239 Jay Hartenbach: The Truth About Sports & Cannabidiol

You know, specifically talking about hemp, this is the one singular topic that I think everyone can get behind, right? And so you've got very rarely. I can't think of any other time that you have Chuck Schumer looking to Mitch McConnell, shaking hands and saying, look, hemp for America is something that we both could stand for and get behind. And so you've got this strong sense of, like I said, bipartisanship, an interest in looking at this cannabis plant and saying, you know, what actual medicinal benefits beyond just a recreational use actually exist. You kind of blend those together, and then the final piece of it really being this focus on whole plant, you know, kind of going back to being organic and natural consumption as opposed to processed. And it really makes this perfect storm for pushing the hemp reform through and making people aware of CBD.

That's Jay Hartenbach, and this is episode 239 of Wellness Force Radio. What's up, my friend? It's your host, Josh Trent. And welcome back to another episode for your weekly access to global experts in all things wellness as we discover the physical and emotional intelligence we need to live life. Well, in this podcast, we're talking about cannabidiol, cbd, otherwise known as hemp oil. But there is so much missed opportunities when. When it comes to athletics and sports and cannabidiol. Today, we're talking about the truth about sports and cannabidiol from the CEO of Medterra, Jay Hartenbach. Now, this health company is very unique. They focus on relief through the incredible power of plants, specifically hemp. But Jay actually spent the last five years distributing CBD across the world, where he built a network of industrial hemp farms, which you'll learn about on the show today. What did I love the most about this conversation? Well, I learned so many new things which you're gonna learn as well. Like in 20, 2018, the FDA approved cannabidiol as a prescription drug called epidiolex for medical uses. And it's been limited to two rare forms of childhood epilepsy. What is this system, though, that actually receives cbd? The healing power of these plants. It's the endocannabinoid system which activated my propeller hat. CBD is just one, just one of the primary cannabinoids found in hemp. These cannabinoid receptors in our body play such a big role in psychological and physiological processes such as mood and memory and pain. Why this is so important is because as a nation, we've stopped eating plants. There are natural spectrums of endocannabinoid system receptors that get activated through cannabinoids found in plants. Well, cbd, this cannabidiol that we're talking about on the show today, this is so great for athletes because what happens when we work out, we get sore, right? So the actin myosin fibers in our muscle tissues tear and then we get inflammation, which inflammation is not always a bad thing. Sometimes it's actually what heals our body. But this cream that we talk about today, this rub on cream for athletes, this can actually help in inflammation and really getting back on the horse, going out and doing more sports on the weekend. And speaking of the weekend, did you notice that on the Wellness Force site we have completely updated our VIP program? Now this program I haven't talked about on the podcast yet and I was gonna wait, but I'm not gonna wait anymore. I want to announce that you can join the Wellness Warrior VIP club. This is a club where you're gonna get exclusive updates, direct access to me, discounts on new wellness in line for new podcasts and get access to invite only events. There's a ton more too. Just go to wellnessforce.com VIP this is going to be really special. We're going to be building tons of free goodies and giveaways and extra stuff. Oh and by the way, when you sign up for the VIP club, you also get the M21 guide which is a science backed practice for your morning rituals so you can have more energy, let go of old weight and feel good. Isn't that what this is all about? We're understanding this physical and emotional intelligence so we can live our life well and feel good. You can do that. Just go to wellnessforce.com VIP join the club. I'll welcome you. It's gonna be amazing. Be a part of the crew. Now let's dig in about the truth behind sports and cannabidiol with Jay Hartenbach. This is Wellness Force. I am Josh Trent. My guest today is the CEO of Medterra, a CBD health and wellness company started by a group of individuals who are passionate about CBD products. And it's interesting timing in America because we see more and more need CBD right now. Now this product and this line of products, it can have the potential to provide relief through the power of plants, specifically hemp. This person has spent the last five plus years distributing CBD products across the world where he's built a network of industrial hemp farms. With 10 plus years in marketing, he joins us today on the show to talk about the truth behind Cannabidiol, this medical portion of healing potential, who it's for, what it can really do, how this natural plant can potentially fight against the rising opioid addiction. Academic in our nation, as well as the pot potential of preventing inflammation and managing pain. Welcome to Wellness Force. Jay Hartenbach.

Hey, Josh, thank you for having me on. Really excited to be on and really discussing CBD and the potential of it.

There's some huge potential. And, you know, there's a reason why nationally and even federally, things are the talk of the town right now. Jay, we're gonna dig into many different aspects of CBD and the healing portions of this plant. Huge power of the plants, by the way. But I gotta dig into you a little bit, because University of Miami, you graduated with a bachelor of science in biomedical engine. But get this, guys. The academic research. He actually studied fluorescent lifetimes of quantum dots. We have to talk about that, Jay, before we dig into the show, what is the fluorescent lifetime of a quantum dot?

I don't think I've actually ever been asked that question, so I appreciate you doing the background on it. So when we look at quantum dots, it was actually a really interesting compound that we were taking in the lab. And so my background being biomedical engineering. What we were studying was using these quantum dots, which is a relatively new innovation. And it's really just a molecular compound that we take some cadmium and some zinc, as well as some other molecules and combine them. What we were looking to do was basically insert them, and because they're so small, that's where part of the name the quantum dot comes from. You could get it to fluoresce in the body. The goal of our academic research was to discover the fluorescent lifetime. So when you hit it with some type of light or some type of electrons to excite that quantum dot, it would then fluoresce. And if we could understand the actual fluorescent lifetime or the amount of time that it would fluoresce, then we could actually kind of model it out on where and how we could put it into the body. And our goal was to see how certain diabetic cells would fluoresce and if we were to put medication into the body, how that would interact with those cells. And so if you include the quantum dots with that medication, then you have the ability to kind of see how those cells and medications are interacting and doing it in a much more minimally invasive way, as opposed to kind of opening up the body and kind of taking a look inside.

What's a quantum dot? What is that?

That is. It's purely just a compound. So it's. So we've got cadmium, which is kind of the larger part of it, and then you've got zinc. So a quantum dot is nothing more than an organic molecule that we've combined together in the lab that has unique traits that we can modify as needed to get it to fluoresce differently.

This fascination you've had, it's funny, you know, we were talking before recorded and I know you're an engineer and we talked about the desired result. You know, how do we reverse engineer from a desired result of health and wellness, whether it's muscle gain performance or reducing inflammation. How do you talk to people if you're in an elevator, somebody sees your cool hoodie and it says Medterra on it, what do you actually tell them you do? What do you tell them that you stand for?

So the question that always is asked, and that question is I guess getting a little bit asked less frequently, but it is, what is cbd? Right. So, hey, what do you do for a living? I'm one of the founders of a CBD company focused on providing high quality CBD products to retail customers throughout the US and internationally. That's usually when I get stopped and say, what is cbd? What we stand for as a company is really that providing high quality CBD vertically integrating ourselves to ensure that consistency goes across the board. Like I said, the usual question or the conversation usually quickly tails into what is cbd? That's one thing that I think has really changed the way that we've approached. So sometimes it's really easy, I think, when you're involved in any type of industry or what you do on a day to day basis to kind of lose perspective on what the outside of the world looking into that industry looks like. And so we've changed some of the ways that we do things and some of the things that we're rolling out and making them much more educationally focused. Because as CBD is getting more and more popular, there's still a lot of people that might have heard of it, but they don't actually have that education. Part of our goals and what we stand for is also just educating people as to what CBD is and the potential that it actually holds in our day to day lives and then in more specific cases, in working with specific illnesses and diseases and emotional states.

What's interesting about cannabinoid receptors, you know, these are millions and millions located all throughout the body. It's part of the endocannabinoid system now. This system in some ways, synergistically supports the regulation of appetite, pain, sensation, mood, memory. Talk to us about this system. A lot of people don't even know that the endocannabinoid system system even exists. Jay.

Yeah, absolutely. And that's one of the things I think people first when they hear about CBD or any other type of cannabinoid is, you know, okay, so how does this foreign compound interact with our body? And what was really interesting, actually, in the early 90s, they developed what we call the endocannabinoid system. So our body is specifically designed to interact with cannabinoids. And then this system, just like any type of nervous system throughout the body, sends regulators. And so as certain compounds interact with these CB1 and CB2 receptors of the endocannabinoid system, it'll elicit certain responses in our body. And that's how we get those certain feelings where people that take CBD might see some improvement in motor control or maybe potentially less anxiety. It's because that CBD compound is interacting with these receptors no different than when someone has a flight or fight response. And the endorphins are kind of racing through their body and excite them, or they get maybe nervous or hormones are released through the body and we feel certain, maybe hunger or sleep. These receptors to our body interact with these compounds and then elicit that response through the body. And it happens not at a conscious level, but at a subconscious level, which.

Is where all the beauty actually occurs. Jay. You know, 90%, we've had different behavioral scientists on the show. 90% of everything we do is subconscious. I mean, we look at the enteric nervous system, 5 million-plus neurons. We're talking about all the different efferent and afferent messages that are being in our gastrointestinal system. Most things are happening without us even knowing it, like our respiration, you know, breathing is something that is directly tied to vagal tone. Let's contrast these two things here. So the enteric nervous system, that quote, gut feeling, Jay, that so many people have, if we're in a society, which we obviously are, where we're overstressed, we're overtaxed, our nervous systems are being shifted to the sympathetic. We're in constant fight or flight throughout the entire day. How does the enteric nervous system be calmed by cbd? What is cbd, CBD doing from a ingestion perspective to meet the demands of stress in our modern society?

Yeah, absolutely. And so some of that is still actually being discovered. So we've got some ideas as to what is actually happening. You know, the CBD, for example, interacting with that CB1 and CB2 receptor and eliciting that response, which then creates a hormonal cascade in interacting with that nervous system that you were just referring to. But we still, I think there's still a lot of that needs to be kind of analyzed and discovered, because when we look at the general scope of human physiology and anatomy and kind of studying that we're talking about, you can go back 1000 years where they were kind of discovering and learning things about the body. And obviously the anterior nervous system is a little bit later on in that kind of path of evolution and understanding how humans actually work at a physical level, on a chemical level. But when we look at that, in the grand scheme of things, something that was discovered in the 90s is somewhat of a blur. And so we have an idea of why, for example, CBD can elicit that response for someone that is feeling anxious. Right. And counteracting the stress hormones that are being released. But from a motor control and a neuroreceptor control for people that are having those muscle spasms. I think a lot of that's still actually being discovered. And we don't necessarily know exactly the mechanism of action as to why it's happening. We have some ideas, but. But that really is left to be discovered. What we do know is that it actually has the potential to help, and we've got some clinically supported data that these responses and compounds like CBD are eliciting those responses. Just the actual chemical pathways is still, I think, somewhat being determined.

And that's why they call it the scientific method. It's not definitive. It's not like the hand of God's coming down and saying this is the truth. I mean, we're always open to changing our minds when it comes to the scientific method. So we look at the suppression of inflammation of people are dealing with inflammation, both, you know, honestly, from the foods they eat, from our environment, from emf. We're dealing with, in. In my thoughts, an epidemic, Jay, of inflammation. You know, how does CBD specifically combat inflammation? And what does that look like from a physiological perspective?

So we know, for example. So, you know, inflammation is one of the, you know, kind of the, the. The parts of CB that I think gets everyone excited. So, you know, I don't know the exact number, but I do know that a majority of the illnesses and diseases and disease that people are dealing with have some tie in to inflammation. There's a large percentage. And so inflammation, I Think can be represented in a couple different ways. So, for example, when we talk about arthritis and cbd, so we know that CBD has the ability to calm neutrophil activity, which is essential. And neutrophils have been shown to play a significant part in the actual inflammation generated during arthritis. And so we know that CBD can interact with those neutrophil receptors and actually calm them down, thus reducing the inflammation that we experience in arthritis, for example.

I'm thinking about the kinds of people that use this. And you know, Jay, whenever our grandparents or our parents, you know, people from the older generations start becoming aware and using products, that's when you know that it's become mainstream, man. So I'm on a call with my dad the other day and he's like, hey, I'm taking CBD now. And I thought to myself, what if my dad knows about this? Then it definitely is mainstream. What do you think is slowing the adoption rate though? When we look at CBD products, like, are there any common myths or mismarketed aspects of CBD that can kind of scare people away from it?

Yeah, absolutely. And that's fantastic to hear that your father is using cbd. We're really excited when we just hear about people in general just trying CBD and making sure that they're educated in how they're doing it. One of the, I think the larger myths is the assumption that CBD and thc, which would be a psychoactive cannabinoid that I think gets obviously associated with marijuana, are one and the same. Right. And so that distinction that CBD1 is non psychoactive, so that kind of eliminates concerns of people taking, thinking, well, hey, if I take the cbd, am I going to be able to drive or go to work? I think, is one kind of holding that process or that progress down? And I think also on the regulatory side, we also are seeing some hurdles that have kind of slowed down the adoption of cbd. But I will say in credit to our legislators, especially in Washington, D.C. they're quickly coming on board with what CBD is and how it is different than marijuana and, and how it can be adopted at a national level. And so I think just that one just misunderstanding in education that we kind of talked about in the beginning, once people understand it and kind of know what it really is and what it stands for and doesn't have a risk to potentially give to children, where you have that concern of psychoactive effects that THC would provide, then I think that kind of eliminates some of those concerns. And as that education gets more proliferated, then I think the adoption will just continue to rise. And right now is kind of at an exponential adoption rate. But I think it, you know, could even increase faster than that.

Let's talk about the legal, because I think you're right, like people don't want to get high and go to work. So there is no psychoactive compound in these legal limited amounts of cbd. So what is the legal limit of THC that can be found in CBD across the board right now? What does that look like?

Yeah, that's a great question. So the way that it's defined right now is 0.3% THC by dry weight in the compound. And so the. That 0.3% has actually become a very pivotal, number one in defining the legal limits for CBD, but also defining the difference between hemp and industrial hemp, which we use to manufacture our products and marijuana. They both come from the cannabis plant, which is, I think, part of the reason that there's this association with each other, where marijuana would be heavily concentrated in THC and industrial hemp would be more concentrated in cbd, which are cannabinoids, what we call phytocannabinoids, because they're produced in a plant. That legal limit is 0.3%. You can right now buy CBD products that are perfectly legal to sell throughout the United States with 0.3% THC. Now, at Medterra, we do things maybe a little bit differently. We actually remove all the THC to ensure that there's no risk of any type of psychoactive effects, no matter how much you were to consume. We've got certainly a large part of the market that that's potentially concerned giving THC to their children, or maybe, for example, their father and their mother that want nothing to do with thc. And so by removing that THC from our CBD products, the limit is there. I mean, that doesn't change it. But we go kind of to that 0%, 0.000% just to make sure that there's no risk of contamination or concern.

So it's safe. No, you're not going to get high. There's nothing that's psychoactive about this cbd. This is really meant for healing, this meant for managing chronic pain for some people. Let's shift into that. So, Jay, this abbreviation, cbd, we know that pronouncing cannabinoid system or cannabidiol, it's kind of a mouthful. So I think that's why CBD is The three letters that people most know, but they're also. I want to clear up some of the mystery around hemp and cannabis. Hemp is a completely different system. It's a completely different branch of plants. This is where you derive the CBD is from the hemp product itself, correct?

That's absolutely correct. Just talking about that, where we were able to really jump started just to quickly touch on it. Up until 1937, hemp was a very large part of the US economy alone. Hemp at the time was actually being extracted to those cannabinoid levels where you would have a high cbd. And they were using in medical tinctures in the early 1900s. But we were also using hemp for textiles and ropes, rope, the hemp fiber specifically. And then in 1937 there was a marijuana tax act that was kind of put into place, lumping hemp and marijuana in together, which we were just talking about with the 0.3% being the difference that we look at now. But at the time they were just kind of thrown in together. In 2014 with the 2014 farm bill, what was basically passed by Congress, allowed for hemp to be grown. Again. This is very different than marijuana where it's got a high, high THC concentration. Industrial hemp, as it was referred to in the Farm bill, specifically section 7606 allowed for these hemp research pilot programs. So while CBD is present in marijuana, by law we have to extract it from hemp, which for us, because we are a 0% THC company, is perfectly all right with us because it's much more efficient to do so with hemp than marijuana anyways.

We're becoming so much more clear I think as a society, Jay. And I don't know if this lights you up from an emotional standpoint, but you know, we look at why hemp and even marijuana and cannabis products were deemed illegal, deemed harmful back in the 30s below that. And we realized that it was really about money. You know, it was really about people that. Financial tycoons, for example. We know that Hoover's presidency, he appointed his soon to be nephew in law, Harry J. Anslinger, to actually head this narcotics and dangerous drugs branch. And it took us down this crazy road for decades, Jay. And now we're seeing this resurgence of health and healing through the plants. From an emotional perspective, does that fire you up to do what you do even more?

Absolutely. You know, I think one of the things that, you know, when we started this company and for us was recognizing obviously the power of CBD and making it accessible for people. And so, you know, we have the privilege of being somewhat on the forefront of this. This kind of change, both from a legal standpoint and a public perception standpoint. So, absolutely, one of the, like I say, refer to it as a privilege that we get to take joy in every day is helping what we feel a very small part, but in American history. Right. So we were just saying 1937 was this pivotal change in how we viewed hemp and marijuana. And now being able to kind of provide and show people that both believe in the plant and have yet to be sold on the plant, that all the good that it has. Of course, there's an emotional side of this, and. And that's part of the reasoning for us as a company where we say, look, we've got to operate and be a profitable business. We can't work for free. But if we can make this more affordable and lower the pricing by becoming vertically integrated and working directly with a farm so that this is more accessible for people, that's an awesome thing that we can be a part of, and we're just lucky to be a part of it.

I want to ask kind of a devil's advocate question here, because I know people are thinking this too. Why now? Why do you think now is the time for us as a society to really focus on CBD compared to any other time?

You know, I think there's been in cbd, and a lot of people in the industry don't necessarily on the CBD side because they're so conscious of being tied to potentially marijuana. We can't deny it as though we have no participation in the marijuana industry. It would be silly to say that we haven't had the benefits. So obviously, medical marijuana reform has been brewing in this country, really, even all the way back into the 90s. Right. And so you've got certain states that are really pushing for that. I think this is a way that. That we look at, okay, so this medical marijuana reform is happening, and people are now saying, okay, so what can this actually do? Is there really some additional benefit of that? And I think that really kind of sparked the interest in CBD and kind of looking more at just the plan itself and not something that would be used recreationally. And so now kind of looking at. And saying, okay, from a medicinal standpoint, yes, thc, I think, certainly does have some medicinal benefits. But. But there are obviously some side effects, specifically on a psychoactive side that may not be ideal for everyone, but this is something that everyone can get behind, even if you're a staunch, prohibited, staunchly against marijuana, when you recognize that there's no psychoactive effects and that this won't impair you. And really there's only medicinal use for this, there's not really a recreational use for cbd. That's something that everyone can get behind. And I think it's also, if we look at how Congress is portrayed now and how it's been operating, I think when you say, what's the first word that comes to your mind when you think of Washington, a lot of people throw out the word gridlock. Right. And so I think more of just crooks. Yeah, crooks.

True.

Well, yeah, that's true. Yeah. So crooks. Yeah, absolutely. But really, this idea that nothing ever gets done in Washington because there's such this bipartisanship is so strong that there's nothing that anyone can agree on. And the left is throwing bombs to the right and the conservatives are throwing bombs to the liberals. And this is the one specifically talking about hemp. This is the one singular topic that I think everyone can get behind. You've got very rarely, I can't think of any other time that you have Chuck Schumer looking to Mitch McConnell, shaking hands and saying, look, hemp for America is something that we both could stand for and get behind. You've got this strong sense of, like I said, bipartisanship, an interest in looking at this cannabis plant and saying what actual medicinal benefits beyond just a recreational use use actually exist. You kind of blend those together and then the final piece of it really being this focus on whole plant and kind of a natural way of, you know, kind of going back to being organic and natural consumption as opposed to processed foods and taking pharmaceuticals. Right. And we're talking about opioids. And maybe there's a more natural way of addressing some of the illnesses that people are facing. You kind of put all three of those together, and it really makes this perfect storm for pushing the hemp perform through and making people aware of cbd.

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Absolutely. So it's getting much better. So in 2014 the farm bill passes and now these hemp pilot research programs are able to cultivate hemp. And so, so if for example, I would like to start a hemp field and start extracting that hemp into cbd, I need to work with a research university. Basically you can operate as a profit, but you also have to be associated with a non profit and then you can start extracting and receiving that research pilot program license and start that was enabled in 2014. The difference of what we're looking now in 2018 with the new farm bill, which actually needs to be signed by September 30th and covers a lot more topics than just hemp. In the current farm bill, you, you've got food subsidies, you've got corn subsidies, you've got allocations for welfare and all these different things in that farm bill, but much more than just CBD. But in that 2018 farm bill, what Congress has done is now taking it from a pilot program to making it permanently legal. This isn't official yet, but this is in the works in the next basically 60 days to make hemp permanently legal and really clear up any concerns or definitions of what an extract of hemp would be.

We're going to move on to some of the benefits, too, just in the sake of time, because I understand how many benefits there are. We probably do an entire show on just the benefits. But if you were up there, Jay, if you had the chance to say a few sentences to the people that actually make the rules around people getting access to cbd, what might you say to them?

I would say this, and I think that's happening. But what I would say is, look, we all understand that there's no psychoactive risk of hemp derived CBD, especially when we minimize the THC concentration to 0 or 0.3%. And let's recognize the value of this and make this something that can be easily accessible and even at the state level, not put up the resistance. The people of the United States are clamoring for this, and it really is listening to your constituents as opposed to maybe the larger influences that are potentially funding your campaigns.

Got it. I understand that things take time. So if we're going to move a battleship, and the United States government is a battleship, we get to be patient and just keep our eyes, you know, going back to something we touched on the beginning of the show. My next question is about this reverse engineering from the desired result. Jay, So a lot of people use your product topically. There's a topical gel and then there's also a spray. What are we talking about with the topical piece of cbd? What is kind of a misconception about topical cbd? What does your CBD actually do on the skin?

So cbd, what we've done is we've actually taken a cream. And this, I think, goes to your point, Josh, of reverse engineering what we want to achieve, Right. So we recognize that CBD is incredibly valuable, valuable in reducing inflammation and kind of alleviating pain, but there's other compounds that are too. So what we've done with the topical cream is we've combined CBD in a form and combined it with certain oils, specifically coconut oil, which really helps with penetration, and tea tree oil and menthol and arnica, which have been also known to obviously help with inflammation and soothe pain. And when applied, topically it's a really targeted approach. And so if you take CBD orally, obviously, obviously that will kind of spread throughout your body and kind of just address general issues. But people have that specific neck pain or back pain that they're looking to address. And having that targeted approach in a topical form provides much more quicker relief as well as kind of more specific relief to those specific issues that they're looking to address.

Is it localized? I mean, for example, I tore my calf muscle a while back and it was perfect timing because I got to try your topical cream and I was noticing this cooling effect for like three hours afterwards. And I was in such pain. Jay. I was on crutches like Hobb around my apartment, like putting CBD on my calf. I'm laughing now because it was so crazy. But what is actually happening there? Like, obviously it's going through the epidermis, our largest organ, and then it's going down. Is it actually penetrating into the sarcomere? Are we getting any direct CBD into the sarcomere?

Yeah, absolutely, yes. So because of the ingredients that we've included, you know, this is somesome of the actual clinical research that we've kicked off. So we haven't announced the formal partnership yet, but we're actually working with a clinical research university. But yes, to actually, actually to validate that penetration, but 100%. So both the menthol and the arnica as well as the CBD are actually penetrating below the skin and actually getting into that muscle, which is why you're actually able to see the results. If it stayed kind of superficial, you might get some cooling sensation, which is obviously associated with the menthol. That's what's really kind of triggering that. But you wouldn't actually see the long term kind of reduction in maybe pain or soreness that's associated actually coming from the muscle.

What would you say then is a secondary or even a tertiary benefit for the physiology, for the nervous system of the cbd? We talked about the skin topical, what about the ingestible.

So we know that obviously CBD has the ability, or at least there's a tie to, you know, potential relief of that flight or flight response that the society that we are currently living in just seems to elicit on a continual basis.

Yes, it does. Yeah.

You know, that's the one thing. So we really do look at kind of, you know, the word calming of the nerves. Right. You know, so the ability just to kind of take a deep breath and actually potentially elicit somewhat of a, not necessarily euphoric effect, but a calming effect of that CBD. And that is the CBD interacting with the CB1 and CB2 receptors and then creating that cascade of hormonal releases that eventually tell the body that, you know, let's get out of this fight or fight response and maybe slow the heart rate down. And then actually consciously, we feel kind of more of that sense of calm and relief. So if we look at the major benefits or the potential benefits of cbd, and the one thing we just have to be careful of specifically as a CBD company, this is research that we actually are conducting at medterra. But this is really just kind of extrapolating kind of clinical research that we've read specific to CBD is that inflammation and then the ability to kind of relieve that anxiety or that flight or fight response. And, you know, if you really look at kind of an inflammation and anxiety and kind of combine those, that is a large percent of what day to day Americans are dealing with. And obviously CBD has that potential to help with Parkinson's, and we just talked about, you know, for example, Alzheimer's. But if we can just get that kind of general swath helped and kind of understand that mechanism, then we can work on more of the specific and, you know, kind of targeted cases down the road.

Do you feel like, as a company, Jay, right now, cannabis derived CBD is obviously still scheduled. When that changes, will you ever go to the cannabis and the hemp combined? Will that ever change for you once legally it's available?

You know, and I believe you're referring to cannabis, you know, more on the marijuana side with THC. Is that correct? Right.

Yeah, just the Schedule 1 CBD from my research. And please correct me if I'm wrong, but I know that anything derived from cannabis at all is illegal, whether it's CBD or not.

Correct. So that, as it stands right now, general cb. So if you and I said, let's get together and let's start growing some hemp in our backyard, then, yes, that would be considered Schedule 1. The DEA actually has come out in kind of some deliberations on just the overall marijuana reform and cannabis reform. That CBD grown in these pilot programs is kind of excluded from that. What we've seen with GW Pharma and basically getting epidolex approved by the FDA for treatment of very specific epilepsy cases. Because now the FDA has recognized that there's a medicinal benefit because it now can be prescribed for medicinal use in Epidolex. The DEA actually has to rescale CBD within 90 days of that approval. So we're actually just getting to that. They're almost there where they have, they're forced to reschedule either to a Schedule 2 or a Schedule 3 drug where the, basically the can, you know, the consensus is from the DA that a Schedule 2 or Schedule 3 drug potentially has the concern of being addicting, but there is some medicinal benefit. Right. So a Schedule 3 drug, for example, would be Advil. Right. And so, yes, our goal is right now we're providing these retail consumer products that are kind of following on the nutraceutical side. But as the scheduling changes and the research opportunities open up, we will be aggressively pursuing those. Because right now we're very limited on what we can and can't say about CBD specifically. We all have an idea of how it works. We've seen the clinical research, but until more clinical research is done and through the FDA approved system, we're really limited on what we can and can't say. And, and one, obviously, from a business standpoint, there's opportunity, but it's all about that education. Right? And we want to be forthright in what we're claiming and discussing about the potential of cbd.

You know, it's interesting. Three or four years ago, I first heard of cbd, Jay, my friend was selling it in an MLM and I'm like, oh, it's just another one of these MLM companies, like, who cares about this stuff? You know, and it's been really the wild, wild west when we look at any kind of CBD product for the past three years. Plus right now, though, I think it's a really exciting time, Jay, that we're seeing regulation, we're seeing Congress, we're seeing, seeing some real conversations at the highest level of government around making these plants, these medicinally healing plants, not just legal, but something where we can actually put them into the medical industry. Is that a focus for Medterra? I mean, let's maybe talk about the name. How did you even come up with Medterra? What's that name all about? Does that apply to the medical industry?

Yeah, absolutely. So, you know, I think when we were coming up with the name talk about that first, obviously medicine, you know, we've got this recognition that there is potentially some medicinal benefit of cbd, which is what we're currently doing our clinical research on, and then terra, obviously from the earth. And so when we're talking about this, what we call the second hemp renaissance of bringing hemp back into American society and into the American economy. You know, the recognition that we've got, obviously something from the earth that actually has a medicinal benefit. And that's really where the Med Terra name came from. And we, you know, as a, as a group definitely are excited about, you know, the potential medicinal benefits beyond just kind of the supplement industry and really kind of getting down and deep into serious concerns. And so our horizon, right, you've got Parkinson's, which anecdotally we've seen CBD be very, very powerful in actually taking that to the clinical level. And that's, I think, to your point, right, in being the wild, wild west, you've got people that maybe don't necessarily have. Have the scientific training that others in the industry have. And so they're throwing things out there that say crazy things like cures cancer or anxiety killer on their bottles, and they've done no specific clinical research on those products. As a company, there's an opportunity there, right? As it's getting more and more regulated, it becomes difficult to do those things, but those people exist and we've kind of stayed the course of everything that we do. Let's make sure that there's some clinical research supporting it or specific things that we've to validate what we're talking about or promoting. That probably comes more from me just coming from that academic research standpoint and just the way that I was schooled and trained. That is exciting for us when we talk about regulations, which for a lot of people, I think might hurt their business or put a damper on what they're doing. But that's how we make this industry not just another fad or another mlm, but when you actually have real data behind it and it's not anecdotal and not neighbors saying, hey, this cured everything, you should buy it from me.

Yes.

Then that allows CBD to exist not just for the next five years, but actually really integrate itself back into medicine and society.

Well, I look at the way that the industry is changing so fast, Jay, and you, I believe your brand medterra, is one of the people on the bleeding edge, the people that are doing the research themselves. You're not just some website trying to get people to buy some oil. This is a bigger mission for you. What is the ultimate goal of medterra? Like, if you could snap your fingers and in five years you're doing a, B and C, what would that look like for you, Jay, as a company?

Yeah, that's something I think we think about every day. And to be completely honest, I think Every year we look at it, and it's probably a different outcome. Right? But right now what we recognize is we want to be a CBD company that goes much more than just cbd. CBD is this powerful compound, but at the end of day, the. The day it really is the outcome that we're trying to achieve. CBD is so powerful, but it can be even more powerful when you combine it with other ingredients. Our goal now is to, one, educate consumers. So in five years from now, not only do the customers that we're selling to really actually understand cbd, and they're not just taking it because someone told them to, but they're actually understanding why they're taking it. So they have the right expectations, but they're getting truly the best treatment for the needs that they have. And that's going to be a combination of CBD with other powerful natural ingredients. And Medterra being much more than just an E commerce company, but something of a company where education and combining other industries and focusing on hemp as a plant all kind of come together and really making sure that one. Our customers, like I said, are educated, but are confident in the products that they're being delivered.

I wish that 20 years ago, when my mom was suffering from her bipolar, that she had access to legal cbd and so interesting to go full circle in our conversation, Jay, when we know our parents and our grandparents. Grandparents are aware. And even using a product, that's when we know it's mainstream. This has been a really incredible, nuanced conversation. I think we cleared up a lot of the myths around cbd. But for parting guidance, you know, somebody is interested specifically for pain relief or to manage the potential of pain relief for chronic care. Where do they begin, man? I mean, obviously they can pick up and try the product, but what does it look like in a holistic lifestyle program for them to use cbd?

Well, the first thing that I would recommend is any type of CBD product that they're even considering integrating, you know, whether it's a Mediterra product or many of the other companies out there. But just calling and asking questions. Right? And so, you know, being able to call into the customer service department and ask those questions and making sure that you're educated on what you're about to apply to your skin or consume orally, I think is the first step. Right. And then going from there, you know, is making sure that whatever type of CBD product or regimen that you're doing, doing it consistently. CBD is one of those things that can provide relief for acute issues. But where we see cbd, and especially on the inflammation side being so powerful, that's something that the body is building up in their system, Especially if the endocannabinoid system is underserved in the body. And so building that up slowly, allowing the body to adjust is essential and actually kind of key to getting those results and. And managing your expectations. And just like anything, right, whether you're exercising for the first time in 10 years or into a new diet, you know, being willing to kind of be open to different experiences and making sure you're educated are the two things that.

Matter the most when you have challenges. And I'm sure, you know, being the leader of an organization in the wild, wild west, on the bleeding edge, I'm sure sometimes you deal with really rough days. You know, what about this company really driving you to keep moving forward, even.

When it's uncomfortable the customers that we're serving. So one of the things that I love to do, and it actually does kind of get me fired up, is we'll typically do this once a month where the entire customer service department will leave and basically take them out to lunch or pay for their lunch. And the executives of the company hop on the phone. For me, this is great because you get the instant feedback, and you're not getting it secondhand from specifically the customer service reps, but you get fired up. Because right now, and I believe I don't see why this would change, but the majority of the phone calls we get aren't people calling in to complain or say, hey, my order's missing. They're really just calling to say thank you. Right. And that is what gets us so fired up. Because, you know, we're always trying. You know, any company, right, is trying to market and brand and sell their products and, you know, kind of convince and sell people to give it a shot. At least when we have people calling in, the majority of people calling in to them thank us, then we have that validation that what we're doing is actually working. And I think that's the goal of everyone. Obviously, you have to have some way to live and a means to live. But if you're actually making a difference in people's lives, then the money and the ability to touch those people becomes secondary because you're actually helping people. That's what's so exciting. This is much more than just a normal product company. This is a company that has the potential to really change some people, People's lives.

People can learn more about your company@medterra.com, correct?

Correct.

Medterra.com is also all over social media. Where can people go to actually begin this journey? Is it on the website? Can they order products directly from the website or on Amazon?

Exactly. Yep. Just order products on the website, and if they have any questions, they can call in and order products through the phone. If they're more comfortable with that, that's a great place to start. And then there's a lot of great resources out there, there. So one of the websites that we recommend and we're actually not on, so I can say this completely unbiased, is projectcvd.org and so what they've done is a fantastic job in basically aggregating clinical research for CBD on specific conditions. So if you've got a specific condition in mind, whether it's Parkinson's, anxiety, inflammation, arthritis, they've organized all the clinical research to those specific conditions and then the appropriate dosing that they should be looking to take to kind of alleviate those needs and the. The results as well, that will be.

In the show notes@wellnessforce.com and make sure you check out more of Medterra. You guys are up to some really exciting things. Jay, this has been a great conversation, man. My last question before we say goodbye is around wellness. You know, we look at the physical body, and I think CBD does so much to help heal the human, you know, our physical body, but this blending of emotional and physical and maybe even spiritual, how would you define wellness? You know, what's wellness mean to you in your life?

Yeah, I think that's it. Right. It's a balanced approach. When you look at wellness, I think one of the things that you realize in life is that nothing is black or white. Right. So if you have the perfect diet, then that doesn't necessarily guarantee that you'll be physically healthy. If you're not exercising or emotionally, you can be in the best physical shape of your life. And so wellness is this holistic approach where a lot of it is internal. And so you can take certain tools to help you, like cbd, but making sure you've got that emotional wellness tied in with the physical wellness is really that true wellness that we all hope to achieve and I think work on on a daily basis basis. And it's certainly not something that stays forever if unattended to, and it definitely needs to be a priority. And that's something that we work on every day at Medtura as well.

Mic drop, Jay. We're done. Thanks for coming on the show. My friend.

Thanks Josh. I really appreciate it.

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