How To Get All The Benefits Of Weed Without Actually Using Weed.

In this episode of the Ben Greenfield.

Fitness Podcast, marijuana, or cannabis for that matter, for most of the world, is concerned with getting highs. Until recently, really. In the last five years, medical marijuana conversation has hit the headlines in big ways. There's over 60, some people say 80. Cannabinoids, right? THC and 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. We can make hemp T shirts, hemp plastic. It's not typically known for doing anything but being, you know, considered as fiber and all these additional health benefits. 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.

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Hey, folks, it's Ben Greenfield. And today I actually have one of my buddies on the call, James Radena. And James has actually been to my house before. A couple months ago, we are actually attending a party at my place and James actually gave me a couple capsules of something called cbd, which is also known as canna a dial. 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.

It was pretty impressive and I don't know if I've ever heard of a testimonial like that. That's right, CPD makes you play better laser tag.

We're going to talk in this entire episode about how you can become a better warrior by 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'd 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?

When I first met Dr. Mewal about a year ago, we instantly became friends and we just share a common vision and purpose in life is to really transform the way that healthcare is done on this planet the way that we see it. And so Dr. Mewa has been studying biomedicine for almost 30 years and he's got a phenomenal technology that is 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, put the lab coat on and did it myself and had a lot of fun with Dr. Mewa at his lab at a very 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 me wants out of his mouth is about how can we can, how we can help more people.

Awesome. I definitely want to ask you 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 these 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?

Yeah, most people, they think of marijuana. Let's just start with there at the top of the level, marijuana. Actually, if I go level up, you look cannabis. Cannabis encompasses marijuana and hemp. And a little bit later we're going to discuss hemp deeper. So I wanted to 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, it's concerned with getting high. It's concerned with the recreational side of marijuana. Until recently, really, in the last five years, the medical marijuana conversation has hit the headlines in big ways. 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. Which one of the biggest side effects or downfalls of THC for most people is there's paranoia or psychotic effect that can come with that. And so CBT doesn't have that. 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.

Gotcha. Now, the high part, I think it's interesting. I don't know if this is True, James, or Dr. Meal, 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 from marijuana and not the medicinal benefits has been to increase the THC percentage. Like apparently the weed that our parents were smoking, like back in the 60s is way, was way, way weaker than what we're getting now. Is that true?

Yeah, it' syou know, there'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. Marijuana is known for these flowers, how to these flowers to be the most abundant and most biggest, beautiful little flowers that they can have. Inside of that is all this psychoactivity that comes when you smoke it or when you condense it down in oil. 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 that people, some people on this planet want to get as high as possible as fast as possible.

Well, that's actually. I mean, in my experimentation, because 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 risk strains. And every time you still get an edgy paranoia, just almost like a. An uncomfortable amount of psychoactivity from the stuff. And when I. When I first talked to you about cbd, because I didn't really know what CBD was, I started looking for these strains where if you look on the back of them, you know, that are higher in CBD percentage and lower in THC percentage. And I felt way more, you know, 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 de stressed at the end of 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?

Both CBD makes up about 40% of the plant. There's over 60, some people say 80. Cannabinoids. THC and CBD are two of them. 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 2 of the parts of the. We still have over 60 other parts to go. CBD makes up to 40% of the plant. When people started to see that, wow, we can have the medicinal benefits of this plant without the high. And people are interested in that, all of a sudden, it's been the hottest topic in the entire industry is how do I get cbd? Because I think we'll talk about an hour later. But the reasons you want CBD are 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 is Getting them high. There are plenty of people on this planet that thought of marijuana not only is getting them high, but also for the healing benefits. So now if we take away the high and we still get the healing benefits. Got something pretty powerful and remarkable here.

Let me fill in little blank here with your question. Which was related to man made plants which has high THC or high CBD or. 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. I was small story six months ago, I have some operation in India and I called my servant there, who is just a servant. And these plants are right next to my building. There is an empty space lying 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 mixture of plants, some are high THC and some are almost no thc. And if you go little further on Himalayas, there are plants, there are 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 learnt 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 then we manipulate our scientific knowledge on our scientific experience and replicate that. So that's the little filling blank that how this high THC or low THC come into existence here on whether USA or Europe.

Okay, and that makes sense, but how about this distinction that's made between hemp and I even know in terms of legality, 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 a normal amount of THC based cannabis plant?

So genetic. It's all genetics, it's a selection and it's not one species of this plant. There are hundreds of species and it's all genetic selection by nature.

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.

Yeah, yeah. So THC is typically found in the flowers and the buds of the female cannabis plant, which is known to be for marijuana hemp. The male side of it is not necessarily known to grow these flowers and therefore their 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, is hemp seeds, hemp milk, hemp oil. They can make hemp T shirts, hemp plastic. It's not typically known for doing anything but being good for this fiber and all these additional health benefits that don't ever get you high. Recently, farmers and scientists have been starting to grow and cultivate it for a higher CBD concentrate. And look at those seeds that are producing higher CBD and growing more of those seeds. That's really what we're talking about here, 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, then we can ship it to all 50 states and 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.

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

I wish I knew why some of these countries, including the United States, are the way they are. You know, I can just say this one thing that kind of laughable is that 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 Canada. You also cannot take 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 United States, all 50 states.

So it has to be CBD that's from an actual hemp plant, that's low in THC.

The distinction is that a lot of people are getting CBD from marijuana and marijuana is statewide legal. So in California and like you said in Washington, as long you can get CBD from marijuana if it's grown in Washington and you buy it through the legal route in Washington, but you could never buy CBD in Colorado or New Jersey that came from Washington because it's not federally legal. And there's quite an interesting story about CNN just did three different documentaries on weed and they mentioned this strain in there called Charlotte's Web and it's been helping children with removing their seizures. Now all these, they call them cannoms. Over 10,000. This was about a year ago that I heard the number was this high of 10,000. Cannon moms 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 home. So they're moving there. And because it was grown in California, the COVID of 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 all 50 states. Just like hemp oil and hemp seeds and hemp T shirts.

Interesting. Okay, so like a 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.

Correct.

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 CBD 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 or in terms of a way to biohack your weed?

It is. I don't know too much about the science of that yet. I think the science on this planet in General, there's been 20,000 different studies that have done on this plant. But yet, which I feel like in a lot of ways with the kickstarts in the United States, doctors and researchers have not really wanted to put their name behind this plant until just recently. But it's known for its anti anxiety effects. And its antipsychotic effects. And if those are the two main things that come with THC and CBD is known to combat that, then yes, people over and over 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 smoke, THC can have a potentiating effect for one. But two, it can also calm you down and actually take you back down to a more grounded presence if you're too high. As an example.

Now, what's going on? Why would CBD cause a different reaction within the body than thc? Is it acting on different receptors? I mean, is there something going on different chemically because they're both cannabinoids. But has there been any research done on the difference between the receptors or the hormones or the enzymes being activated when you compare something like THC to.

Cbd, it's more complicated. What we can describe as a layman language.

Well, go ahead and try us.

You know, if you see the structure, CBD or thc, you know, if you see the chemical structure, they're almost similar. It's a so small difference between two molecules. It's the only the orientation of the molecule which is different. And if you see the molecular weight is 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.

Okay, gotcha. But we know that the effects are markedly different. And all of the medicinal effects actually come from the cbd.

Yeah, it's only because of its stereochemistry.

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.

I think that anybody at the end of the day then 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 it. 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, which in the brain, the organs, the tissues, the glands, the immune cells. I like to talk about. Somebody explained it to me this way, that 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. Until about 30 years ago, they found this endocannabinoid system. This is all documented online. You can do it again. I'm not claiming to be a doctor or scientist, but what I'd like to say about it is that the endocannabinoid system is like, if the nervous system is the highways and the freeways to your body, then endocannabinoid, the cannabinoid system is the dirt paths and the little roads that talk to every cell. 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, lighting up your entire body. Because the endocannabinoid system has some receptors that accept cannabis. And so we go back to what's going on with your body internally. C I think, is more of an internal experience. It's allowing your body to go back to homeostasis, allowing 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.

Yeah. One more. Actually, I can fill in a little more blank here. You know, there's one more. Probably the thc, you know, 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 it action at the central nervous system, it probably is more psychoactive than cannabinoids.

Okay, so it's act. So a THC is acting more on the central nervous system, which is why you get more of that psychoactive.

Right?

So because it just go right at the source. So that's probably one reason is there, that it is more kind of dependency.

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's website for the National Collegiate Athletic association, and I've reviewed the US Anti Doping Association 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, you know, like, if you get drug tested, for example, will CBD look like THC in your bloodstream?

Yeah, because, you know, the one. One reason that when somebody go for testing, because they are going to test for thc, and the testing for THC, or 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 are supposed to detect THC in your body. And the reagent which detect THC is different than cannabinoid. So if somebody is going to go for these kind of testing and they are on cannabinoid, they will be negative for sure.

Interesting. Okay, got it. So, you know that one of the reasons I was curious about that, and I do want to jump into 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, alpha brainwave production, stuff like that. And I talk to a lot of athletes, especially in Colorado, for example, who are using THC and THC Edibles and weeds to increase focus and to decrease perceptions of pain during exercise. So I decided to see if I could use cbd. And, you know, I was. I've experimented 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?

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 a neuroprotectant, which you know, 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, in 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 an 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 at the NFL level. It's pretty remarkable and promising for the future of all sports.

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 like 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 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 with potential for weight gain when using cbd.

To be very honest, scientifically hemp or cannabis oriented molecules, it does improve your appetite. And when there is 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 see the advantage of its anabolic activity, it's great on some patients. There is a lot of patients out there, especially teenage kids below even the 17 year old age. And there are rehab centers where they cannot eat every day. They cannot eat even regular food. And because of that problem they are always sick one or the other way. So I have personal first hand experience with those people who took the CBD and now they are happily having their regular meal and they quit all other medications what they were eating before this. So this is a good part. Now at your, you have another issue, weight gain. So that comes with it. So how to deal with it? It is up to that 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.

Yeah.

And gain weight. So it's up to them.

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 ratio 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 an 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 a 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 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.

You are absolutely right. Anxiety is number one 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 its anabolic activity or appetite. That's a separate, it's not an issue. Basically it is a hobby, probably to eat more.

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

Not me personally.

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. And 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 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. And so it has like an anti anxiety, anti stress type of effect or seems to, but then it also. It seems to help people sleep better. How exactly is that working? Or have you guys experimented much with the sleep component?

So I'll say this is that there's actually been two sides. There's a lot of people that are saying that THC is actually. Certain strains like Indica are known to help people with sleeping. And on the CBD side of things, typically, the people typically report back that you're getting a focused, a slight. Just 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, then their body, the internal body, is 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 sleeps. 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, the continued effects the next day of pain relief and some of the effects that they're taking CBD for.

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. Can you fill us in a little bit on that?

Yeah, there's a. There's a. I love talking about this. And at the same time, there's a. You know, there's a area that we're not really allowed to talk about too much, which is you know, merely making any claims at this stage. There's, I encourage people, if there's any ailment that they want to look up, just do a Google search with CBD or cannabidiol with any ailment. I personally am a 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. We gave CBD oil to seven different, we call them DNAs, before and afters. And we were hoping, at one time we thought that we were going to have to give it to 20 different people in order to have seven results. We gave it to seven people and had seven life changing results. Most of those five of them were 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, if 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, epilepsy, colitis and I could go on and on, the pharmaceutical drugs don't seem to be working for them in 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, finding phenomenal results.

And so yes, yeah, let me go a second on this issue. Yes, we, 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 has 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 molecule, but they are synthetic and they have been selling since 1985 and still it is in the market.

Interesting.

It's for not one disease, it's for various diseases, not one or two. Yeah, but the difference between those pharmaceutical industry and I would say us, they know how to operate within the set system, what we call it 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 is going to buy that or FDA is not going to let them sell it. So they have to make sure they have manipulated the molecular structure of their so called synthetic cannabinoids 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.

I actually interviewed the, 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, 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 to this show, just go to the show notes for this episode@BenGreenfieldFitness.com BioCBD and I'll put a link to that previous episode that I did. Now I also want to ask you, ask you guys about absorptability of this stuff. And I know this is kind of your wheelhouse, 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 an experiment with a lot of different CBD oils. I've had people, 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, I don't feel the same effects as I do when I've used some of this stuff from your labs that you sent over to me. And I'm curious if you could go into absorptability and what exactly it is that you're doing to make this stuff absorbable.

Yeah, I will try to be short, as short as possible. I personally feel, you know, if, 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 have preserved these molecules in plants by its own means. So if you see that if you put food or any drug outside after a period of time it just deteriorates, it goes 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 been also given to us by the same power what has preserved these molecules. So what we have to do, we have to take them out and make sure we use them by its best possible potency. Not overdose, not under dose. If you are taking something which is not to its best optimal dose, it's not going to work. If you are taking something which is overdose, it's going to hurt you. Now the trick here is how we can make sure that we are taking it optimal. 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 chances are 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 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 a scientific terminology they are not best bioavailable. While I was conducting those experiments, I come across one experiment where I observed yeah, this is the best man. Then I used that particular experiment to many, many molecules. Not 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 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 are suffering and nothing is working but this I realized probably if I 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 somebody or we say oh, we are the best in this water solver technology. Yes, I do have something which is different than rest of the world who have water solver technology. Most of the companies, they are either multi million or multi billion budget in research and development. They have been using something which has been discovered three decades ago and they are just revolving around the same circle. I don't know why, but they are not getting out of that circle. But my this particular technology is out of that Circle Here we have all the ingredients. What we are using to make this molecule water soluble are GRAS approved. GRAS approved means generally regarded as safe by fda. Not only they are generally regarded as safe, but they have their own medicinal value. For example, one of the component in one of our formulation is curcumin. And I, I remember you asked one question to James, that athletic value of, of. Of of cannabinoids. Is there any study? Yes, there are study, but for this curcumin you will find more than 5,000 studies. And one of the.

Well, you're saying curcumin, right?

Yes, curcumin.

Yeah.

And one of the study 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 recovery of the shoulder after excessive exercise. So when we are using these two molecules together, we are 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 treat pain not by neurological order, but at a molecular level order. As you have already mentioned, interleukin, sick and cytokines. So when we use this combination to treat for example pain we are attacking pain on multiple modes, not just one neurological 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 two means, but our formulation, hence it is water soluble, is more effective.

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 absorptability process?

Yes, for cannabinoid that's one of the step and it is there in the formulation.

Okay, gotcha. So is this something that you guys have patented, I mean, or is this something that anybody can do? Just take CBD and blend it with turmeric?

As a human being, I don't mind everybody use it. But as a businessman, we have protected it. If somebody use misuse, it will go after them.

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

Go ahead, James. If it's technical, all the ingredients we are using either grass approved and they all are FDA approved. And cannabinoid Gym. You can answer this where we are buying this, right?

So, yes, in the cbd, we tried to source the highest quality, most pure European CBD extractor from hemp. It's grown in Europe and there's a number of companies that are now importing it. And I went and met with every single one of the owners and I've chosen a company that is kind of like the farm to table experience where I actually spoke, sat down with a farmer that's been growing it for generations. He's got the highest quality hemp. They triple tested on there and they showed it's free for pesticides, heavy metals and all the sorts before it even comes over here. And then Dr. Mewon 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.

And from what I see on your website, pets can use this stuff too.

Pets. Dr. Mewan, you can't speak into this, but layman's terms for me is that the same systems that we have, if they're dealing with ailments and pain, even cancer, now we're starting to see tumors and whatnot in pets. 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, allowing that to heal.

Okay, little bit more filler in that your question, Ben, where you said organic and quality. All my family using my own medicines, 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.

Interesting. So you just test it out on your own family first.

Use them as the guinea I passed on me first. And if I am alive and good health, I will take it to my family and only then I will take it out of the door.

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

Yes.

We are not a believer of a statement. One thing good for curing all possible things, whole 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 such very specific. We don't sell CBD to treat this cbd.

No.

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. So we design our formulation keeping in mind what we want to treat or what we want to take care if not treat.

Well, my primary interest when I've talked to James about this is anti anxiolytic properties, anti stress properties without something actually knocking you out, but instead just helping to decrease anxiety. So you could 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?

You know, if you analyze sometime, if you have free time. Most of the diseases come in our body because of toxins or clearance. 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 surrounding or they call it micro environment. So if you able to kill the tumor, but at the same time, if you able to provide something which can take care of inflammation of that micro environment, you are much better than just killing the tumor alone. You can make a difference in that personal life if you're able to do this.

Gotcha. Well, 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@bengreenfieldfitness.com biocbd bengreenfieldfitness.com BiocBD but just so that all of you listening know, I've spoken with James quite a bit about this and also with Dr. Miwa 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 a relaxed, calm focus. So for everything from pre workouts to pre creativity like riding to sleep. So 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 de stressing and sleep and focus and calm. James and Dr. Mewa, do you guys have anything else that you wanted to share with the audience before I let you go?

I can say only one thing. You know, 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. Tough stuff.

Nice. James, anything you want to add?

And then yeah, just I 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 in us and the formulations that Dr. Mey has been creating, I've seen it through hundreds and hundreds and if not thousands now in the last year from his formulations. 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. 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 with what you're doing, Ben, I know that Dr. Meadon will stand behind that because everything we do is 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.

Yeah, awesome. Awesome. And I already have, actually, I already have that same guarantee on anything that I have@GreenfieldFitnessystems.com if you don't like it, you can send it back. And this, this new formulation is going to be called Nature cbd. If you're listening right now and and you want to get that, you can actually use a discount code. And the 10% discount code that you can use if you go to Greenfield Fitness Systems to get this stuff, 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 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 bio 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.

All right, bye.

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