Every year for the holidays I try to come up with a new homemade food gift in addition to cookies. In the past I’ve gifted bottles of extract, wine gummy bears, plum wine, and now these gold champagne gummy bears.

These gummy bears are easy to make and the little gold flecks make them look so much better. They keep well for several days which makes them perfect for gifting or to make ahead for a party.

I think these would also be great for New Year’s Eve or a wedding. You can even drop a few into a glass of champagne!

These homemade paleo and keto CBD gummies pack quite the medicinal (and nutritional!) punch! Think wonderfully chewy and yummy goodies, with soothing CBD and grass-fed collagen.

Paleo & Keto CBD Gummies

Ultra Soothing!

Did you guys know that CBD gummies were one of the most searched for ‘food items’ in 2018? Calling it ‘a CBD craze’ doesn’t cut it… its insanity by now right?! CBD infused everything is hitting the market (ahem… sodas, face creams!), and it can be hard to weed out the plant medicine from the rest (pun intended).

So in this post you’ll find out about my personal journey with cannabis, what products I use and recommend (not sponsored or affiliates!), and how to how to whip up some keto CBD gummies (i.e. the ultimate edibles for slower release!).

And just like our keto gummy bears, they’re packed with collagen, antioxidants (courtesy of the berry powders!), a healthy dose of vitamin C and an added bonus in the form of CBD!

On the gummies, these are actually chewy and not just flavored jello! But they are less chewy than your store-bought gummies. Still, a great compromise for super clean ingredients in my book!

Do note that the sour gummy version is absolutely everything (and more!). There’s just something about that sour punch and salivary-glands-in-actionthat just does it for me right?!

My Story

While I generally stay behind the scenes on the blog, it’s probably time that we begin to know each other a little better! So I would like to take the opportunity to talk to you guys a little bit more of what I’ve been going through in my personal life.

Last June I suffered an injury to my sciatica through a routine vitamin B12 injection, which has greatly limited my mobility over the past 10 months. I spent quite a few months in bed lying face down, then wheelchair for about 6 more months, and currently working on taking some steps around the apartment again (thanks goodness!).

I am healing, that’s the good news! The bad news is that, as any of you who have gone through nerve injuries (or even just sciatica!) know, it’s extremely painful and standard pain killers barely scratch the surface.

So when doctors sent me home to ‘wait and see’ if I could regain full mobility, I instantly turned to holistic medicine. And hence why I’ve been spending time in LA this year (where cannabis is legal), trying different therapies. I’ll talk more about ketamine infusions, meditation and the crucial mind-body connection at a later date too… as I can only hope that a few of you can also benefit from my healing journey.

But this is also not a post about how CBD cured by sciatica (I wish!). Rather, over the past 10 months I’ve used cannabis to help break through the pain and to aid with my emotional symptoms (anxiety, insomnia and extreme depression have been constant guys).

I’ve tried anything from tinctures, patches, edibles and vapes. From pure CBD (great for anxiety and sleep) and CBD and THC mixtures (a 1:1 ratio is my favorite for my sciatica). So below I’ve linked my favorite products and why, non are sponsored nor affiliates as these are products I sincerely use and believe in.

Oh, and if you’re looking to learn more about cannabis medicine I cannot recommend enough that you check out Dr Sanjay Gupta and his documentary ‘Weed’ for CNN . 

The CBD (and THC)

Let’s face it, cannabis as a medicine is still in its (very exciting!) infancy. Cannabidiol (CBD) is the second most prevalent compound (after THC) in the cannabis plant. It’s also present in hemp, where most non-psychoactive CBD is derived from nowadays.

Will CBD get me high? Most definitely not! CBD works on other receptors in your endocannabinoid system, meaning it’s not psychoactive nor addictive. And its currently being used in the mainstream to treat anything from chronic pain, anxiety, depression, insomnia, epilepsy, MS, inflammation…

Having said that, do note that certain studies have shown that CBD is much more potent when paired with some THC present (generally referred to as ‘the entourage effect’).  And extensive medical research has shown that when treating pain (particularly neuropathic), a combination of CBD and THC is more beneficial.

And I can totally vouch for that, as for my sciatica pain I’ve found greatest relief from a 30:1 CBD to THC tincture and 1:1 patches (see recommended products below).

Still, there are some pure CBD products which are also totally legit and still incredibly beneficial (think for anxiety and insomnia). But do note that the jury is still out on whether CBD derived from hemp is as effective as that from the cannabis plant.

Without further ado, these are my top picks of pure CBD (legal in 50 states) and CBD:THC compounds (available only in certain states such as California and Colorado):

• CBD tinctures have been crucial for my pain management, but perhaps more importantly to help with my anxiety and depression (I couldn’t heal my body until I dealt with my mind!). As mentioned, I found greatest relief from a 30:1 tincture (the one from Papa & Barkley is pure gold!)… but the pure CBD gel caps from UpSide are also brilliant (they’re meant to be 5x as effective as regular CBD, and I can vouch for that). And do note that even with a little THC (as in the 30:1 ratio), I still don’t feel ‘high’ at all.
• CBD transdermal patches and balms are my second favorite cannabis product. The 1:1 CBD to THC ones from Mary’s Medicinals (pictured) literally got me off the bed. I applied one at night and woke up in the morning able to move much more (it was literally insane/magical!). They are a bit pricey, but I like that you don’t need to use the whole patch at once (you can easily trim and apply little pieces to target areas). This brand also makes great balms and pure CBD products (called Mary’s Nutritionals).
• CBD for sleep has also been life changing for me, particularly with the sleep formula from Life Bloom Organics (they’ve rebranded from ‘nano CBD’ to ‘nano hemp’). Just make sure you’re ready to go to sleep, because I literally pass out within 10 minutes!
• CBD vapes are also great for my type of neuropathic pain (not pictured). So while pure THC actually increases my sciatica pain (I’ve literally tried everything guys!), a 2:1 CBD to THC ratio gives instant relief when I feel an ‘attack’ looming.

How To Make Keto CBD Gummies

There’s not much to these keto gummies, in fact they’re shockingly easy! All you need to do is mix the ingredients, sweeten to taste, heat up until everything has dissolved and pour into silicon molds.

You can go for cheeky cannabis leaf molds or keep it on the down low with gummy bear ones. Bigger ones will be less of a hassle!

The hardest thing will probably be to know how much CBD oil to add, as the dose will vary from person to person (and oil to oil). So it’s crucial that you first test what dose works for you. For instance, my low dose is 0.25 ml (1/4 of a pipette). So with the leaf molds I got 20 leaf gummies, so I multiplied my standard dose by 20 ( 0.25 ml x 20 = 5 ml = 5 full pipettes).

The (Other) Ingredients

Honestly all you need is gelatin, a fruit juice (we’ll get to that) and a sweetener. I also really enjoyed adding some pure vitamin C powder though, as it gives it that ‘artificial’ gummy kick (but its actually really healthy… you know, vitamin C!).

Nothing fancy or pricey, but do check out my findings to ensure you get the ‘best tasting’ keto gummy bears! So here are my ingredient tips:

• You absolutely want to make sure you’re procuring gelatin and not collagen, which won’t gel. I love and always use this grass-fed one (arguably much more nutritional benefits!), but standard packets from Knox will work the charm too.
• For the fruit juice, you can take the powder route: raspberry being my favorite. For these I actually tried something a little different and simply used some lemon extract (can use lemon zest too) and a bit of matcha powder(optional, for color).  And you can also use the powders to flavor chia puddings, make yogurt a bit more fun, turn yourcheesecake-for-1 fruity, similarly for the buttercream fat bombs, or vanilla ice cream (turned raspberry!), added to milkshakes … i.e. endless possibilities guys!
• But if you don’t want to buy powdered berries, you could also use a tea infusion (something like this raspberry tea would work, for instance). Or you can make your own fruit juice with fresh fruit too (duh right?!).
• For the vitamin C powder (i.e. citric or l-ascorbic acid) I used this organic one. While it’s totally optional and you can use lemon juice instead, I also highly suggest it. Also indispensable for the sour gummy version (see below!). And for the home run: I also mix the pure vitamin C powder with my face and body lotions at night for extra glowy skin!