PRIMAL BOTANICAL: SMALL-BATCH, SLOW-CRAFTED CBD
I was featured on Dr. Dana Leigh Lyon’s inspiring and beautiful blog, Alchemist Eating! The link to the blog article is here, or you can read it in its entirety below.
7 Minute Read: Full-spectrum, small-batch, handcrafted CBD, herbal medicine, mental health, pain relief, primal, local, women in business.
Those of you who’ve been following me in this space know my love for sharing interviews with women rocking their own businesses. You may also recall how CBD has helped me heal from injuries and soften the edges of chronic stress.
That in mind, I’m delighted to introduce Annika McCann: herbalist, operating room nurse, primal health coach, and owner of Primal Botanical – producer of full-spectrum, small-batch CBD products.
Below, Annika talks about:
Her daughter’s mental health journey and how CBD helped her heal
Her husband’s use of CBD to keep comfortable after a neck injury
Her own use of CBD to recover from chronic head pain
CBD’s potential for alleviating pain, stress, anxious thoughts, and difficulty sleeping
Her slow-crafted, herb-infused CBD processing method
How to incorporate CBD within self-care and healthy-lifestyle routines
Why the type of CBD you buy matters
I’m excited to feature Annika + Primal Botanical in this space! Please enjoy, and don’t miss your coupon for 10% off below!
FOR PEOPLE UNFAMILIAR WITH CBD, COULD YOU GIVE US A BRIEF "ELEVATOR SPEECH" COVERING ITS BENEFITS??
CBD is one constituent of the cannabis plant, along with its more famous cousin THC and dozens of other cannabinoids. CBD doesn’t get you high like THC does, but it has lots of other effects in the body. Most notable are its effects on the inflammatory system, pain signalling, and neurotransmitter levels.
We are hard-wired to use cannabinoids like CBD; our bodies make our own endocannabinoids, which are responsible for maintaining homeostasis or balance in the body, and cannabinoids from plants interact with our built-in cannabinoid receptors.
In the modern world, we are exposed to countless stressors, which taxes our endocannabinoid system and leads to poor health. CBD boosts our natural cannabinoid levels, allowing us to be more resilient.
WHAT LED YOU TO START MAKING YOUR OWN CBD PRODUCTS AND TO CREATE PRIMAL BOTANICAL?
Several years ago, my teenage daughter was struggling with severe mental health issues. She had spent some time in a psychiatric hospital and had to withdraw from high school. She was quite unstable and not doing well at all. I read about CBD and decided it was worth a try.
I was blown away by the results – after only two or three days, she had stabilized significantly. After trying several brands, she settled on the most expensive one, and was taking a fairly high dose. Mental health is priceless, but we were spending a lot of money on CBD!
I’ve been an herbalist for more than 25 years, so I decided to try making CBD oil at home. My daughter switched to the homemade CBD oil and we were thrilled that it worked just as well! She has taken CBD every day since, and is living independently and is off all her medication.
My husband started taking it for pain from bone spurs in his neck, and it has been amazing for keeping him comfortable. CBD has also played a big role in my recovery from chronic head pain.
WHAT MAKES PRIMAL BOTANICAL PRODUCTS SPECIAL?
Most CBD products available are made from concentrates or isolates that are extracted in a lab and then diluted into a carrier oil. My process is very different. I start with high-CBD hemp flower (organically grown in Vermont) and infuse the hemp directly into organic coconut oil using the time-honoured method of low-and-slow heat.
The only other ingredients are sunflower lecithin (which makes the cannabinoids more bioavailable in the body), essential oils, and arnica flower (in my Rapid Recovery rub).
There is huge variation among CBD products, and without regulation, it’s critical to be aware of what you are buying. Some CBD products are made with hemp grown overseas and are contaminated with pesticides and heavy metals. Full-spectrum products have a range of cannabinoids and terpenes which work together synergistically and tend to be much more effective than CBD isolate products.
CBD is available everywhere these days, but it’s a bad idea to buy your medicine at a gas station – choose carefully!
COULD YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR CBD DROPS + RUBS?
The drops are taken internally for all different kinds of conditions. The most common reasons people take CBD are pain, anxious thoughts, and difficulty sleeping, but there is exciting research for many other conditions..
CBD is very safe and side effects are minor, but it can interact with medication, so it’s a good idea to check with your doctor before mixing CBD with prescription medication.
Topical CBD, on the other hand, can be used by anyone, unless there is an allergy to one of the ingredients. When applied to the skin, cannabinoids in rubs, lotions and salves interact with the receptors locally to provide pain relief and support healthy levels of inflammation.
My Joint Relief rub has gotten rave reviews, and a couple of my customers have cancelled planned surgeries because it was so effective.. Topically-applied CBD is not absorbed into the bloodstream, so there is no need for concern over medication interactions or drug screening tests. [ed: Check out their CBD Coconut Oil too!!]
AS AN HERBALIST AND A NURSE, HOW DO YOU DEFINE SELF-CARE? HOW CAN CBD PRODUCTS SUPPORT THAT?
Self-care is all about balance! If we obsess over one aspect of health such as diet or exercise while neglecting others such as sleep and stress reduction, our health will suffer.
Most Americans [ed: and Canadians!] are habitually stressed out and sleep-deprived, both of which are terribly counterproductive for good health. CBD can help reduce anxiety, improve sleep, and keep us on an even keel.
ALONG THOSE SAME LINES, HOW CAN CBD AND HEALTHY EATING WORK SYNERGISTICALLY?
I see CBD as one tool in the health toolbox. It’s not essential by any means, but it offers so many benefits both for general wellness and for specific conditions that I believe almost everyone could benefit from it.
Most of us experience higher-than-optimal levels of oxidative stress; even when we are careful with our diets, the Western environment and lifestyle create levels of free radicals that our bodies are hard-pressed to keep up with on their own. Oxidative stress has been linked to the aging process and to nearly all chronic diseases.
CBD is a powerful antioxidant – in fact, the US government holds a patent on CBD and other cannabinoids, stating that they are “useful in the treatment and prophylaxis of wide variety of oxidation associated diseases”.
Supplementing with CBD while choosing whole foods over processed foods and also attending to movement, sleep and stress can help lower levels of oxidative stress and go a long way towards reducing risk of chronic disease.
WHERE CAN PEOPLE SHOP AND LEARN MORE?
You can visit our website to learn more or to place an order. We are currently only shipping within the United States – sorry, Canadians! Hopefully we will soon be allowed to ship internationally. You can also find us on Facebook and Instagram.
Thank you so much, Annika! Such a treat to share you and your healing products in this space! ***NEW CUSTOMERS, use code HOWDY10 at checkout to get 10-percent off your first Primal Bontanical purchase. (Sorry, Canada: for now, it’s US shipping only.)