2019 CBD Expo Mountain
Zygote Nation was there! … At the 2019 CBD Expo Mountain on Oct. 11-12, 2019, at the Colorado Convention Center in downtown Denver.
I arrived in Denver the day after the city got its first snowfall of fall 2019 and saw temperatures plunge by a whopping 70 degrees. Yes, that’s correct, 70 degrees. It was still quite cold upon my arrival, at least by my standards, but did warm up during my stay in The Mile High City.
The convention center was a nice venue. During my time at the expo, I listened in on informative presentations and panel discussions. I also walked the exhibit hall and met representatives from many hemp businesses. All in all, a quite worthwhile learning experience for me.
Here is my list of the expo’s notable products and vendors:
Pachamama
Photo by Michael Sirak
Pachamama of Denver, has created a line of hemp tinctures infused with healing herbs from around the world. The company uses a single strain of hemp that is cultivated in Colorado on the same farm so there is consistency in every batch of its products, states the company’s website. Pachamama has six tincture varieties. All contain extract with a full spectrum of cannabinoids, including CBD and a legal amount of THC, in a base of coconut-derived medium-chain-triglyceride (MCT) oil. The varieties are: Create, with holy basil and ylang ylang, to inspire creativity: Detox, with black pepper and turmeric; Focus, with cacao and goji berry, for mental clarity; Recover, with echinacea and green tea leaf, to boost the immune system while increasing metabolism and energy; Relax, with kava kava root and valerian root, to promote a sense of calmness and aid in sleeping; and The Natural, with just the hemp extract and MCT oil. Pachamama also sells an athletic rub with full-spectrum hemp extract to support muscle recovery and alleviate pain. Plus, it offers a body lotion, roll-on muscle gel, and a pain cream—all of which are THC-free. The company utilizes a proprietary extraction method that uses only heated air to obtain the cannabinoids and other substances in its hemp products. This method is U.S. Department of Agriculture organic-certified, and it results in “the cleanest extracts on the market today,” states Pachamama’s website. Also, Pachamama has received a purity award from the Clean Label Project, a national non-profit organization promoting honesty and transparency in food and consumer product labeling, for its commitment to the purity of its ingredients and transparency in its product labeling.
Photo by Michael Sirak
Arcanum
Photo by Michael Sirak
Arcanum of Golden, Colorado, southeast of Denver, offers products for high-performance athletes that are formulated with extract from organically grown Colorado hemp. Its tinctures and topicals contain cannabinoids, such as cannabidiol (CBD), that are “extremely effective in managing soreness, overuse, and swelling post-exercise,” states the company’s website. Arcanum’s infused kinesiology tape piqued my interest. To my knowledge, Arcanum is the first company to bring a hemp-infused tape to market. “The kinesiology tape works to support muscles and joints, while CBD and menthol work synergistically to increase blood flow, offering powerful performance and recovery benefits for the body, with an immediate cooling relief that is re-activated with physical activity and sweat,” reads the tape’s description at the website. The tape “provides up to eight hours of systemic relief” and “up to four days of adhesion time,” it states. Each package of tape comes with eight two-inch by 10-inch strips. Arcanum’s tinctures contain cannabinoids and proprietary terpene blends. The varieties are: C3 for sleep, with the cannabinoids cannabinol (CBN) and cannabigerol (CBG); Coil, offered either with the legal limit of the cannabinoid tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or THC-free; and Tactical (THC-free) for mental clarity and focus. There is also a tincture for pets. In addition to the kinesiology tape, Arcanum’s topical line includes bath salts, a cooling gel, lip balm, moisturizer, moisturizer/sport massage oil, muscle gel, muscle relief stick, and transdermal gel pen. The company’s website offers a CBD dosing guide, which is a nice feature.
Photo by Michael Sirak
Photo by Michael Sirak
101 CBD
Photo by Michael Sirak
101 CBD of Ventura, California, markets hemp products that feature raw hemp extract. The company asserts that the body can more easily utilize cannabinoids in their raw, acidic form rather than in their decarboxylated state, which comes after extraction under high heat. For example, CBDa is the raw, acidic precursor to CBD. The company’s website notes that “CBD does not need to be heated to work and actually loses benefits when extracted with heat and changed from CBDa to CBD.” 101 CBD uses organic hemp and other organic ingredients in its products, which include hemp oils for internal use, including one for pets, and topicals. The hemp oils come in four varieties, each in several flavors (e.g., blueberry, citrus, peppermint) and potency options. They include a straight-up blend without added herbs (i.e., organic cold-pressed hemp oil, organic whole-plant hemp extract, organic raw stevia); Alleviate, with organic white willow bark to support relief from pain and inflammation; Boost, with organic American ginseng to promote energy and mental sharpness; and Chill, with organic passionflower to aid in relaxation. Among 101 CBD’s topicals are a roll-on for pain relief and a skin-treatment cream.
Photo by Michael Sirak
Zilis
Photo by Michael Sirak
Zilis of Argyle, Texas, northwest of Dallas, sells hemp oils that utilize patent-pending technology that the company asserts delivers a full spectrum of cannabinoids, like CBD, and other beneficial substances to the body more quickly. Plus, this technology allows them to remain there for longer as they work synergistically to the body’s benefit, states the company website, which notes that laboratory studies validate these claims. Zilis’s UltraCell and UltraCBG hemp oils are water-soluable—versus oil-soluable—which enables their maximum absorption, states the website. “When you take oil-based supplements, the majority of their benefits are not absorbed by your body, leading to a bio-availability rate of less than 10 percent,” states the website. “UltraCell is different, with a 94-percent bio-availability rate,” it states. UltraCell comes in three flavors: Berry, Lemon, and Raw. UltraCBG, flavored with hibiscus flower extract, helps support healthy digestion, states the website. Zilis also sells a citrus-flavored UltraCell Powder that mixes with water for drinking. The company uses organically sourced hemp in these products, according to a marketing handout. Zilis also offers a line of hemp-free boosters formulated with a proprietary blend of botanicals to complement the hemp products, states the website. There are four boosters: UltraBurn for weight loss and maintaining a healthy body weight; UltraDream for promoting deep, restful sleep; UltraEdge for boosting energy levels and supporting clear and focused thinking; and UltraIce for helping the body to remain in balance for optimum performance. All four boosters come in liquid form; UltraBurn and UltraEdge also are available in a powder that you mix with water. The boosters may also be used on their one, independent of any hemp products, according to the website. The company also offers UltraCell Topical cream and UltraCell Pet for dogs and cats.
ritualx
Integrated Hemp Solutions of Southern Pines, North Carolina, southwest of Raleigh, takes a different approach, in my view, to how it markets its line of ritualx hemp-extract formulations. The company has a line-up of 20 formulas derived from organic hemp, each with a different blend of cannabinoids and terpenes, according to its website. The reason for offering this wide range is the belief that “every human being is different in genetic makeup, overall health, and desired goals,” states the website. To help you discover the formula that works best for your body, the company places emphasis on education. It offers over-the-phone consultations (or in-store ones for locals) that will result in a personalized recommendation, which includes a trial box of four different formulas to try, one each for a week. At the end of the trial, you can decide to purchase one or more formulas or schedule a follow-up consultation to receive a second trial box with four new formulas. The ritualx formulations fall in these six categories: General Wellness (one blend); CBG (three, with varying concentrations of CBG); CO2 Extraction (two, with one blend THC-free); Cold-Pressed (three, with differing strengths of CBDa); Strains (four hemp strains: ACDC, Cherry Pie, GSC, White Widow); and Terpenes (seven, with each blend containing a different terpene from among: b-caryophyllene, humulene, limonene, linalool, myrcene, pinene, terpinolene). The company also offers an extra-strength topical balm. I like the company’s emphasis on placing customers with the correct product. It also offers a nurse line that you can call Monday through Friday to talk to a nurse for guidance on hemp. One small gripe is that, as of this writing, you cannot, as a newcomer, visit the company’s website to view the certified, third-party test results on the potency and purity of the formulations. To do that, you need a batch number from a product label.
Photo by Michael Sirak
Background note:
For those of you new to hemp, here are my vastly overly simplified definitions of cannabis, hemp, and marijuana to provide context:
Cannabis is a plant.
Hemp is cannabis that contains a substance called cannabidiol (CBD) and no more than the legal amount of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), a psychoactive compound that gives a person the euphoric feeling of being “high” when ingested. That amount must be 0.3 percent or less of a hemp sample by dry weight.
Marijuana is the US government’s term for cannabis that has more than that amount of THC.
