” and “CBD oils,” automatically taking the URLs, internal links and website text from 250 results for each search. This was all handled by an algorithm, which helped us identify product pages and compile them into a spreadsheet.
- AI-assisted product selection: The key criteria derived from our expert guidance and the spreadsheet of search results were given to ChatGPT. It was tasked with selecting the two closest-matching products from each brand. These were checked manually, and the best option was input into a master spreadsheet. We also used CBD Oracle’s internal brand database to fill out missing brands.
- Scoring: After checks for disqualifiers (described above), we scored all qualifying products based on our Cannabinoid Product Quality Evaluation framework. Any products scoring over 80% were eligible for this list, and the final determination was made by CBD Oracle staff based on first-hand experience.