Anyone who has tried our products knows that our approach to formulation is different from many in the industry. From edibles to concentrates and topicals, Lazarus Naturals frequently pairs additional functional ingredients with the highest quality CBD, to create products that deliver the relief you expect.
Customers often ask how we decide what to pair with CBD – and why. For that, we turn to science, using the latest research to guide our team of expert formulators. In addition to precisely potent extracts of CBD and other cannabinoids, we also use concentrated amounts of functional ingredients in therapeutically significant amounts.
CBD is an increasingly popular supplement for issues related to acute and chronic pain, anxiety, migraines and insomnia. It delivers therapeutic benefits, boasts a relatively promising safety profile and has no intoxicating effects. While a powerful agent on its own, many Lazarus Naturals products incorporate other functional ingredients for even more targeted action. CBD is the primary ingredient that delivers the bulk of the benefits in these formulas, but the other functional ingredients offer additional benefits to meet specific needs.
“The design of each formulation starts with a robust investigation of the literature,” said Justin Amesbury, Senior Director of Research and Development at Lazarus Naturals. “We attempt to find active constituents (including but certainly not limited to cannabinoids) that provide a therapeutic benefit with respect to a particular application, and ensure that we can deliver a concentration of those constituents reflected as therapeutically viable in the literature. The more breadth and depth of research we are able to find on a particular active constituent the more likely we are to consider its inclusion, and vice versa.”
So, if the research on Turmeric shows that a specific amount of curcumin yielded the best outcome for participants, our formulators take note. While we certainly read the newest studies, we also turn to botanical and other ingredients that have been widely studied. You won’t find a sprinkle of this and a dusting of that just so we can list a trendy ingredient on the label. If we use a mushroom or an herb, for example, it’s in an amount that can exert some benefits.
Read on for a more detailed look at how we leverage the latest scientific research, cutting-edge extraction technology and the principles of traditional herbalism to formulate your favorite products.
Why We Include More than Hemp
When you choose a CBD product, you expect it to not only deliver the benefits it promises but also provide a pleasant experience as a user. You want our CBD Turmeric Gummies to be effective at targeting pain, inflammation and discomfort. But you also want them to have a pleasant taste and texture. The CBD and Turmeric are responsible for the former, while a host of other ingredients ensure the latter. Each ingredient is carefully chosen by our R&D team of scientists.
“It starts with assessing the application for the formulation, in terms of ensuring the formulation is therapeutically beneficial and with respect to the design considerations of the final product,” said Amesbury. “We select functional ingredients that target a particular use-case, and ensure those constituents can be incorporated into the formulation in a therapeutically viable concentration. A broad and deep library of research for a botanical material or active constituent is also critical to deciding whether to proceed with incorporating a particular functional ingredient into a formulation.”
Functional ingredients work together with CBD to help encourage more customized results. The herbs, mushrooms and vitamins found in our CBD gummies, capsules and softgels work together to encourage a more holistic approach to your sleep, gut health, pain relief and overall daily wellness. By incorporating all-natural, functional ingredients like these into our products, you get to enjoy a tailored approach that supports you on every step of your wellness journey.
Such ingredients can also come in the form of moisturizers, permeation enhancers, vitamins and lipids that work together to coax stronger benefits out of CBD but also support your healthy, radiant skin.
No matter the format or the additional ingredients, our methods are the same, said Amesbury, who has a master’s degree in chemistry. Formulation is a precise science.
“There is a misconception that formulations that leverage natural products lack a certain amount of scientific sophistication,” he explained. “Our products are designed and developed leveraging a diverse array of modern techniques at the forefront of chemistry, biotechnology and analytical fields to ensure we are creating highly efficacious, well quantified formulations, and we think that level of rigor and sophistication shows through in the final products.”
The Roots of ‘Broad’ and ‘Full Spectrum’
By using modern extraction techniques, Hemp can be processed into three different types of extracts: full-spectrum, broad-spectrum or isolated cannabinoids. We use all three in our products, depending on the desired results. The CBD industry didn’t invent the terms “broad spectrum” and “full spectrum.” We borrowed those from herbalism, since Hemp and Cannabis have been used for centuries in herbal medicine around the world.
Full and broad spectrum extracts deliver the benefits of the whole plant, as close to what you’d find in nature as possible. Even when they are extracted using the latest technology, full and broad spectrum extracts still represent an integrated or holistic approach to wellness.
Full-spectrum extracts include the whole range of cannabinoids and terpenes found in the Cannabis plant. Full-spectrum extracts are said to take advantage of the entourage effect, whereby the overall combined effects of the cannabinoids and terpenes are greater than those of any single compound. (The entourage effect explains how cannabinoids, terpenes and other compounds in Hemp plants work together to enhance their therapeutic properties, working together synergistically and potentially amplifying each one’s effects.) Along with CBD, full-spectrum products will include cannabinoids such as THC, CBN, CBG and CBC. The level of THC in Hemp is so low that it should not cause any intoxicating effects in most people, when the product is used as directed. However, exercise caution when using any new product. It is possible that the THC in a full-spectrum CBD product would register on a drug test, resulting in failure of the test.
Broad-spectrum extracts are produced by completing an additional extraction step to full spectrum products. Broad-spectrum CBD (extract) is like full-spectrum CBD in that it features a profile of several phytocannabinoids, as well as terpenes and other naturally occurring phytochemicals, but all detectable THC has been removed from broad-spectrum CBD products.
Isolated cannabinoid extracts are processed one step beyond broad-spectrum extracts. To produce an isolated cannabinoid, additional filtration steps are used to remove all cannabinoid and terpene content except for a single, targeted cannabinoid – typically CBD or CBG. Isolate products are ideal for individuals who are sensitive to THC or who want to be sure to avoid ingesting it.
Note: A drug screening could still flag CBD isolate as a Cannabis compound – even after a trusted third-party laboratory has confirmed the product only contains trace amounts of THC. This also applies to broad-spectrum extracts.
Regardless of extract type, phytocannabinoids found in all products with Hemp extract interact with the human endocannabinoid system.
Formulation in Action: CBD Turmeric Gummies
Our Turmeric Full Spectrum CBD Gummies pack a 500mg of curcumin from Turmeric along with 50mg of full spectrum CBD per serving to target pain, inflammation and discomfort. This formula is a great example of how we pair CBD with other functional ingredients to give you the best possible product.
Turmeric has been used for centuries as a natural and holistic treatment for inflammation and pain, and modern research can now show proof of those traditional benefits. We formulated these gummies using precise doses of curcumin, the best-known and most widely researched active compound in Turmeric, and Black Pepper extract to ensure maximum efficacy and absorption. In Ayurveda, the traditional medicine system of India, Black Pepper and Turmeric were often paired together to boost the absorption. Today we know that piperine, an active compound in Black Pepper, is responsible for this synergy.
In addition to those active ingredients, we include a natural blend of Mango puree and Ginger extract, for flavor. Ingredients like organic tapioca syrup and pectin create a smooth, chewy texture. Sodium citrate (citric acid) gives a zingy flavor while naturally preserving the gummies.