CBD at Sixty-Plus: A Jargon-Free Chat for Curious Parents and the Family Members Doing the Shopping

Your mum mentions it after Sunday lunch. Or your dad reads something in a magazine. Or you spot a bottle on the shelf at the garden centre and think, would this actually help them, or am I about to waste thirty quid?

That is the whole situation in a sentence. So here is the version of the conversation I would have with a parent or grandparent over a cup of tea — plain English, no promises, and a few things to check before anyone spends money.

First, what CBD is — and what it is not

CBD is one of many compounds found in the hemp plant. In the UK it is sold as a food supplement, not a medicine. That distinction matters more than any marketing copy will admit: it means nobody is allowed to claim it treats, cures or prevents anything, and it means the evidence base is thin and mixed.

What people report, anecdotally, is that some find it helps them feel a bit less wound up, or that it fits into an evening routine nicely. What nobody can tell you honestly is that it will definitely work for you. If someone selling it says otherwise, that tells you something about the seller.

Before the first bottle: a word with the pharmacist

This is the bit people skip, and it is the most important paragraph in this article.

If your parent takes any regular medication — and after sixty, most people take something — book five minutes with a pharmacist. They are free, they are easier to see than a GP, and they know about interactions. CBD can interfere with how the body processes certain drugs, including some blood thinners, epilepsy medicines and others broken down by particular liver enzymes.

Also worth raising: liver conditions, low blood pressure, pregnancy (not relevant here, but it comes up), and any history of falls or dizziness.

If your parent is under the care of a specialist for a heart condition, epilepsy or anything long-term, a quick note to the GP is sensible too. Not because CBD is dangerous in a dramatic way, but because stacking supplements on top of prescriptions without telling anyone is how avoidable problems start.

Start small, and start boring

There is a strong temptation to buy the strongest bottle available, because stronger feels like getting your money's worth. Resist it.

A sensible approach for an older first-timer:

1. Choose a low-strength oil — somewhere in the region of 5 to 10mg of CBD per drop or per serving.
2. Take one small dose in the evening, after food.
3. Keep it at that level for a week and see how it sits.
4. Only then consider nudging it up, slowly.

Note the FSA's precautionary guidance: healthy adults should not take more than 1mg of CBD per kilogram of bodyweight per day. For someone weighing 70kg, that is 70mg a day as a ceiling, not a target. It is very easy to sail past it with a strong bottle and a generous hand on the dropper.

And keep a note of the dose. A small notebook by the kettle, or a note on the phone, works better than memory.

Reading the label without a magnifier

The print is small. Here is what to squint at:

• Total CBD in the bottle, in milligrams. Not the strength of the hemp extract, not the volume of the bottle.
• Serving size. How many milligrams in a dropperful? If it is unclear, that is a red flag.
• Carrier oil. MCT, olive or hemp seed oil are all fine — just know which one you are getting.
• Batch number and a lab report. If there is a QR code, scan it. If it goes nowhere useful, so should you.
• THC content. UK products should contain only trace amounts, well under the legal limit.

The high-street impulse buy problem

This is where a lot of over-sixties get stung. A nice bottle near the till, a friendly assistant, a price tag of £45 for something with 200mg of CBD in it — that works out at roughly 22p per milligram, which is on the expensive side for what it is.

Do the sum before you buy: divide the price by the total milligrams. Anything comfortably under 10p per milligram is doing you a favour. Anything over 20p needs a very good reason.

And be wary of bundles. Three bottles for £99 sounds generous until you realise Gran has 600mg of the stuff and no idea whether she likes it yet. Start with one.

Keeping expectations realistic

A few honest notes to pass on:

• It is not a sleeping tablet. If it helps at all, it tends to be gentle and cumulative rather than dramatic.
• It will not replace pain relief prescribed by a doctor.
• Give it a few weeks before deciding. Two days is not a trial.
• If it does nothing, stop. There is no prize for persistence.

A note for the adult children doing the buying

You are, in effect, the procurement department. That means three things: check the lab report, check the interactions, and check the price per milligram. And then step back. If your dad tries it for a fortnight and shrugs, let it go — a shrug is a perfectly good result, and a lot cheaper than a cupboard full of abandoned bottles.

The best outcome here is boring: a small bottle, a sensible dose, a pharmacist who has been told, and no one making any grand claims at the dinner table.