July 27, 2020 • 49:14 minutes
#120 – Doctors Steven Kraus and Joel Kahn on The Benefits of Full-Spectrum Hemp Oil
Dr. Joel Kahn believes that plant-based nutrition is the most powerful source of preventative medicine on the planet. Having practiced traditional cardiology since 1983, it was only after his own commitment to a plant based vegan diet that he truly began to delve into the realm of non-traditional diagnostic tools, prevention tactics and nutrition-based recovery protocols. These ideologies led him to change his approach and focus on being a holistic cardiologist. He passionately lectures throughout the country about the health benefits of a plant-based anti-aging diet inspiring a new generation of thought leaders to think scientifically and critically about the body’s ability to heal itself through proper nutrition.
Dr. Steven J. Kraus is the President and COO for Functional Remedies based in Superior Colorado. He is committed to bringing nutritional and topical products to impact millions of lives globally with an all natural, unadulterated product from organic hemp plants using the proprietary blend developed for over 20 years using the best methods to keep the natural True Entourage Effect for the best results to balance wellness in human lives.
Show Notes
Dr. Steven Kraus and Dr. Joel Kahn (the very same one that appears on the Joe Rogan Experience!) share their expertise and experience in developing full-spectrum CBD products and treating patients. Both doctors have the unique distinction of not only being practicing doctors but also active in developing CBD products. They are true believers in the potential for CBD to help relieve the symptoms of many common ailments.
Highlights
- How they got started in the CBD business
- The benefits of full-spectrum CBD
- Implications of drug testing with full-spectrum products
- The regulatory environment with the FDA
- Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)
- Advice for patients who are new to CBD
Links of Interest
Dr. Joel Kahn’s America’s Healthy Doc website
Synchronicity Hemp Oil website
Facts About the Current Good Manufacturing Practices (CGMPs)
Summary Keywords
cbd, hemp oil, hemp, full-spectrum, cannabinoids, studies, thc, synchronicity, tincture, drug test, patients, joel kahn, helping, endocannabinoid system, CGMP, certifications, manufacturing practices
Speakers
Vadim Fedorovsky, Host, CBD School Podcast
Dr. Steven Kraus, President and COO of Functional Remedies
Dr. Joel Kahn, Brand Ambassador of Functional Remedies
Podcast Transcript
Introduction
Vadim 00:09
All right. And we are back in class. This is Vadim, the CBD professor from cbdschool.com: Your school to learn all about cannabidiol. Hey, everybody, it’s Vadim, the CBD professor here and we’ve got a very special episode of the CBD School Podcast for today, where I will be joined by two doctors who are specialists in the hemp oil field and also their own respective areas. So make sure to stay tuned for this episode of the CBD School Podcast. And of course, I have a coupon code for you as always, always taking care of my listeners. You can use the coupon code CSP — that’s C as in Charlie, S as in Sam, P as in Peter, 20. CSP20 coupon code. Get you 20% off at synchronicityhempoil.com. And if you’re not familiar with Synchronicity full-spectrum hemp oil, listen up to this episode because we’re going to be talking all about it. But in the meantime, if you’d like, use the coupon code CSP20 for 20% off any of the products at synchronicityhempoil.com. Thanks for listening and enjoy the show.
On today’s episode of the CBD School Podcast, I have two guests for you, two interesting doctors. This is the first episode of the CBD School Podcast where we’ve had two doctors. We’ve had one before, but now we have two. I’m sitting here with Dr. Steven Kraus, who is president and COO of Functional Remedies. And I’m also here with Dr. Joel Kahn, who is a Functional Remedies’ brand ambassador. So welcome to the show.
Steven & Joel 02:01
Thank you.
Chiropractic Care, Cardiology and CBD
Vadim 02:02
Okay. So both of you have quite an interesting background. So we’re going to be going through a lot of information. But I want to first ask Dr. Kraus, you have a background in chiropractic medicine. And I know hemp oil is really big in that area, because it’s helping a lot of people with pain and that sort of thing. Can you tell us a bit about some of your first hand experience using hemp oil products?
Steven 02:27
Sure. As you know, the chiropractic profession has been a holistic, all-natural delivery method for healthcare. And kind of keeping that holistic concept in mind, the whole aspect of hemp oil, being an all-natural, organic product, really fits well with our philosophy and our MO. So for myself, I really took about six months to evaluate the efficacy. Does it fit in the practice? And then of course, the stereotypes, potential stigma of the unknown a number of years ago? Is it related to marijuana? Is it socially acceptable to recommend this to patients? And once you get the facts, of course, for me, personally, you know, I take our product every day. To help me sleep better was my main focus. But as you mentioned, pain inflammation is the number one focus for the chiropractic profession in utilizing hemp oil, but also as an anti-anxiety and to help better with sleep are some of the health conditions that most practitioners are prescribing or recommending it for their patients?
Vadim 03:45
Yes, great. It’s great to know that there’s an alternative for people out there because a lot of people just don’t want to use heavy prescription painkillers. And I think this is really what they’re turning to for an alternative that doesn’t have a lot of side effects that other things come with and nobody wants to be in pain.
Steven 04:04
Right. Well, I think you know that, you know, with every synthetic medication, there’s going to be some kind of side effect. While it might be a small percentage for certain prescriptions, others might have higher percentages. And not to say that there aren’t any side effects in using hemp oil. You know, sometimes some people get dry mouth, for example, but we’re really talking about very minor potential side effects. And, you know, I can tell you that 99% of the patients and other healthcare providers that we’ve recommended this product to do not experience any measurable or noticeable side effect.
Vadim 04:45
Excellent. Excellent. And Dr. Khan, I’d like to ask you the same question since I know your background is more in preventive cardiology and diet of course, but what have you seen in your patients that you’ve used hemp oil with or what has been your experience?
Joel 05:00
Well, it’s a sad comment. I’m 30 years in practice, university-trained, many big centers if I said the names that I worked at. Unlike the chiropractic tradition, we get very little exposure to nutrition and wellness and the whole person analysis. So I’ve had to adopt and study all this on my own over really all 30 of those years, and particularly the last decade and now ultimately, left standard office cardiology to adopt preventive cardiology, and really a very aggressive, integrative, diet-based preventive cardiology. So I attract interesting patients, and they teach me and I teach them, of course. I’m a student for life but they teach me. Only in the last five years, I just kept hearing from them. Hemp, CBD, hemp, CBD, you know, supporting sleep, supporting anxiety, supporting their well being. I truly kept hearing about Functional Remedies, now known as Synchronicity Hemp Oil.
And so I just had, you know, about a year ago, year and a half ago, not really any health problems that I have, and very little experience with cannabis, you know, started purchasing, ordering, learning the company, and I reached out. I said, you know, “This has helped so many of my people, and now it’s helping my wife and myself and my 87-year old mother and my sister and, you know, and nephews, and nieces, you know, with dealing with the world’s issues,” that fortunately, they said, you know, “We could use another brand ambassador. Not just a golfer, we could use a university professor.” And it’s become a passion to read and study and really understand, you know, the science is so fascinating and that’s what I love. I love when there’s great science and really clinical translation into something that 95 out of 100 people come back and say, “Thank you for that. I was looking for something to help fill in the blank.” And I do that with other things. But nothing really was in this niche of just overall well being homeostasis. And very often, stress and sleep are phenomenally, you know, more in tune with what they were really looking for.
Vadim 07:10
Yes, exactly. And I’ve heard you on The Joe Rogan podcast a number of times. I’ve loved all those episodes. And you know, Joe, he is really into the CBD. It’s interesting to hear that it’s helping not just your patients that were the first ones to educate you, but yourself. What do you use it for? Where does it help you in life?
Joel 07:33
When I identified from patients Functional Remedies, again, but from now on I’ll call Synchronicity Hemp Oil, not to confuse anybody. You know, and once I got a bottle, I started taking 50 milligrams at night. Honestly, the first thing I noticed right away was opening the bottle and putting my nose in the bottle, I was back in dormitory, freshman year. It smelled like a hall where everybody was smoking weed. And you know, and I know they do their quality testing to the nth degree. And I know that, you know, this is less than 0.3% THC. But as I subsequently learned, it’s really the unique and patented extraction method that preserves that whole beauty that nature provides the cannabis plant. And you know, it’s a one sniff wonder because I’ve bought many other kinds of either hemp oil, CBDs, they just don’t pass that test. I tell people it’s like amazing extra virgin olive oil or wine from France or some other really gourmet. This is gourmet hemp. And you can just tell it right away, not by the taste, that doesn’t have an offensive taste but by the smell.
I use it personally before bed. And you know, I wear a tracking ring and the aura ring tracks by deep sleep and restlessness and I’ve noticed that can track a big improvement, the same would be for my wife and I were both in our early 60s and well, a good night’s sleep sets the platform for everything. So if you can find a natural, non addictive, you know, approachable sleep support, it’s a fantastic thing and you can combine it. There’s days I take tiny doses of melatonin or magnesium just as a routine and all but even as a standalone, and really, the testimony, my 87-year old mother, she’s like a feisty, wonderful woman, brain like Einstein and sleep has been her issue for decades. And she’s tried everything from prescription to many natural agents but she doesn’t tolerate it. I mean, she comes over, “Can I please get another bottle of 50 miligram?” It says every morning. I call it every morning and I get reinforced how special this product is and the safety of it, because a little tiny 110-pound thing. We started with 25 milligrams. She asked to work our way up and use a slightly stronger dose because she feels so good without a dopey feeling in the morning. Pretty impressive.
Full-Spectrum CBD Explained
Vadim 09:57
That’s the biggest thing. I think for a lot of people, it’s just getting good sleep but not having it feel it in the morning. And that’s something I use for myself, is that I find it helpful that you can use it to go to sleep, and in the morning, you don’t feel like you used something to help you. Whereas even melatonin, if you don’t get the dose right, it lasts a lot longer than you’re willing to sleep. The other thing you mentioned was the smell. So Dr. Kraus, what do you think is the difference in a full-spectrum product versus let’s say, an isolate product, that it’s not going to hit you with that aroma because it’s an isolate of the components?
Steven 10:37
That’s exactly correct. So many people misconstrue the definition of full-spectrum. So, you know, for your listeners there, we know that full-spectrum means from one end to the left all the way to the right, so it’s the whole plant. And what we’re able to do is capture and to take all of the phytonutrients that are in this wonderful plant, all of the various cannabinoids, not just the CBD molecule by itself, but all of the cannabinoids, including the small amount of THC in there. And with our patent pending genetics that we have on our plant, that’s taken over 20 years to get the right level of full array of rich cannabinoids and a low low amount of THC in the plant genetics, so that we have a consistent crop each year. What we’ve been able to do with our lipid infusion process is to use that organic coconut oil because that lipid is four to five times more bioavailable to the human body to bring those nutrients and to get absorbed. And so what we do under that proprietary temperature, pressure, time, we heat this up in our large pots and cook the organic coconut oil with the raw material from this special plant that we have the genetics for, and some water and what we’ll do is filter off that water and we were able to then infuse that coconut oil with the whole array of cannabinoids.
You know, right now you can only test for about 17 cannabinoids under chemical testing processes under HPLC and others. Even though scientists have determined that there’s supposedly over 112 different cannabinoids, we can only test in a product for about 17 of those. But then you have the terpenes, which adds to that flavor, that you talk about that aroma. And then in addition, we have the bioflavonoids, we’ve got omegas and all of the other phytonutrients. And so it’s really that full-spectrum of all of these botanical compounds that gives our endocannabinoid system in our body what it needs to balance out and communicate to the various other health systems whether that’s the immune system, the GI tract or hormonal system. There’s a number of studies that have come out. Even on women’s hormonal system on helping balance individuals who are having that time of life later in their 40s or 50s or menopause and helping balance and make that easier.
Well, I can’t sit here and start making conditional claims on the body. What I can say is, it’s a proven fact that the endocannabinoid system does help regulate the nervous system and the others that I’ve mentioned through the ECS, through the receptors, and by having all of these various cannabinoids that helps with that homeostasis that Dr. Kahn was mentioning earlier. So I guess the full-spectrum, you get much more, you feel the difference with that versus just an isolated CBD molecule which does have benefits. CBD does definitely have benefits. It’s just not the same as one would get with full-spectrum.
Drug Tests and Full-Spectrum CBD Products
Vadim 14:15
Yes, absolutely. And I think for some people, the isolate product is essential because of a drug test so that they cannot handle any THC because that would cause an issue. But the full-spectrum hemp oil at Functional Remedies, or as I understand, I didn’t know it was changed to Synchronicity, but I understand it’s called Synchronicity now. The product, I did try it and I did enjoy it a lot. But I don’t remember. Does it have THC in it, a small amount?
Steven 14:45
It does. On average across all 28 different products that we have, an average is about 0.13. And then as was mentioned, you can have 0.3 to be illegal. But again, it is our position that having some THC is extremely valuable to allow that modulation within the endocannabinoid system to be complete. Not having any in there, we believe doesn’t give you the full balance, the perfect balance that you need.
And you know, since you brought up drug testing, we have to remember that many of the old methods of testing for marijuana at employers for sports — because CBD wasn’t legal a number of years ago — the easiest way and the more economical way to see if you had marijuana in your system, they actually weren’t testing necessarily THC, they were testing for any cannabinoids because marijuana has cannabinoids. So if you had cannabinoids in your system, they just said you were positive for marijuana. Well, now all of the labs across the country are changing their methodologies on how they test and some of them did test solely for THC. I don’t want to make it sound like nobody did. But it was cheaper to test for the presence of a cannabinoid. And so now, it’ll be accurate to say, “Do you have THC in your system?” If the lab that is performing that employment drug test is truly testing for THC, they usually allow for a variance, and you should not test positive, even with our low amount in the product. But you have to find out, what is the lab actually testing for?
Vadim 16:34
So that’s interesting. Are you saying that it’s possible to test for CBD and THC separately?
Steven 16:41
Yes. And so therefore, one might have a false positive test, saying you tested positive for marijuana, because remember, that’s what they’re saying you tested for marijuana. Now, does that mean they tested for THC? Or did they test for CBD? And if they’re testing for the true THC presence, then you should not get that false positive because of the low, low amount that we have in our products. But again, you need to check with your employer and the employer usually doesn’t even know. You’ve got to check with the lab that the employer is utilizing. And most of those labs now are creating thresholds where they will allow for up to 2.3% presence. But not all labs are up to that. The last investigation we did, which was about six months ago, we determined that about a third of the labs across the country that do drug testing still we’re not truly testing for THC by itself.
Vadim 17:44
I see. Okay. What I always suggest for people, for the listeners, is to make sure if they’re ever in that unfortunate situation with their employer, that they are just aware of their rights and that they should be checking with what exactly the lab was doing when they were making this test. And just the different parameters used if they have a case, you know, to keep their job. You know, because a CBD product is fully legal. So why should they lose their job over a product that you can pick up in some cases at the pharmacy? So I think that’s one of the remaining challenges. And you are based in Colorado, right, Dr. Kraus?
About Synchronicity Hemp Oil
Steven 18:22
We are. So you had mentioned before, Functional Remedies is our company name. Our brand of products is Synchronicity. So as a company, Functional Remedies is based here in Colorado where we have our organic farm. We have our production manufacturing facility that’s GMP-certified and then we have our corporate office. So we’re actually in three different locations here in the state.
Vadim 18:48
Okay, okay. And Dr. Kahn, I know you are based in — correct me if I’m wrong — Michigan?
Joel 18:54
I’m in a suburb of Detroit and a University of Michigan grad many moons ago, but you know, we reach across the world. I had consults this week in Greece and Australia and suburban Detroit, all over the place. One of the things that I need to be careful of is, some of my patients are on medication, a lot are on natural kinds of supplements and you know, the issue of safety, and for me, cardiovascular safety. And we need more. We always need more science as the number of people taking a variety of CBD products.
But I’ve been very encouraged by some of my own research. So the holy grail of cardiology language is that very familiar to CBD School Podcast, but the lining of every artery in your body, 50,000 miles in your body, is called the endothelium. It’s like the wallpaper that keeps you strong and prevents heart attack. Anything that helps your lining, your endothelium arteries is a good thing. Eat a green salad, drink a beet juice, don’t smoke cigarettes and go take, you know, a jog and everything that’s kind of bad for you that comes, you know, in fast food packages and other kinds of behaviors that everybody’s familiar with harms your endothelium.
So there are tidbits of data that a week’s worth of adopting CBD actually improves this miracle layer of cells called your endothelium. Yes, we need more and we haven’t done those studies specifically with the Synchronicity line but, you know, very reassuring. There’s some studies in type 2 diabetics, you know, a very common group of people, that there may actually be in certain specific research some improvement in blood sugar control — not a worsening, which is, you know, very helpful. Because people do mix, you know, these products with other things they’re taking in. And other blood studies have been done of people taking hemp oils on both. Not just sleep quality, but actually labs, cholesterol labs, like your HDL cholesterol, the one called the happy or the high cholesterol often goes up. This is by no way implying this as a therapy for cardiovascular disease. But finding safety and even some, you know, beneficial aspects was for me, real important.
I like that there’s a full-spectrum of flavonoids and terpenes and the family of cannabinoids in there. It actually reduces the chance of any drug interaction with something patients are taking theoretically. The way the products were formulated as a contrast to an isolate of just CBD is actually a better and safer deal in my reading.
How CBD Interacts with the Endothelium Cell Layer
Vadim 21:29
What is it about the endothelium? If I’m saying that correctly, what is the theory on what CBD is doing?
Joel 21:35
You know, it was an observation, it’s something I do in my office, it’s a little unique to take special equipment that you can measure. When you have healthy endothelium, you have more normal blood pressure, you have resistance to developing plaque, you have a better sexual response. These are all functions of healthy arteries, and the fancy term is endothelium. But how on a cellular level without getting too sciency, I don’t know. I mean, in general, the family of cannabinoids are considered antiinflammatory and antioxidant. And fruits and vegetables are antiinflammatory and antioxidant. Of course, hemp is a plant. And so just in that classification, it might be anticipated it actually would, if tested formally, be good for our reason. And you know, limited data. It’s actually brand new data. It was June 2020, this endothelial study came out, but it is certainly gratifying to see that plants tend to heal endothelium.
Future Position of the FDA
Vadim 22:29
Okay. So both of you, gentlemen have many, many years of experience in the medical field. And I’d like to hear from both of you on this. What is your take on the FDA position going forward? Because they’ve kind of flip flopped to the positive lately. But whereas before they were pretty much just across the board against it, but where do you think in the next 5-10 years the FDA will go with these products?
Steven 22:57
Right now the FDA seems to be focused on label claims. They seem to be focused on heavy metal testing for safety and they seem to be wanting to know how much THC or how much CBD is present, if it’s matching what’s on the label. They’re not really putting emphasis right now on clinical studies or even some of the things that Dr. Kahn just mentioned, from a cardiovascular perspective, or the other things we’ve mentioned, that we have smaller studies out there where you might have subjects of, you know, 50 patients or 30 patients in a study. And you know, those aren’t meeting the high level drug type testing that FDA would put a product through because they’re just too small at this point. But right now, if you go on the NIH, another government branch, National Institute of Health website, NIH has over 100 studies listed as it relates to hemp oil and cannabinoids and various benefits for a variety of different health conditions.
But where I think the FDA is going to go, they just put out I think it was about an eight-page document here and they’re initiating it this year in 2020, they’re going to do more testing. So what they’re doing is they’re selecting 500 different products that they’ve located on the website or on a store shelf. And then they’re randomly selecting 200 of those to do further lab testing from a third-party lab on these various cannabinoids that are present, they’re going to test for 11 cannabinoids and then they’re going to test for, I think, seven or eight different heavy metals. And so that’s going to progress the rest of this year into 2021. And I think that’s the extent of what they’re going to do. Other than if someone’s making a health claim, they’re going to slap a warning letter on that company, and I think that’s all we’re gonna see over the next 12 to potentially 18 months. That’s a step. But it’s unfortunate, it’s the only step, and I’m not sure if COVID has directed other efforts to other areas, trying to find a vaccine, et cetera, et cetera.
Joel 25:18
In the trenches, we get frustrated sometimes because pharmaceutical companies, to take a novel idea to getting a drug approved, it’s many years, and it can be in excess of half a billion dollars of investments. Because you know, they own a patent, they can charge a large amount if the drug should get through all the hoops. And many, many things that should be studied don’t get studied, don’t get funded, because they’re generic or they’re natural. I mean, you can’t study green tea in 10,000 people compared to hibiscus tea and expect anybody to fund it because they’re — you know, unless you create some kind of, you know, unique and patentable concept. So same things gonna apply, for example, Synchronicity, there probably will be small studies, a grant or funding, but you know, they’re not going to go through the hoops and the cost and the risk that studies are sometimes negative, and there is no benefit identified. So these will remain natural products that support health with all the careful wording and language that is both reasonably required by the FTC and the FDA. But, you know, it’ll be a few unique niche products like the drug for seizures, you know, that can be patented and commercialized. So it’ll remain, you know, mainly something in the natural health world, I think, for the next 5 to 10 years.
Vadim 26:47
Hey, everyone, I hope you are learning as much as I am from these two doctors and experts in their field. Make sure to visit synchronicityhempoil.com. It’s spelled SYNCHRONICITYhempoil.com. And use the coupon code CSP20 for 20% off your order of Synchronicity products. Again, that’s synchronicityhempoil.com and the coupon code is CSP20 for 20% off. Thanks for listening and enjoy the rest of the show.
Thoughts on Epidiolex
What do you gentlemen think of that drug? It’s called Epidiolex. Now, it is, I believe, from what I remember, it is an isolated CBD product from a plant but it’s still isolated. And I don’t think it has the full-spectrum effect, but I’m not sure. I need to check on that. It’s been a while since I researched that one.
Steven 27:48
It’s not full-spectrum. It is, as you said, a high, high dose of CBD single molecule and they were able to classify it as a drug. And it was primarily used for certain types of, you know, seizures.
Joel 28:08
Right. And I never have used it because it’s approved for two very rare, specific kind of orphan drug situation. So not even most neurologists have probably embraced it. But right, it’s specifically an isolate that they were able to patent so they were able to get it through the process.
Partnership Opportunities with Synchronicity
Vadim 28:25
Yes. And a lot of the listeners to this podcast are actually entrepreneurs themselves in the CBD space. So I’m wondering, Dr. Kraus, what are some of the opportunities for people to get involved with the Synchronicity product line?
Steven 28:40
Well, right now, we’ve been expanding our reach, starting to work with a major university that I can’t disclose just yet. But also one thing I can share is we just became the exclusive hemp oil company for the USL, the United Soccer League professional sports. So I believe it’s the first time that any professional sports league has partnered with a hemp oil company. So as you know, sports has been kind of on hiatus with COVID until just recently, you know, soccer was one of the first sports to kind of come back and be on TV. And so we’re very excited about working with sports athletes for recovery, and to basically help with inflammation, et cetera. And so for others out there who want to be, let’s say, a distributor or if they want to be — a method for recommending us, we do have several programs, that they can contact our sales division, if they want to represent us or if it’s somebody out there who just wants to partner as an endorsement level. We’ve got a variety of different opportunities available.
Vadim 29:56
That’s fantastic. And they can get in touch with the sales department. Is that correct?
Steven 30:02
Yes, yes.
Vadim 30:03
That’s great. That’s great. That’s good to know. And I remember I have visited the company a long time ago in Colorado. I believe this was back in 2017, I think, but I know I remember even back then. It was all grown in Colorado, correct? All organic farms and all single source. Is that right?
Steven 30:24
Yes, we control our soil, where we test our soil before we even plant for all the various minerals, nutrients, heavy metals, to make sure our soil is pure. We handplant, we handweed, we handharvest our entire crop out in Pueblo. And then up here just outside of Boulder, in Superior and in Lewisville, we have our manufacturing plant. And so in 2017, we were not GMP-certified and now and was the main reason why I joined the company was to help them become GMP-certified. Now in food, cosmetics And as a dietary supplement, we’ve received those certifications, and we’re NSF-certified as well. And so we’re very excited about our new manufacturing facility, which you haven’t seen. It’s state of the art, top notch. We often say during COVID, it’s the safest place to be because it’s so clean. And you know, so we were deemed essential here in Colorado during the COVID because we were deemed essential by the Colorado government and continued to produce.
Dealing with the Covid Pandemic
Vadim 31:42
This whole thing has been just a big mess for both of you, gentlemen. I know Dr. Kahn, you have a restaurant, right? So I was wondering, how has it affected you?
Joel 31:51
Well, Michigan got hit hard in April, early May and hospitals were full and everything was shut down by our governor, including every restaurant closed. Restaurants were open with all kinds of distancing rules. I’m left with because I did extract myself from a big restaurant in January before COVID, by the grace of God, so I’m left with the smaller one that’s mainly carried out and it’s fine. And we actually have Synchronicity Hemp Oil there if somebody wants. That’s one aspect. Another necessarily mixing with alcohol, but hemp products in food both in restaurants and consumer packaged goods, even in your own home cooking, there are plenty of resources online to learn how to augment a little bit of your home cooking. I mean, I think it’s a tremendous growth industry. I think you’ll see chefs develop that, specialize in, you know, adding hemp to food as just an interesting natural additive.
Cosmetic markets. People are anticipating, poised to explode with, you know, many of the big brands adding hemp isolates or full-spectrum into their product. I think that’s an exciting one. Now, beverages have pretty much already been quite common to see. So I think people, you know, partly it’s marketing, partly it’s understanding the natural aspects of the endocannabinoid system and how hemp basically hacks into our own biology at a very sophisticated level. It’s very cool. So I think the growth is, you know, endless. It’s gonna — “things go better with hemp” will be somebody’s new tagline for sure.
Vadim 33:20
Oh, yeah, I’m gonna trademark that. Thank you.
Joel 33:22
Nobody’s used, nobody’s ever used anything even slightly similar.
Vadim 33:28
That’s a good one, actually. So either I or someone will probably steal that or if one of the listeners.
Joel 33:33
There’s some t-shirts that will show up for sure.
Good Manufacturing Practices Certification
Vadim 33:36
Yes, exactly. I think the space has a lot of growth even though there already are so many products like CBD toothpicks I even saw, but there’s a lot of proving ground still for this base for brands that are going to be doing things like, as you said, GMP — CGMP or GMP, I don’t know if I’m saying the right, sort of.
Steven 33:56
GMP, but the small C in front of it is certified GMP.
Vadim 34:00
Oh, I see. Okay, okay. Certified. That’s gonna be a big differentiator. Because a lot of people say their products are clean but it’s one thing to say that it’s another thing to really go through that certification process, which as I understand is pretty rigorous.
Steven 34:15
It is. For the small mom and pop shops, I think you can talk half a million dollars to — not the cost of certification, but to bring your facility up to speed with all — I mean, everything from your HVAC system, to written procedures, to the equipment, to the process, to the training of your people. Throughout the entire company, from the farm, to the lab, to the production facility, even the corporate office. So it’s important that people understand that you need to go with the GMP-certified group to know that they’re serious, and that you’re not getting any contaminants.
And then part of that certification process, there’s a whole litany of additional certifications, from organic to non-GMO, gluten-free, vegan and all those various certifications were in the mix. We’ve always practiced those processes for years. But we’re in the final stages of obtaining many of those additional certifications as well. Because we think it’s important that the consumer can trust in the products they receive. Because, again, I mentioned earlier, the FDA is looking at 500 various products. There’re so many different companies out there and some of them, they represent, they have CBD on the front, they say they’re full-spectrum hemp oil, they’re not. So if they’re GMP-certified, what they put on their label has to match up, they have to prove it with third-party testing. And we do that. And your GMP certification helps validate, verify that.
And another comment I’ll just make that Dr. Kahn had mentioned when he talked about the growth of where it’s all going. You know, we just recently came out with six new products with topicals for skincare because some people are concerned about taking it orally. So we’ve created a body lotion, a body oil, a body butter, a youth serum, a facial cream, and a sports balm. So there’s different methods of application that consumers might want to try first. Because, you know, they’re just not sure if they want to do an ingestible over a topical. And so we’ve been trying to meet the requests, the needs of our consumers by creating these other products and adding other ingredients to give them a highly beneficial skincare.
Advice for Patients on Using CBD Products
Vadim 36:49
Yes, exactly. And speaking of that, I wanted to ask you. If I’m just starting out, I’m new to this and I want to use the Synchronicity products, where do you recommend I start? You know, if I’m just a typical person that wants to use it for either sleep or relaxation or less pain.
Steven 37:08
We kind of use the phrase “low and slow”, you know, go with a lower dose, go slow and see what’s right for your body. We do have — you guys talked about trademarks before, we have a phrase called “ask your body” that we’ve trademarked and, you know, everybody’s body is a little different and different stressors in life, where we’re at, whether it’s a job change, death of the family, a move, who knows what. Our body’s biological system reacts differently to different stresses. And as we mentioned earlier, the endocannabinoid system helps your immune and hormonal systems. Just as your adrenal glands could get stressed out and react differently, how much full-spectrum hemp oil does your body need versus what my body needs or what Dr. Kahn’s body needs is different.
And to say, “Hey, if you’re having a sleep problem, everybody should take 50 milligrams.” Well, that’s not true. Somebody might need only 25, somebody might need 75. And so I guess what I’m saying is, without all of these various studies out there, just go slow. So take a 25 milligram and if you didn’t notice an effect within three days, go to the 50 and see. But typically, the average person is going to notice something on day one. Certainly, by day three, they’re going to notice something. If they haven’t noticed anything, that’s up the dose.
Vadim 38:33
I think that’s a good guideline for people to follow is to give it a, you know, some people will take it once and they say I didn’t feel anything, so you need to give it some time. What was the amount of time you said, like three to seven days?
Steven 38:45
We usually recommend three days. If you haven’t noticed anything, increase the dose and follow the instructions on the label — that’s there — on what the recommended dose is to start with. You know, we typically have, for example, a 25-milligram or a 50-milligram capsule on the tinctures in the bottle. There’s either 500 milligram or 1000 milligram. And what we found is most people when they start as a new customer, we can kind of track this, people new to the space or new to the product typically their initial purchase is the lower end one, let’s say the 25-milligram or the 500-milligram tincture. And then our experienced users, people who have used it over time, we typically find that they’re purchasing the 1000-milligram tinctures or the 50-milligram capsules, which is they know the higher dose because now they’re comfortable with the product.
Vadim 39:42
Yes, exactly, over time.
Joel 39:46
And Vadim, again, patients teach me things. It might seem when people are new, there’s a lot of people in, you know, middle and advanced age that are now adopting hemp products. There’s a 25-milligram capsule, 50-milligram capsule, a 500-milligram tincture and 1000-milligram tincture, it would not be unreasonable to believe that wow, that 500 and 1000s going to blow you away because of just, you know, you read it like you might read a prescription on a bottle. Of course, it’s not a prescription.
But it turns out, actually the progression in terms of the concentration of CBD, and I’d have Steven, Tim Gordon, who we should probably give a shout out to the Chief Science Officer of Functional Remedies. Tim Gordon is one of if not the most respected cannabis farmer in the United States. But the progression is the 500-milligram tincture has about six and a half milligrams of CBD. The 1000-milligram tincture has about 12 and a half. And then you step up to the capsules, which are 25 and 50. It’s not so clear cut. It’s because they’re different in measurement and tinctures versus capsules. But right. So if I’m a really, really frail person, I might start with a tincture at a low dose, but I’d give them some time, as my dear mother did and many of my patients and they can work their way up and get a really nice supportive effect safely. But you know, go slow and listen to your body.
Vadim 41:09
Yes, exactly. I think it’s one of those products where people are going to find their own setup. Even with prescription drugs people are, you know, it’s maybe not right, but they will adjust things for themselves because of their own reaction to it. So it really is an individual journey with this stuff.
Joel 41:27
Agree.
Patient Success Stories
Vadim 41:27
Yes. So I want to end the podcast on a high note and I want to ask each of you. You’ve worked with patients, you’ve worked with customers, people with all kinds of stories. What would you say is the most remarkable — from each of you — story that you’ve heard about a CBD experience? Dr. Kahn, you had mentioned I think your mother-in-law.
Joel 41:49
My mother? Yeah, my very mother.
Vadim 41:52
Oh, your mother, okay.
Joel 41:53
But in the last two weeks, a very esteemed attorney, who I’ve known for 25 years, wandered into my practice, wandered out, he came back about three weeks ago. And the reason was just COVID and anxiety. I mean, you know, I’m sure he had been dealing with anxiety, but you know, the politics that are going on, the arguments and just confinement isolation, everything, everybody knows that it’s impacting everybody a little bit or everybody a lot. And you know, he had been given prescription drugs like Xanax, like Klonopin and, you know, he just didn’t want these. He was smart enough to know that wasn’t really a solution, anything. So he very, very cautiously, about two and a half weeks ago, bought the 25-milligram bottle of Synchronicity Hemp Oil capsules and he was sleeping pretty good. But I tell him, you know, “Take it before bed and we’ll just see how you feel.” Well, I’m telling you, he could be on billboards now. He’s worked his way up to 50-milligram capsules.
You know, and there’s no bias here. It’s a high-quality product. It’s not an inexpensive product. And people would tell me, they tell me all the time that they don’t feel good on this medication or this supplement. I mean, it’s just another, you know, notch on the belt of somebody who’s feeling better, functioning better, with something that’s natural, non-addictive, and supporting their overall health and their endothelium. So, just great feedback. I mean, there’ve been many many, but he’s been just throwing his joy over the way he feels in it. Just like Steve said, it took about two days, three days that he really felt comfortable that he wasn’t having a problem, wasn’t dizzy, wasn’t lightheaded, and was starting to actually feel a little more balanced. And then, you know, here now about two weeks later, it’s just full benefit, which is just a wonderful thing for me.
Vadim 43:38
That’s great. And Dr. Kraus?
Steven 43:40
You know, I’ve had the benefit of reading many testimonials that have come in unsolicited to the company. They send these emails. We had donated some products down to the Arkansas Lyme Disease Foundation. And out of the blue, I remember getting it. It was on a Sunday morning, I got the email. It was a person who in 2018 was diagnosed with MS, shortly after also diagnosed with Lyme disease. They had also previously already had arthritis, back pain, a whole host that they laundry-listed about eight different medical diagnoses that they’d been suffering from just over the last two years.
They started taking our product and this person just went on and on describing the relief, getting their life back. She basically said — she was about I think she’s in her 40s, said she hadn’t been able to work for the last couple of years, was basically homebound, couldn’t go out, and even going for a long walk was too much. And now she said she’s just going out, certain activities of daily living like buying your own groceries, which she had not done for two years. Being able to hold her child. She said she couldn’t lift her children. She had I can’t remember three or four kids. But this woman got her life back. She was just pouring out emotion on what it had done. And she had been on a litany of medications coming up to this and was taking our 1000-milligram tinctures and just was beside herself on the change in her life. And we sent that around to the entire company here, like oh my gosh, this is what we’re all working for. We’re working to change lives. This is why we exist — to make this kind of difference. And, you know, that was just a very moving story. And there’s a lot of those stories. But that one just kind of shocked me because it was emailed directly to me as I was just checking my emails on a Sunday morning.
Wrap-up and Contact Information
Vadim 45:47
That is quite a story. And I know Lyme disease is just one of those things that people feel like they’re failed by the health system and they can deal with for years and years of suffering. That’s a bad one. That’s a serious one. Well, thank you, both gentlemen, for being here. And I know you both have written books and is there anything that you’re currently working on that you want to share with everyone? Any current projects or links, Twitter, anything you want where people can find you?
Joel 46:17
I’m all about heart disease prevention, heart disease reversal, using as natural approaches as possible. You don’t throw out, you know, my almost 40 years of training on prescription drugs and surgery and stenting, but we weigh under us natural approaches like we’ve been talking about for the past hour. So I’m at drjoelkahn.com. DRJOELKAHN. It links to my clinic in Detroit or anywhere in the world that needs people links, to the restaurant links, to lots of articles, books. Always learning and always progressing. And you know, just love being in the practice of natural medicine. There’s so much that is not appreciated.
Steven 46:57
Thank you and I’ll just add to that, at www.synchronicityhempoil.com. We have a lot of additional educational information on our website about the endocannabinoid system for those new to the space and considering. They can go there to see about more education on how the body’s ECS system works. And I guess the other thing I’ll just mention, we’ve made a corporate commitment to invest in research. And we just recently got back our approval to proceed with our studies from the IRB, the International Review Board, have now given their blessing that we’ve got a safe human study and we’re going to be studying anxiety, sleep, and some other wellness benefits that we’re hoping to initiate here in the next month or so.
Vadim 47:51
Fantastic. Thank you.
All right, everybody. I hope you enjoyed that podcast with Dr. Joel Kahn and Dr. Steven Kraus as much as I did. I learned a lot from this episode. It’s rare that you get to have two doctors at once on the CBD School Podcast. And of course, you know, I couldn’t leave you without a coupon code to use so you can go to synchronicityhempoil.com. That’s a mouthful. Synchronicity is spelled SYNCHRONICITYhempoil.com, and use the coupon code CSP — that’s Charlie, Sam, Peter 20. CSP20 for 20% off and I’ll have all this information in the show notes for you as well as a link to the store. But make sure to go over there at synchronicityhempoil.com and check out all their wonderful products. That’s it for today’s episode and I will catch you next time on the CBD School Podcast.