Courtney Garber - CBD Educator with Joy Organics

Welcome to this episode of The ankylosing spondylitis podcast. This is going to be a little bit different of an episode today I'm really excited. I've got Courtney Garber on and Courtney is the Assistant Store Manager and CBD Educator of the Fort Collins, Colorado retail store for Joy Organics, which is a CBD manufacturing company, retail sales. They just cover all sorts of different angles and have a great line of products. So I'm really excited to have you on Courtney, how are you? 

Courtney - Good. How are you doing? Jason? 

Jayson - Fantastic. I'm really excited because CBD is one of those topics that there's so much information out there and there's so many people that want to consider it for their chronic pain issues, anxiety, whatever it may be, and they just don't know where to start. So it's really great to have somebody on that can kind of take my listeners by the hand and start them on the journey.

Courtney - Yes, and I appreciate you having me on.  Every day I encounter people that just have gotten a lot of misinformation from the web or even from family and friends. So it's really good to have educational material to kind of clear up a lot of these issues.

Jayson - It is because there's so much being written about CBD, that it could help things like anxiety, PTSD, chronic pain, Parkinson's, epilepsy and the list goes on. But I think the key is, let's say that I was, you know, or any of my listeners were to walk into your store, where would you start with them? How do they even know how much CBD to take? What products appropriate? How do you guys help them determine that?

Courtney - Yeah, so often when people walk into the store, the first question we asked them is what brings you in today, they will reveal like what they're trying to treat. They might even come in specifically asking for products that will help with this. What we do at the store is we don't like definitively say this product is going to work for whatever you're trying to treat, kind of just describe how the different products work, and then they can make an informed decision what they think will work best for their condition, and we often describe to CBD does affect everybody. So Individually, it does take a little experimentation in the beginning to find the right product and the right milligrams to take.

Jayson - I wondered about that. So like a lot of drugs, things like weight can even affect the amount of your dosage. So is that something you find also with, say CBD oil is somebody that is a 250 pound guy is going to need more than 120 pound woman.

Courtney - You know, interestingly enough, so often when people come into the store and from our feedback, it's not necessarily by weight. We have a lot of repeat customers in the store. So we do get a lot of feedback. Sometimes people need very small amounts and sometimes people need very large amounts. It really depends on how their endocannabinoid system is functioning. So when we recommend milligram strength for people, but with CBD, it does affect everybody. So individually, a perfect example is my significant other. We both have taken the same amount of CBD for pain issues. And for him, it made him drowsy. He does weigh more than me. I'm a pretty slender woman. So often people will just start off with a low milligram amount and increase it until they're getting the effects they need. Some people do require just a small amount to feel the effects more some people do need a larger amount other people do need to take it kind of consistently for a few weeks to really benefit from the full effect. We have a lot of customers that use the lowest drink tincture for sleep and we have some customers that need to take two of our highest drink soft gels for sleep so it does really very often I will ask people if they're sensitive to other medications and supplements and usually that's a prime candidate for someone using like a lower strength or some people do require higher amount or some people do need a smaller amount. The goal CBD is really to take the least amount possible get relief, there's really no advantage to taking too much for your body.

Jayson - Okay, so really when I want to say drops, but it's the proper terminology is tinctures. And so if I come in and I see the bottle says 30 milligrams is that the total THC (I said THC in error, it should be CBD) in that entire bottle? Is that like per dropper full?

Courtney - Yeah, so that's actually a huge issue in the industry. And often, especially in the beginning companies started labeling their products with the whole milligram of the bottle. Some companies do put on the back the serving amount so you can see how much CBD you're actually getting for dropper full serving.

Jayson - Oh, and your website breaks all that down. So if I actually would have just clicked on it, it shows it all there.

Courtney – Yeah and we actually we just did a whole rebranding of all of our products to make that more clear to our customers just a couple of weeks ago, all of our products in the store they were labeled 500 milligram, 1000 milligram or 1500 milligrams drink for tinctures.

Now on the front, it is clear how much you're actually how much CBD you're getting per serving, 

Jayson - Joy Organics line of CBD products, all of them are THC free, Correct?

Courtney - Correct. They are also a broad spectrum CBD product which means that we are including all the other natural elements of the plants like the terpenes and the flavonoids and everything that kind of helps to give it that entourage effect. They do make products with CBD isolates and not just CBD by itself but it tends to be a more effective product when you combine them with other minor cannabinoids.

Jayson - Okay when I look at say like the soft gel tablets or the tinctures are both of those kind of like, mixed with olive oil so you'll taste that when you consume them.

Courtney - Yeah, so for the tincture specifically it's mainly flavor preference and some people just find that certain carrier oils work better for them for our orange and lemon use coconut oil and then for our unflavored and our bench olive oil for our suck job it is a murder in coconut oil in like a gelatin. Oh wow. And then you just swallow the tablet digestive of your stomach absorb the CBD oil. Yeah, so when when you use a tincture, you're mainly absorbing it under your tongue. So it tends to be more fast acting it could be a better product if you're if you have any digestive or like absorption issues with the soft gel, you do have to swallow it and digest it though it does take a little bit longer to feel the effects are soft gels in particular and other companies use like special technology with the soft gels, we use nano motion, which helps the soft absorb better into your system. It's also water-soluble. So if you think of your blood being water, anything water-soluble is going to absorb better into your bloodstream. 

Jayson - Say I come in to visit with you and I say my issue is chronic pain from the Ankylosing Spondylitis, which myself and the listeners will have and maybe anxiety is the key with CBD oil to consistently take it. It's one of those you don't take it like when you're in pain, but you take a little bit every day. 

Courtney - Yeah, so some people do use it as needed. You're definitely going to get more benefits from it, taking it as a daily supplement. It's really going to start you know balancing out your endocannabinoid system, even how you perceive pain. It helps with a lot of the issues that are associated with pain, like injuries and sleep disruption.

Jayson - Really so I would talk with my doctor let him or her know that I will want to add in a CBD supplement just to make sure it doesn't mess with any of my other medications but then it looks like you've got products available from the soft gels and the tinctures that we talked about to gummies some mixed with melatonin or curcumin, did I say that right?

Courtney - Yeah, so curcumin is the active ingredient in turmeric. So a lot of people already kind of supplement that if they're having like joint pain or arthritis.

Jayson - And then you've got the selves which I think are real interesting is just rub on your hands or knees or wherever.

Courtney - Yeah, often people start with that if they're a little wary of trying CBD. Even though our products are THC free and there's no like psychotropic effects. Topicals tend to be really effective too, because they're fast acting. However, they don't always affect all types of pain. You're really treating the inflammation from the outside in. So sometimes the internal option just might be more beneficial or lot of our customers do combine the two to get optimal results. 

Jayson - And again, since it is THC free, it's not going to show up on a drug test if you get randomly drug tested through your employer or anything of that nature.

Courtney - Yeah, that's a great question. A lot of companies will 100% say no. We responsibly explain to our customers that you know, your best bet is to go with a product that is broad spectrum or CBD isolate. No CBD company can legally make that claim. 

Jayson - Okay. 

Courtney - Sometimes people will take like at home direct test, it doesn't really differentiate between different cannabinoids so you could get a false positive from at home drug tests, doing like a blood test for work. So it should be able to differentiate between CBD and THC. 

Jayson - Oh, I see. So it could give a false reading on what you're taking. 

Courtney - Yeah, and it is an unregulated industry right now. So some issues people have had is you know if they're not doing the proper third party lab testing Trying to kind of prove that their products have no THC or even sometimes products with trace amounts of THC can build up to detectable levels over time. 

Jayson - Okay, so it's really going to be how often you in the amount you take and and really who manufactured what you're taking?

Courtney – Yeah! 

Jayson - Which is why I always say don't buy CBD oil from the gas stations.

Courtney - Yes, definitely, or you know, we often get people that come in here and they're kind of shocked by our you know, prices because they got something really cheap on Amazon but you don't really know where that cannabis was grown. It could be grown in China, which they don't have much regulations on pesticides or heavy metals, we always recommend whether you're buying our product or another company's products that you want to make sure that they're providing third party lab results. You know, that show that has no pesticides or heavy metals and actually shows that their product contains CBD, which I think is important. 

Jayson - I noticed as I was going through Joy Organics website, there's lots of third party research available on on all the products. 

Courtney - Yeah, as a company, we're really trying to lead the industry for like good quality testing, just like the CBD world is the Wild West. So is the laboratory testing? It's not very regulated as well and as a company, we're really striving to kind of go above and beyond quality. We have adopted actually, other states requirements for microbial testing and pesticide testing that is actually higher than Colorado.

Jayson - Interesting. So, we talked about all the positives. You mentioned drowsiness, but is there any really known bad side effects? I mean, everybody's going to react differently. But is there anything that they kind of you want to keep an eye out for?

Courtney - Yeah, well, definitely drowsiness. Some people do experience kind of like a diuretic like diarrhea effects from it. If you are on any medication, we just always recommend to check with your doctor because there really aren't enough studies at this point to kind of determine how CBD might affect how your liver absorbs and breaks down these medications combined with CBD, so if you've got any liver issues, From pharmaceuticals that you've been taking another weakend liver you definitely want to let your doctor know about this and really any medication you know often people are on anti-anxiety or anti-depressants. They just feel comfortable going ahead and taking CBD. Anything like a blood thinner we definitely recommend people talking to their doctor as well because CBD can act like a natural blood thinner.

Jayson - Oh, okay. Where does the hemp come from that you use to make your CBD oil?

Courtney - Yeah, most of our hemp is grown in Colorado after the farm bill passed though we have started to expand our farms within the United States but I'm all of our cannabis is organically grown CBD is extracted from the flower of the plant. And we use co2 extraction, which you always want to look for a company that's using a clean extraction method and that's important. 

Jayson - I've seen that mentioned in multiple spots. What exactly does co2 extraction do versus what you might find in other processes?

Courtney - Yeah, so co2 is To be the cleaner, some companies use things like butane, which are the risk for that is you might end up with like residual solvents left in your oil, which is something like butane, you definitely don't want to consume.

Jayson - Yeah, I don't know that I would want to use butane that's in lighters and stuff like that to ingest after a cleaning process gone through us.

Courtney - So we use co2 extraction, and then food grade ethanol for our purification process. Okay, combined knowledge is supposed to be the cleanest method. But we also we test for residual solvents to make sure like none of them are left in the product.

Jayson - Okay, so I'm going to see all this. If I look at the lab results. 

Courtney - Yeah. 

Jayson - Oh, interesting. So as I look at this, from a consumer standpoint, I walked into Joy Organics, let's say you're at the Fort Collins store, and I come in there and one of the things as I was looking at the products was, unfortunately my vice is soda. I drink way too much of it and that high fructose syrup I know is bad. My Ankylosing Spondylitis, not to mention weight and everything else, you have this energy drink mix that caught my eye. Just add it to water?

Courtney - Yeah, we saw him in little five pack and I usually recommend adding it to like 24 ounces of water or you can just do like half a packet, okay? It's really to add as much water for your flavor preference, the energy drink, it's got the same water soluble powder that our soft gels do. So you you do end up feeling the effects pretty fast upon drinking it. And it's something that a lot of people kind of, you know, drink gradually throughout the day or you know, if you have like a long shift at work, or maybe going on a long height tends to be a really effective product for that

Jayson - In a lot of times again, I know as your job there is you're not a doctor, and this is not medical advice. We're just trying to talk about what we see across broad spectrums of people. But if I take like an energy drink and drink that over the day, would that be considered maybe in place for that day of what I might have done for a tincture or should I still do the tincture as well?

Courtney - Well the energy drink it only has about 12.5 milligrams of CBD so really depends on what you're trying to treat and how CBD affects your endocannabinoid system. 

Jayson - Got it. 

Courtney - Often people do replace you know, tea, coffee, but if you're really trying to treat maybe like severe pain, you might need to like supplements other different CBD products.

Jayson - So it's I think in my mind, I've got 12 milligrams 12 and a half milligrams from the drink, but I usually use 30 or 40 or 50, whatever the amount is. I'll do my tinctures and I'll do a drink and I might be good for that day. 

Courtney - Yeah and you know, into some different products affect everybody differently. When I started, I did really try all of our products out but I found the soft gels were like the best product for me as a daily supplement.

Jayson - Okay, okay, so you just took one of those a day and called it today.

Courtney - Yeah, it is my favorite product. I use it specifically for chronic pain. It's just something it's easy to swallow. I can take it on an empty stomach without feeling nauseous. Just take it with my morning vitamin and just kind of gets me through the day and it helps me forget about my pain.

Jayson - Oh, great. So know for anybody listening, I'll have in the show notes, a link to Joy Organics, which is the website where you can see everything we've been talking about. But I'm also going to link to at the very top, there's a series of tabs and one of them is called Learn and there's a link on there called Ultimate CBD Guide and this thing is massive. I really, unfortunately just discovered it a couple days ago and it is just an amazing wealth of information. Going back to not only historic data on CBD oil, but all the stuff that you at Joy Organics have discovered as you grow the business.

Courtney - Yeah, actually, when all of us started here at the store, we didn't know much about CBD. So it was a great beginner's guide to kind of just dive into it and really learn about it because it is a really complicated subjects and talking about can happen noise and then the cannabinoid system and you could easily easily get lost and how it's actually working in your body. But if you just really understand that supplementing CBD is really just balancing that your endocannabinoid system, which your endocannabinoid system really is responsible for kind of regulating and modulating all of your bodily systems.

Jayson - Now if anybody wants to come into your store, where you're at? 

Courtney - We are about hour and a half north of Denver. 

Jayson - Okay, so you're a little ways from Denver.

Courtney - Yeah, we're more closer to the border.

Jayson - Oh, okay. But it's still an achievable drive for anybody that wants to come up and visit and see the full line of products.

Courtney - Oh, absolutely and then we also have a have a customer service line too, if people are more remote and they are just like us at the store and they help people answer credit questions and educate them as well.

Jayson - There's an 833-456-9723 which will be in the show notes and that goes right into your online ordering and your assistance via the phone, correct. 

Courtney - It does. Yes. 

Jayson - I also see you have stores in Austin and Wichita. 

Courtney - So there is some other locations that people can go to definitely and the store in Austin, Joy's daughter Danielle runs and then Joy's best friend, Kim runs the one in Wichita, very good family and friends running the extra stores. 

Jayson - So you've got the full line of products,