May 30, 2015

Podcast from https://bengreenfieldfitness.com/2015/05/how-to-use-cbd/

[00:00] Introduction

[02:19] James Radina and Dr. Mewa

[06:29] The Difference Between CBD and THC

[14:34] Hemp vs. Normal Amount of THC

[19:38] Smoking Weed and Taking CBD Capsules

[28:04] CBD and Athletic Performance

[30:23] CBD and Appetite and Metabolism

[34:59] CBD Helping With Sleep

[36:22] CBD and Children With Epilepsy And Seizures

[41:54] Absorbability

[50:19] The Turmeric and CBD Used For Their Product

[52:50] Any Additional Ingredients For Potency

[1:01:58] End of Podcast

Ben:  It's Ben Greenfield here.  One of my favorite exercises is to get an old free tire, and you can get these in the back of pretty much any tire store, and then to go to town on that tire with a mace.  Now this is something that I do a) when I don't have any wood to chop, and b) when I want to have killer workout for my shoulders and my core.  Now the maces that you get from Onnit aren't just any old grocery store brand mace.  These are high quality maces, just like the ones originally developed by the ancient Persian warrior elite trainers.  Heavy mace training is rapidly gaining popularity amongst the toughest athletes in the world, and now you can get a mace too, along with steel bells, sandbags, wall balls, weighted vests, battle ropes, clubs, you name it.  And you can get 10% off of any of that stuff over at onnit.com/bengreenfield.  That's onnit.com/bengreenfield.  Be careful with your new mace.  And now on to today's show.

In this episode of The Ben Greenfield Fitness Podcast:

“Marijuana, or cannabis for that matter, for most of the world, is concerned with getting high until recently.  Literally in the last five years, the medical marijuana conversation hit the headlines in big ways.”  “There's over 60, some people say 80, cannabinoids.  THC, CBD are two of them.  So there's a lot more to this plant that we have yet to understand.”  “There's over 50,000 known uses for hemp, hemp seeds, hemp milk, hemp oil.  You can make hemp t-shirts, hemp plastic.  It's not typically known for doing anything but being considered as fiber and all these additional health benefits.”  “The United States is the largest consumer in the world of hemp, yet we don't grow and of it legally here in the United States.”

Ben:  Hey, folks.  It's Ben Greenfield, and today I actually have one of my buddies on the call, James Radina.  And James has actually been to my house before a couple of months ago, we were actually attending a party at my place and James actually gave me a couple capsules of something called CBD, which is also known as cannabidiol.  And if my memory serves me correctly, it was right before we went off to play laser tag at the nation's largest laser tag castle, which is right here in Spokane, Washington.  And correct me if I'm wrong, James, but I believe we came in first and second place.

James:  It was pretty impressive.  And I don't know if ever heard of a testimonial like that.  CBD, makes you play better laser tag.

Ben:  We're going to talk in this entire episode about how you can become a better warrior by using CBD and getting random capsules from friends at parties to help you win at laser tag.  No, seriously, the reason that I wanted to get James on the call today, along with another special guest who I'll introduce in just a moment, is because I've personally been using cannabidiol, or CBD, which we'll define a little bit more here in just a second, but basically an extract of the cannabis plant for a lot of different purposes in my own life.  For increasing focus, for making myself more calm and decreasing anxiety and stress in the evening, for sleeping better, and of course for winning laser tag competitions.  And the reason that I wanted to get James on the call was to really clear up the air about the difference between THC and CBD, and why you even want to use something like CBD.  Is it safe?  Is it legal?  What are the situations in which you'd want to use something like this?  Is it addictive?  There's a lot of, I think, misinformation out there about the cannabis plants and kind of the difference between hemp, and cannabis, and weed, and THC, and CBD.  So James is an expert on this stuff, but so is our other guest, Dr. Mewa.  And James do you want to fill us in a little bit on Dr. Mewa and why you wanted to bring him on the call?

James:  When I first met Dr. Mewa about a year ago, we instantly became friends and we just share a common vision and a purpose in life is to really transform the way that health care is done on this planet, the way that we see it.  And so Dr. Mewa has been studying biomedicines for almost 30 years, and he's got a phenomenal technology that, this all-natural process that takes drugs that are not water soluble and turns them water soluble.  And I watched it with my own eyes, I actually was in the lab with the lab coat on and did it myself, and had a lot of fun with Dr. Mewa in his lab over at LSU, and we became friends, and business partners, and we have a huge mission to help a lot of people.  So it really brings me a lot of joy to be in business with this man and have him on this podcast.  He's a good family man like you Ben, has a huge heart, and at the end of the day everything that comes out of Mewa's mouth, out of his mouth is about how we can help more people.

Ben:  Awesome.  I definitely want to ask a few questions about that water solubility issue probably as we delve a little bit more deeply into how we can extract and use CBD.  And if you're listening in, by the way, to this show, I will put James and Dr. Mewa's bios along with plenty of other resources for you in the show notes, and those are going to be at bengreenfieldfitness.com/biocbd.  That's bengreenfieldfitness.com/biocbd.  And this three-way conversations can occasionally get awkward as we decide who's going to answer what question, but the first question that I have, and you guys can tell me who's best equipped to answer this, but the difference between THC and CBD.  What is the difference?  What are they, first of all, and what is the difference?

James:  Yeah.  I mean most people, they think of marijuana.  Let's just start there at the top of the level, marijuana.  Actually, if I go a level up, you have cannabis.  Cannabis encompasses marijuana and hemp.  And little bit later, we're going to discuss it deeper.  So I want to just start there.  If you look at the cannabis family, you have two parts of the plant.  You have marijuana or hemp.  And marijuana, or cannabis for that matter, for most of the world, is concerned with getting high.  It's concerned with the recreational side of marijuana until recently.  Really, in the last five years, medical marijuana conversation has hit the headlines and big waves, and everybody's been looking at the healing side, the medicinal side of the cannabis plant.  But prior to that, it seemed to be that it was all about getting high and whatnot.  And so the biggest difference between THC and CBD is there's no high, there's no psychoactivity, one of the biggest side effects or downfalls of THC for most people is there's paranoia or a psychotic effect that can come with that.  And so CBD doesn't have that.  And so a lot of people are really enjoying the aspects of CBD because it's known for having all the medicinal benefits without the high.

Ben:  Gotcha.  Now the high part, I think it's interesting, I don't know if this is true, James or Dr. Mewa, correct me if I'm wrong, but the way that they've actually bred the cannabis plant has been, up until this point, as people have been primarily looking for the psychoactive high for marijuana, not the medicinal benefits, has been to increase the THC percentage.  Apparently the weed that our parents were smoking back in the 60's was way, way weaker than what we're getting now.  Is that true?

James:  Yeah.  It's the science.  When the science starts to come into the picture, it gets pretty impressive what they can do with plants.  And yes, over the last few years it's been all about how to get these flowers, I mean marijuana is known for these flowers, how to get these flowers to be the most abundant, the most biggest beautiful little flowers that they can have, and inside of that is all this psychoactivity that comes when you smoke it or when you condense it down in oil.  And you're right, the THC concentrate to the plant is going through the roof 40, 50, 60, there are 70, 80% THC concentrates out there, and it is, it seems to be a trend of people, some people on this planet want to get as high as possible as fast as possible.

Ben:  In my experimentation, 'cause it's been in the past six months for me mostly since weed has become legal in Washington State where I live, and I've experimented with a lot of strains, both indica and sativa THC rich strains, and every time, you still get an edgy paranoia, just almost like an uncomfortable amount of psychoactivity from the stuff.  And when I first talked to you about CBD, 'cause I didn't really know what CBD was, I started looking for these strains where if you look on the back of them that are higher in CBD percentage and lower in THC percentage, and I felt way more, the reason that I would use weed, for example, would be to increase my focus, my creativity, to get myself a little bit more calm, a little bit more destressed at the end the day.  And I found that these strains that were richer in CBD actually gave me that.  And so when we're talking about THC versus CBD, is it simply the way that the plant is grown that allows you to get a higher CBD content or the CBD extract?  Or is that happening, are you just like extracting CBD from the same plant?

James:  Both.  CBD makes up about 3% of the plant.  So there's over 60, some because 80, cannabinoids.  THC and CBD are two of them.  So there's a lot more to this plant that we have yet to understand.  It's a remarkable plant.  There's so much studies coming out now showing just how powerful this plant is and we have yet to scratch the surface.  We're talking on this call about two of the parts of the plant.  We still have over 60 other parts to go.  So CBD makes up to 40% of the plant, and so when people started to see that, “Wow, we can have the medicinal benefits of this plant without the high,” and people were interested in that, all of a sudden, and it's been the hottest topic in the entire industry, is how do I get CBD.  Because I think, well we could talk about it now or later, but the reasons you want CBD for many people are endless.  But if you're able to, the science is able to show that the medicinal benefits of marijuana can be given to somebody without making them high, then there's a lot of applications for that.  Because prior to this, everybody just thought of marijuana as getting 'em high.  There are plenty of people on this planet that thought of marijuana not only is getting them high, but also some healing benefits.  So now if we take away the high and we still get the healing benefits, we've got something pretty powerful and remarkable here.

Dr. Mewa:  Let me fill in a little blank here with your question, which was related to manmade plants which have high THC or high CBD.  We have learned it from the nature actually, not that we discovered it, how to make it, more THC or less CBD.  We have learned it from the nature.

A small story, six months ago, I have some operation in India, and I called my servant there who's just a servant, and these plants are right next to my building, an empty space right there and it's full of this plant.  And I asked him, “Go get some and let's make some experiment there.”  So he's just an uneducated person.  Even he told me, “You know, there are a mixture of plants.  Some are high THC and some are almost no THC.”  And if you go little further on the Himalayas, there are plants, they have a specific place which are just highest possible THC level.  And I heard people go there and live their whole life in that jungle because that's the best, probably, plant available on this planet.  So what we have learned is not that man has learned something from their own brain.  No.  We have learned it from the nature that if nature can do this, some plants are so high THC, some are not, why not we?  So we had learned the science from the nature, and we men who played our scientific knowledge on our scientific experience and replicated that.  So that's the little fill in blank that how this high THC or low THC come into existence here, or rather USA or Europe.

Ben:  Okay.  And that makes sense, but how about this distinction that's made between hemp?  And I even know in terms of legality, like a lot of times hemp-based proteins, or hemp-based oils, or hemp-based clothing products seem to be legal.  And my understanding of that is that anything that's hemp-based is very, very low in THC.  What is it that makes a plant, a hemp plant versus just like a normal amount of THC-based cannabis plant?

Dr. Mewa:  The genetics.  It's all genetics.  It's a selection, and it's not the one specie of this plant.  You got a hundred of species, and it's genetic, selection by nature.

Ben:  Where does the distinction between male and female plants fit in?  Because that's something that I still don't have my head wrapped around.  Which one produces the actual THC?  The male plant or the female plant?

James:  Yeah.  So THC is typically found in the flowers and the buds of the female cannabis plant which is known for is to be for marijuana.  Hemp, the male side of it, is not necessarily known to grow these flowers, and therefore the THC is not as high in the hemp side of things.  And for thousands of years, the hemp plant has been known for, there's over 50,000 known uses for hemp.  You know, Ben, there's these hemp seeds, hemp milk, hemp oil.  They can make hemp t-shirts, hemp plastic.  It's not typically known for doing anything but even considered as fiber and all these additional health benefits that don't ever get you high.  And recently farmers and scientists have been starting to grow and cultivate it for a higher CBD concentrate.  And look at those seeds, they are producing higher CBD and growing more of those seeds, and that's really what we're talking about here is that if we can derive CBD from hemp that is imported into the United States legally, then we don't have to, it's imported in this hemp oil, and we can ship it to all 50 states.  We don't have to have somebody go through the doctor to get a prescription card and then walk into a dispensary in order to get CBD.

Ben:  So you can get all the medicinal benefits, but it's actually legal.  Like I could order the stuff anywhere in, is it just the United States?  Or what about like Canada or anywhere else internationally?

James:  I wish I knew why I have some of these countries, including the United States, are the way they are.  I can just say that's one thing that's kind of laughable is the United States is the largest consumer in the world of hemp, yet we don't grow any of it legally here in the United States.  It's all imported in.  In Canada, you also cannot take, in Canada, hemp oil is legal.  So I guess the short answer for you, Ben, is that in the United States, yes we can ship to all 50 states.  And there's 40 plus countries that you can ship high CBD hemp oil into.  Canada and Australia you would think would be part of it, but they're not.  They have certain little guidelines that don't allow for it.  But the United States, all 50 states.

Ben:  So it has to be CBD that's from an actual hemp plant that's low in THC?

James:  Correct.  The distinction is that a lot of people are getting CBD from marijuana, and marijuana is state wide legal.  So in California and, like you said, in Washington, as long, and you can get CBD from marijuana if it's grown in Washington and you buy it through the legal route in Washington.  But you can never buy CBD in Colorado or New Jersey that came from Washington 'cause it's not federally legal, and there's a quite an interesting story about that.  CNN just did three different documentaries on weed and they mention a strain in their called Charlotte's Web.  And it's been helping children with removing their seizures.  Now all these they call Cannamoms, over 10,000, this was about a year ago that I heard the number was this high, 10,000 Cannamoms were moving to Colorado in order to try to get CBD from marijuana grown in Colorado, but it was illegal for them to take it back to their homes, they're moving there.  And because it's grown in California, Colorado had to stay in Colorado.  So what we're discussing is not marijuana-grown CBD, we're discussing hemp-grown CBD that's imported legally through tariff codes, and therefore can be shipped to all 50 states just like hemp oil, and hemp seeds, and hemp t-shirts.

Ben:  Interesting.  Okay.  So like CBD-rich strain of marijuana that I would get from a legal marijuana outlet in Washington State is way different from a legal standpoint than a concentrated CBD oil from a hemp plant, which is actually federally legal and able to be shipped to all 50 states?

James:  Correct.

Ben:  Okay.  Got it.  Interesting.  And by the way, one of the things that I thought was interesting, and I don't know if you've, this is a total aside, James, but when I've smoked like a strain that's richer in THC or vaped a strain that's richer in THC for the psychoactive properties of weed or to use one of the THC strains that I get here in Washington, I've found that when I use CDB oil or CBD capsules along with THC, that it takes the edge off THC.  Like less psychoactivity, less paranoia, and more calmness and focus.  Is that something that's well-known in the CBD community in terms of like a way to biohack your weed?

James:  It is.  I don't know about too much about the science of that yet, the science on this plant in general.  There has been 20,000 different studies done on this plant, but yet, which I feel like in a lot of ways in 50 states, United States doctors and researchers have not really wanted to put their name behind this plant until just recently so.  But it's known for it's anti-anxiety effects and anti-psychotic effects.  And those are the two main things that come with THC, and CBD's known to combat that, then, yes.  People over and over again are feeling like a calmer sense of, I've been told, this is just kind of like a word on the street that if you take CBD after you smoked THC, you can have a potentiating effect for one.  But two, it can also calm you down and actually take you back down to the more grounded presence if you're too high, as an example.

Ben:  Why would CBD cause a different reaction within the body than THC?  Is it acting on different receptors?  Is there something going on different chemically?  Because they're both cannabinoids, but has there been any research done on the difference between like the receptors, or the hormones, or the enzymes being activated when you compare something like THC to CBD?

Dr. Mewa:  It's more complicated than what we can describe as a layman language.

Ben:  Well, go ahead and try us.

Dr. Mewa:  If you see the structure of CBD or THC, if you see the chemical structure, they're almost similar.  It's a so small difference between two molecules.  It's only the orientation of the molecule which is different.  And if you see the molecular weight, it's the same.  So it is the structure of the molecule which makes a difference, and it attached to those molecules, whatever are available in the nervous system differently.  So how it attached, it is not still well understood.

Ben:  Okay.  Gotcha.  But we know that the effects are markedly different, and all of the medicinal effects actually come from the CBD?

Dr. Mewa:  Yeah.  So only because of its stereochemistry of the…

Ben:  Now if the molecules are so similar, and I guess this is my first question that is probably pretty relevant from a usage standpoint, is this stuff addictive like THC can be?

James:  I think that anybody at the end of the day, Ben, can get addicted to anything, correct?  Like coffee, you name it, right?  And so I think one of the reasons that people are getting addicted to THC is that they're taking an edge off, they're having a psychoactive effect.  It's no different than drinking a lot of alcohol and taking the edge off after work, or getting into an altered state.  With CBD, you're not getting into that altered state.  So I'm not sure what you would get addicted to.  The body's not getting addicted to it and craving it.  But one of the things that's really important that we haven't really spoken about yet is how it's affecting the body.  There's a lot of, anybody can do this, we could put a link on your page to the endocannabinoid system.  This endocannabinoid system is really, it has these receptors found throughout the body, what's in the brain, the organ, the tissues, the glands, the immune cells.

I like to talk about, somebody explained it to me this way: prior to about 30 years ago when they found out about the endocannabinoid system, they used to think the largest system in the body was the nervous system.  And until about 30 years ago, they found this endocannabinoid system, and this is documented online.  You can do it.  Again, I'm not claiming to be a doctor or scientist, but what I like to say about it is that the endocannabinoid system is like, if the nervous system and the highways and the freeways to your body, then endocannabinoid system is the dirt paths and the little roads that talk to every cell.  And that's why when somebody smokes marijuana, they have this instant feeling of high.  Their entire body lights up.  When you smoke, it's like, “Whoa.”  It's so fast.  It happens throughout your entire body.  Your brain turns on, your cells turn on, everything turns on.  Well, CBD is doing the same thing when it gets into your body.  It's lighting up your entire body 'cause your endocannabinoid system has some receptors that accept cannabis.  And so, to go back to what's going on with your body, internally CBD, I think, is more of an internal experience.  It's allowing your body to go back to homeostasis.  It's allowing you to relax.  And so marijuana, THC I should say, getting you that high, or that edge, or that psychoactive experience, that's what I believe people are being addicted to.

Dr. Mewa:  Yeah.  One more, actually I can fill in a little more blanks here.  There is one more, probably the THC, mostly it acts on the central nervous system.  And the other cannabinoids which are not THC structure, they act on the peripheral nervous system.  So because of its action at the central nervous system, it probably is more psychoactive than cannabinoids.

Ben:  Okay.  So a THC is acting more on the central nervous system, which is why you get more of that psychoactiveness.

Dr. Mewa:  Right.  ‘Cause it just goes right at the source.

Ben:  Gotcha.

Dr. Mewa:  So that's probably one reason there that it is more kind of dependency.

Ben:  Okay.  Now I want to return to legality.  Because I've done a few searches, so I use one global drug reference online for athletes called Global DRO, which allows you to search on the legality of a substance based on the sport you're in, the state you're in, where the substance came from, et cetera, and I've also reviewed the NCAA website for the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and I've reviewed the US Anti-Doping Association's website.  I've called and left messages with the World Anti-Doping Association because I can't find cannabidiol or CBD anywhere on their site, even though they list THC.  Do you guys know much about this stuff in terms of legality for athletes?  Because I can't anywhere find CBD oil, or cannabidiol oil as being listed as a banned substance, anywhere but THC is of course all over the place.  And I'm just curious, if you get drug tested for example, will CBD look like THC in your bloodstream?

Dr. Mewa:  Yeah.  Because one reason that, when somebody goes for testing, because they're going to test for THC.  And the testing for THC, the analytical reagent, you need to detect THC is different than to detect CBD.  So they are not supposed to detect cannabinoid in your body.  They're supposed to detect THC in your body.  And the reagent which detects THC is different than cannabinoids.  So if somebody's going to go for these kind of testing and they are on cannabinoids, they will be negative for sure.

Ben:  Interesting.  Okay.  Got it.  So one of the reasons I was curious about that, and I do want to jump in to some of the effects of CBD and this might be a good time to do that, is because when I've been using it before workouts, I've got a lot more focus, I've got a lot more, we talk about athletes getting in the zone right, like alpha brain wave production, stuff like that, and I talked to a lot of athletes, especially in like Colorado for example, who are using THC, and THC edibles, and weed to increase focus and to decrease perceptions of pain during exercise.  So I decided to see if I could use CBD.  I was experimenting with everything from the 10 to the 50 milligram range of CBD capsules for this, and I've found that I can get a very, very similar effect.  Do you guys know of studies that they've done in athletes or things that they've looked at in terms of like inflammation, or hormones, or anything like that that would be affecting athletic performance with CBD?

James:  There's some really good stuff going on right now at the NFL actually, and some studies that are going on.  Because I think it starts with, the government actually holds a patent on cannabinoids, the 507 Patent.  And in there, it mentions how cannabis is neuroprotectant, which in the NFL has been the biggest, one of the biggest discussions going on with all the people that are suing the NFL due to concussions and severe head injuries.  And so they're looking at cannabis, and specifically CBD for its neuroprotectant aspect of, the properties of the cannabis plant.  And I think what we're going to see, Ben, and kind of a shorter answer because there's so many different sports and so many different uses, potential uses for cannabis, like you mentioned focus could be great for certain things.  But as a neuroprotectant, in the NFL, that just gives a really good example that they're now starting to really study and research the benefits of CBD for athletes in the NFL level.  It's pretty remarkable and promising for the future of all sports.

Ben:  Yeah.  I actually heard about that.  And I looked a little bit into the anti-inflammatory studies that have been done on CBD, and maybe I'll put some links in the show notes, but in terms of it being able to shut down these interleukins, and also cytokines, and some of the specific inflammatory responses associated with neural inflammation and like head damage, it's pretty interesting.  And I think I saw one of the articles I was talking about, what you just brought up, James, which is how the NFL has been experimenting with cannabis extracts to manage post-head injury symptoms or to reduce the chronic mid and post-career aches and pains related to chronic inflammation.  And it's super-duper interesting, especially considering that we're talking about something that is legal and non-addictive versus THC, or just smoking weed.  So that's interesting from an athletic standpoint.  Now what about like from an appetite, and appetite regulation, and metabolic standpoint?  Because one of the things they say of course about THC and weed is that it gives you the munchies, and I'm curious if there are issues of potential for weight gain when using CBD.

Dr. Mewa:  To be very honest, scientifically hemp or cannabis oriented molecules, it does improve your appetite.  And when there is, a characteristic feature of any molecule, when we say, “Oh, this is good for this,” yeah, of course, this will be bad for something too.  So if I say the advantage of its anabolic activity, it's a great on some patients.  There are a lot of patients out there, especially teenage kids below even 17 year old age, there are rehab centers where they cannot eat every day.  They cannot eat even regular food.  And because of that problem, they're always sick one or the other way.  So I have personal, first-hand experience with those people who took the CBD Plus, and now they're happily having their regular meals and they quit all other medication, what they were eating before this.  So this is good part.  Now you have another issue, weight gain.  So that comes with it.  So how to deal with it, it is up to the personal opinion, what they want, how they want to use this molecule.  Whether they want to use it for the good cause of those kids who have lost their appetite and their parents are really suffering, or the people who want to eat more food and gain weight.  So it's up to them.

Ben:  I personally have not had any issues with getting hungry when I've used it.  And as a matter of fact, when I use it along with THC, I actually don't get hungry like I usually do when I use THC by itself.  I tried to look into this and I did find a study where they looked at rat feeding patterns.  And they looked at cannabinol, which again is more like THC, and cannabidiol, which is more like CBD, and they actually found that cannabinol induced and increase in appetite behavior and an increase in feeding frequency.  Whereas cannabidiol, over the time of the test period actually reduced total food consumption.  So I'm curious, even with these kids who are eating more when they use CBD oil, if part of it might be related to a decrease in anxiety rather than an increase in appetite because I personally, if I don't have a lot of anxiety, my appetite will go up a little bit, but not in a bad, not in a like eat-everything-in-the-kitchen-cupboard type of way.  Just in kind of like I'm-not-stressed-out-anymore-so-I-can-eat-a-little-bit type of way.

Dr. Mewa:  You are absolutely right.  Anxiety is the number factor in those kids.  But that anxiety is one factor, and there are many other factors involved in that syndrome.  But again, anabolic is a problem, that's a separate issue.  To improve your appetite, that's a separate issue.  So we are now talking two different issues.  One, they have a problem.  So we fix that problem.  But here, somebody wants to improve anabolic activity, or appetite.  It's not an issue, basically.  It is a hobby preferring to eat more.

Ben:  So have you guys seen some of these studies that look at the effects of CBD on salivary cortisol?

Dr. Mewa:  Not me, personally.

Ben:  Okay.  The reason I ask is because you see a lot of talk about CBD playing a role as an anti-anxiolytic and as a way to decrease stress.  I started to look into this just because one of the things that I've always struggled with is high blood plasma cortisol levels when I'll do like readings in the morning.  And so I'm always looking at things that will potentially decrease salivary cortisol, and they've actually done some studies on CBD oil and found that it lowers, or CBD extract, and found that it lowers salivary cortisol levels.  So it has an anti-anxiety, anti-stress type of effect, or seems to.  But then also, it seems to help people sleep better.  How exactly is that working?  Or have you guys experimented much with the sleep component?

James:  So I'll say this is that there's actually been two sides.  There's a lot of people that are saying THC is actually, certain strains like indica are known to help people with sleeping.  And on the CBD side of things, you're typically, people typically report back that you're getting a focused, slight alertness or a presence.  And so that if taken right before sleep, there's been a lot of people that are saying that it actually doesn't necessarily help with sleep.  But what we've been experiencing over and over again with the different people taking our products and a number of different products is that if they're taking them throughout the day and their body, the internal body's calming, it's relaxing, and therefore when they get to the night, when it's time to sleep, they're able to relax, and fall asleep, and have deeper sleep.  We're getting a lot of people that are claiming they've had vivid dreams and they wake up rested, feeling relieved, and in some cases they continue to affect the next day pain relief and some of the effects of their taking CBD for.

Ben:  Now I know you, James, you were talking to me at my house about kind of the, I guess I would say almost like the burden that you have in your heart for kids, and specifically some of the things that they've been doing with CBD and like epilepsy, and seizures, and stuff like that.  Can you fill us in a little bit on that?

James:  Yeah.  I love talking about this and at the same time there's an area that we're not really allowed to talk about too much, which is I'm really making any claims at this stage, I encourage people, if there's any ailment that they want to look up, just do a google search for CBD, or cannabidiol, with any ailment.  And I personally I'm the founder of a documentary, it's called “The Science Of Weed”.  And we flew around the world and we studied and filmed the top 50 researchers and doctors on the subject of cannabis.  And we gave CBD oil to seven different, we call 'em B&A's, before and afters.  And we were hoping, and one time we thought we were going to have to give it to 20 different people in order to have 7 results.

We gave it to seven people and had seven life changing results.  Most of those, five of them are kids under the age of 12.  And every single one of them had profound, remarkable experiences.  CNN just did the piece about the epilepsy, it's one of the biggest known things that CBD is helping with because, again the CBD is non-psychoactive, and it's all medicinal, and it is a plant, and it's natural, and parents are finding that there seems to be nothing else that's working for certain diseases such as Crohn's, and epilepsy, colitis.  I could go on and on.  The pharmaceutical drugs don't seem to be working for any of these different ailments.  Then they're open to trying an all-natural remedy such as CBD, and they're finding great results.  I'm trying not to make any claims here, but they're finding phenomenal results.  And so, yes?

Dr. Mewa:  Yeah.  Let me go a second on this issue.  Yes, we are hesitant to say this.  But as a scientist, I'm not hesitant to say it is an open hidden truth.  Everybody knew it, that there are certain cases which have never been treated by any medication, any medicine on this planet, but only with this plant extract.  So everybody knew it, and I don't hesitate to say, “Yes, it works on many, many cases where nothing works.”  And if you see little more, deeper into the pharmaceutical industry, since 1985 to 2015, there are 10 different drugs which are either similar to cannabis or very close to cannabis molecules, but they're synthetic.  And they have been selling since 1985, and still it is in the market.

Ben:  Interesting.

Dr. Mewa:  And it's not for one disease.  It's for various diseases.  Not one or two.  But the difference between those pharmaceutical industry and, I would say, us, they know how to operate within the said system, what we call the FDA.  They know how to operate within that periphery.  And they have to change this molecule because if they don't change it, either nobody's going to buy that or FDA's not going to let them sell it.  So they have to make sure they have manipulated the molecular structure of their so-called synthetic cannabinoid in such a way that it comes under the jurisdiction of FDA, and hence they will get an approval to sell for that specific element or disease.

Ben:  I actually interviewed, I don't know if you knew about this, James, I have an interview on bengreenfieldfitness.com with “The Science Of Weed” documentary, I think it was the producer, and we included some pretty shocking videos of kids getting treated with CBD oil in terms of what it was doing to their epilepsy, and I believe there's a multiple sclerosis and a cerebral palsy video there too.  So again, I know you guys have to be super-duper careful with claims, but I'd say, if you're listening in to this show, just go to the show notes for this episode at bengreenfieldfitness.com/biocbd and I'll put a link to that previous episode that I did.

Now I also want to ask you guys about absorbability of this stuff.  And I know this is kind of your wheel house, Dr. Mewa.  And James, you alluded to this when you were talking about how you were in the lab, I believe with Dr. Mewa, looking at the water soluble absorption and how poorly many oils actually are absorbed.  And I'm asking this question because I've used, I've experimented with a lot of different CBD oils.  I've had people, especially people seeing that I'm talking about weed, and hemp, and THC, and CBD on this show and in my articles, they've sent me lots of stuff.  And frankly, I know this is kind of a woo-woo word, but I don't feel the same effects as I do when I've used some of the stuff from your labs that you sent over to me, and I'm curious if you could go into absorbable and what exactly it is that you’re doing to make this stuff absorbable.

Dr. Mewa:  Yeah.  I will try to be short, as short as possible.  I personally feel if this plant is there on this planet, there is something good about this.  And nature is the best scientist on this planet.  And nature has preserved these molecules in plants by its own means.  So if you see that, if you put food or any drugs outside after a period of time, it'll just deteriorate.  It goes to waste.  It will lose its potency.  But if you put these kind of plants by itself, it will be there for years, but still those molecules remain preserved in it.  Now they are preserved, we have to make sure how we can decode those preserved molecules and take them out to its best possible use using our own brain.  Of course that brain has also been given to us by the same power, what has preserved this molecule.  So what we had to do, we have to take them out and make sure we use them by its best possible potency.  Not overdose, not underdose.  If you are taking something which is not to its best optimal dose, it's not going to work.  If you're taking something which is overdosed, it's going to hurt you.  Now the trick here is how we can make sure that we are taking it optimally.  Before that, we have to make sure that it is available in a form where our body can absorb it.

As everybody knows, more than 60, 70% of our body is water.  So if there is something which is dissolved in the water, the best chances are it's going to absorb by the body.  And if it's absorbed by the body, it's going to be available to the places where it's needed the most.  So keeping that in mind, that we have to develop a formulation which is water soluble.  I was conducting some experiment on other drugs which are not water soluble, or in the scientific terminology, they're not best bioavailable.

While I was conducting those experiment, I come across one experiment where I observed, “Yeah, this is the best med.”  Then I used that particular experiment for many, many molecules.  Not one, two, three, four, five, ten, but more than 160 at this point.  And one of them is cannabinoids.  While I was working on other things, I realized by watching few Youtubes associated with those kids who were suffering and nothing is working but this, I realized, “Probably, if I'm able to make this molecule to its best possible absorption or formulation, this probably will make a change in many, many lives.”  So I start conducting some research, and I come across this formulation, what you have in your hand today.

Now why somebody will use, or we say, “Oh, we are the best in this water soluble technology.”  Yes, I do have something that is different than the rest of the world who have water soluble technology.  Most of the companies there either multimillion or multibillion budget in research and development, they have been using something which has been discovered three decades ago and they're just revolving around the same circle.  I don't know why, but they are not getting out of that circle.  But this particular technology is out of that circle.  Here, what we have, all the ingredients, what we are using to make this molecule water soluble are GRAS approved.  GRAS approved meaning generally regarded as safe by FDA.  Not only are they generally regarded as safe, but they have their own medicinal value.  For example, one of the components in one of our formulations is curcumin.  And I remember you asked one question to James that athletic value of cannabinoids.  Is there any study?  Yes, there are studies.  But for this curcumin, you will find more than 5,000 studies.  And one of the…

Ben:  Yeah.  You're saying curcumin, right?

Dr. Mewa:  Yes, curcumin.  And one of the studies is being conducted by army people in one base, I don't remember the name of that base, where they have shown how they can improve the rigidity and the recovery of the soldier after excessive exercise.  So when we are using these two molecules together, we're making a big difference.  How?  Scientifically, as you have already discussed that most of the cannabinoids, neurological system order or nervous system order to treat most of the, say, for example, pain.  But this curcumin molecule treats pain not by neurological order, but at a molecular level order as you have already mentioned, interleukin 6 and cytokine.  So when we use this combination to treat, for example, pain, we are attacking pain on multiple modes.  Not just one neurologic mode, but on the cellular mode too.  So hence we attack the problem in a more efficient way than just CBD alone.  Not only just by [0:49:58] ______, but our formulation.  Hence it is water soluble, it is more effective.

Ben:  So are you blending it with turmeric to actually make it water soluble?  Is that kind of like the technology that you're using is the turmeric is actually part of the absorbability process?

Dr. Mewa:  Yes.  For cannabinoid, that's one of the steps.  And it is there in the formulation.

Ben:  Okay.  Gotcha.  So is this something that you guys have patented?  Or is this something that anybody can do, just take CBD and blend it with turmeric?

Dr. Mewa:  As a human being, I don't mind everybody using it.  But as a businessman, we have protected it.  If somebody misuses it, we'll go after them.

Ben:  Now what about the type of turmeric that you're using?  What are the type of CBD that you're using?  I honestly don't know that much about hemp, but I mean is it organic versus non-organic, or the same with turmeric? Like what are you guys doing in terms of your ingredients, your fillers, et cetera.

Dr. Mewa:  Go ahead, James.  If it's technical, all the ingredients we are using are either GRAS approved and they all are FDA approved.  And the cannabinoids, James, you can answer this where we are buying this.

James:  Right.  So, yes.  In the CBD, we tried to source the highest quality, most pure European CBD extracted from hemp.  It's grown in Europe, and there's a number of companies are now in Oregon, and I have already met with every single one of the owners and I've chosen the company, it's kind of like the farm to table experience where I actually spoke, sat down with the farmer that's been growing it for generations.  He's got the highest quality hemp.  They triple test it on there and they show it's free from pesticides, heavy metals, and all the sorts before it even comes over here.  And then Dr. Mewa and I tested it once when we receive it and once again after our products are done.  So it's getting quite a few different tests in there in order to be able to have this organic, all-natural, free from anything, pure as possible.  It's just a part of everything that we do.

Ben:  And from what I see on your website, pets can use this stuff too?

James:  Pets, and I’m not familiar speaking on this, but my layman's terms for me is that pets have the same systems that we have.  And so if they're dealing with the ailments and pain, even cancer.  Now we're starting to see tumors and whatnot.  It's the same thing.  They have the same endocannabinoid system.  And so when CBD gets into their body, it also allows their body to go back to homeostasis and allowing that to heal.

Ben:  Okay.  Gotcha.

Dr. Mewa:  A little bit more filler than that, your question, Ben, where you said organic and quality.  All my family using my own medicine, what we are developing and manufacturing.  So we put our family first on trial, whether it's safe or not safe.  And then only we just ask other people, “Hey, you can use it.  It's good.  Go ahead.”

Ben:  Interesting.  So you just test it out on your own family first, use them as the guinea pig?

Dr. Mewa:  Yeah.  I test on me first.  And if I am alive and good health, I will take it to my family.  And only then will I take it out of the door.

Ben:  Gotcha.  But I assume, in addition to testing it on yourself and your family, you guys are doing other lab certified tests to make sure that this stuff doesn't have heavy metals and stuff like that in it.

Dr. Mewa:  Of course!

Ben:  Okay.  Cool.  Gotcha.  Alright.  So in terms of the actual formulation, it's CBD and it's turmeric.  And then from there, are you adding anything else to increase the effects or to make this stuff more potent in any way?

Dr. Mewa:  Yes.  We are not a believer of a statement of wanting good for curing all possible things, all possible diseases.  We don't believe in that.  So we carefully used our knowledge and scientific literature available so far.  And then only we designed the formulation with this best potentiating and synergetically effect so that at the end of the day it's the best possible formulation to treat something very specific.  We don't sell CBD to treat this.  We have a specific formulation to treat your pain, we have a specific formulation to treat your digestive problem, we have a specific formulation to treat your focus, or bipartisan or bipolar things.  We designed our formulation keeping in mind what we want to treat, or what we want to take care if not treat.

Ben:  Well, my primary interest when I talked to James about this is anti-anxiolytic properties, anti-stress properties without something actually knocking you out, but instead just helping you decrease anxiety.  So you take it before a workout if you needed to and still be able to perform during a workout or during a race.  But then also being able to use it to lower stress, lower cortisol, and sleep better.  And when I talked to you about this, James, you suggested adding something like ashwagandha or another compound called lemon balm to CBD.  Can you talk about why you suggested adding those?

Dr. Mewa:  You know, if you analyze sometimes, if you have free time, most the diseases come in our body because of toxins, or clearants.  And the best possible things to take care of your body, to take antioxidants as much as possible.  Ashwagandha is the best possible antioxidant after curcumin.  So that's why we are using ashwagandha in one formulation.  And the same is lemon balm, which just makes you calm because of its antioxidation activity.  So most of the natural molecules, what they provide is antioxidation.  And antioxidation also correlate with inflammation in the body.  If you see more than 90% diseases associated with inflammation for its progression.  So if you take care of inflammation, you take care of many, many diseases.  I will give you one example of cancer.  It's easy to kill that tumor, but it's very difficult to kill its surroundings or, they call it microenvironment.  So if you are able to kill the tumor, but at the same time, if you are able to provide something which can take care of inflammation of that microenvironment, you are much better than just killing the tumor alone.  You can make a difference in that person's life if you're able to do this.

Ben:  Gotcha.  There's a huge number of applications for this stuff, and obviously we could talk for a long time about CBD.  I've been taking a lot of notes and I'm going to put them over in the show notes for this episode at bengreenfieldfitness.com/biocbd, bengreenfieldfitness.com/biocbd.  But just so that all of you listening know, I spoken with James quite a bit about this, and also with Dr. Mewa about producing some kind of a formulation that really goes after the type of results that I'm looking for and also to be able to get that into your hands, and they're actually letting Greenfield Fitness Systems now carry our own form of CBD using this hybrid nanotechnology with the turmeric to actually make it water absorbable so you actually absorb the stuff, and then combining it with some of these other anti-stress compounds like ashwagandha, and lemon balm, and some of these things that not only increase absorption of the CBD, but that also help to give you like a relaxed calm focus.  So for everything from like pre-workouts, to pre-creativity like writing, to sleep, I've been starting to use these different compounds and I'm a huge fan.  And I do think that CBD is kind of the next big thing when it comes to a natural compound that's totally legal, that's safe, that's non-addictive that's going to get you some pretty huge benefits, especially for me when it comes to destressing, and sleep, and focus, and calm.  So James and Dr. Mewa, do you guys have anything else that you wanted to share with the audience before I let you go?

Dr. Mewa:  I can say only one thing.  I put one time on my website, one statement, and people did not like that.  I said, “Hey, poison is not a poison if you know how to use it.”  Everything, if it's there, if you know how to use it, it's the best because nature has produced everything on this planet for a reason.  So we are able to make a formulation where we can just take that fear out of people's mind that, “Oh, this can do that.  This can do,” no.  We are going to treat people using this not to do anything else.  So we know how to use this molecule for stuff.

Ben:  Nice.  James, anything you want to add?

James:  And then, yeah.  I just wanted to say thank you for having us on this call and allowing us to share some of the science and our passion for what we're up to.  And thank you for believing us and the formulations that Dr. Mewa has created.  I've seen it through hundreds and hundreds, if not thousands now, in the last year from his formulation.  And I'm excited for you and your friends, and your family, and your followers to experience these formulations.  And you can give us what we're already receiving, which at the end of the day, it's efficacy.  It starts with the testimonials.  So we stand by everything that we do.  We'd love to say if it doesn't work, send it back, we'll pay for it.  So if you want to carry that same guarantee on what you're doing, Ben, I know that Dr. Mewa will stand behind that because everything we do has been tested and we stand behind it and we want to help people.  At the end of the day, it all comes back to how do we impact more lives.  So thank you, Ben, for your support.  And thank you to all the listeners out there.

Ben:  Yeah.  Awesome.  Actually, I already have the same guarantee on anything that I have at greenfieldfitnesssystems.com.  If you don't like it, you can send it back.  And this new formulation, it's going to be called Nature CBD.  If you're listening right now and you want to get that, you can actually use discount code, and the 10% discount code that you can use if you go to Greenfield Fitness Systems to get this stuff is called CBD10.  CBD10.  So you just go to greenfieldfitnesssystems.com.  It's going to be pretty obvious where to go to get the Nature CBD there.  And you can get 10% off it with a discount code CBD10.  You can also access all the show notes for this episode, “The Science Of Weed” documentary, other articles that I've written on CBD and THC, that's all over at bengreenfieldfitness.com/biocbd.  And that's also where you can leave your comments or questions for James, or Dr. Mewa, or myself to reply to.  So thanks for listening everyone.  Have a healthy week.  And until next time, I'm Ben Greenfield signing out from bengreenfieldfitness.com.  Later, guys.

Dr. Mewa:  Alright.  Bye.

 

 

A few months ago, I had a party at my house, and one of the guys in attendance – my friend James Sol Radina – handed me two capsules of something called “CBD”, also known as cannabidiol. This was actually right before we left to go play a giant game of laser tag in America's largest laser tag arena, in which he and I came in first and second place. 

But this podcast, in which I interview James, along with his Indian scientists sidekick Dr. Mewa about what CBD really is, isn't really about how to get drugs at parties that help you win at laser tag.

Instead, it's all about the science and the practical ways to use CBD, which is the completely legal extract of the cannabis plant that many, many people are now turning to for everything from enhanced focus, to decreased stress, to lower inflammation.

So what is CBD exactly?

CBD is an abbreviation for cannabidiol, a prominent naturally-occurring cannabinoid component found in cannabis that comprises up to 40% of the plant. After THC (Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol) – which is the psychoactive component of cannabis most often associated with marijuana – CBD is by far the most studied natural cannabinoid, especially when it comes to medical benefits and addressing issues such as insomnia and anxiety. According to many researchers, CBD may be the single most important cannabinoid ever discovered.

Despite popular perceptions of marijuana, cannabidiol is a cannabinoid devoid of any type of strange psychoactive effect (although it can help with cognitive performance, memory, focus, etc.). In other words, unlike THC, CBD won’t get you “high”, CBD can actually help to counteract some of the psychoactive effects of THC (taking any paranoia edge off of marijuana) and it’s 100% legal everywhere in the world, which means you can order it online, you can carry it on airplanes, and you can use it anywhere you’d like.

In today's episode, James, Dr. Mewa and I discuss:

-The difference between THC and CBD…

-Why you would want to use CBD by itself, without any THC…

-How you can use CBD to “take the edge” off THC…

-Whether CBD is addictive, unsafe or illegal…

-The role that CBD plays in both acute and chronic inflammation…

-How you can use CBD to decrease anxiety and stress and to improve sleep…

-Why most CBD oil and CBD capsules are not actually absorbed…

-How Dr. Mewa uses “hybrid nanotechnology” to make molecules more absorbable…

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Resources from this episode:

–The Effects Of Weed On Exercise article

–The Science Of Weed documentary

–NatureCBD

** NO CBD10 OR BEN10 CODE REQUIRED FOR AUTOSHIP DISCOUNT. PRICE IS ALREADY 10% LOWER THAN SINGLE BOTTLE PURCHASE! **

CLICK HERE FOR CBD AUTOSHIP

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About the guests:

James Sol Radina, CEO & Chief Visionary Officer

As Chief Visionary Officer, James is the driving force behind Bio Hemp CBD's socially responsible model of donating CBD products to those who cannot afford them, and he is the inspirational force behind the company’s beliefs and marketing strategy. After partnering with Dr. Mewa Singh, co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Bio Hemp CBD, James has built the best team in the industry. James is passionate about improving the human experience and has been a long time contributor to a number of charitable organizations. James co-founded S.P.I.N. (Spreading Philanthropy Into Networking), and then went on to co-found another endeavor, SEVEN, which focused on bringing together leaders in the Greater San Diego Area focused on personal development and philanthropy. James acted as Marketing Director and an Advisor on the Strategic Partnerships Committee for the Jeans 4 Justice Charity, a nonprofit that provides education to raise awareness for the prevention of sexual assault.

Dr. Mewa Singh, Co-Founder & Chief Scientific Officer

As Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Singh is responsible for leading all research, product development, and product testing. Perhaps most importantly, Dr. Singh is the inventor of Hybrid-Nanoengineering™, the technology and process behind nano-ized CBD* and Ayurvedic herbs. The discovery of Hybrid-Nanoengineering™ is possibly the single biggest advancement in nutraceuticals. An expert in the biotechnology and product development, Dr. Singh has spent almost 30 years successfully developing and launching products for diagnostics, vaccines, nutraceuticals and nanomedicines. He has previously served as Director of Research & Development, Chief Scientific Officer, Chief of Operations and Chief Executive Officer for companies such as Chembio Diagnostics, Medical Services International, J N International and Meda Biotech, LLC. Dr. Singh holds a Master’s of Science in Biochemistry, a Master’s of Philosophy in Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, and a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology. Dr. Singh has worked to develop over 145 different nanomedicines for use as pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals and agrochemicals.

THESE STATEMENTS HAVE NOT BEEN EVALUATED BY THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION. THIS PRODUCT IS NOT INTENDED TO DIAGNOSE, TREAT, CURE, OR PREVENT ANY DISEASE.