CBD Explained

Gary Barg interviews Dr. Eric Dorninger Director of Research & Development BlueSky CBD

Gary Barg: Dr. Dorninger, I am so thrilled to have the opportunity to talk with you about what caregivers need to know about CBD. These are initials that maybe we didn't even know years ago, but, many of the questions at our Fearless Caregiver Conferences and  that I get online have to do with CBD. So, what is CBD?

Dr. Eric Dorninger: That's a great question. It is a very new industry and a very new medicine relative to more formal Western academic studies. CBD is cannabidiol. It is one of the many phytocannabinoids. The word phyto just means plant-derived cannabinoids in hemp.  We threw away CBD, only to come back later and realize that it is a heavy hitter on helping balance your endocannabinoid system. It is a potent anti-inflammatory. It has a lot of implications in neurological conditions as well; things like mood, things like anti-aging, things like depression. It's the new player from a Western peer reviewed literature standpoint. But, it has been used for thousands of years by other cultures. 

Gary Barg: This is a very big issue for people caring for their loved ones these days. 

Dr. Eric Dorninger: The public opinion really started shifting when we didn't have answers for HIV patients progressing to AIDS. At that time, it was Chinese medicine and also cannabis. And the CBD in cannabis that were helping offset some of the side effects. What we tell people about CBD is they say it's not psychoactive. I hope to prove to you on this interview, that's a total lie. It has psychoactive effects, but it's not intoxicating. It's not hallucinating. It's not paranoia driving. It's quite the opposite. It's a treatment for anxiety. That's not a medical claim. They have proven that in literature, in human studies. When we think about CBD, we think more about mood uplifting, focus, productivity, pain management. 

The public is also having very positive experiences with CBD. They don't care what the doctors or the researchers are waiting on. When they have that kind of benefit, they're going to start flooding the counter at the CBD booth because it's working. The peer reviewed literature now just for CBD alone is over 2,000 papers strong.

Gary Barg: What should I be looking for when purchasing CBD?

Dr. Eric Dorninger: As an integral scientist, I want to disclose my affiliation with CBD. I am the head doctor for Research & Development for BlueSky in Colorado. is a company with which I  had relationships with some of the owners in different parts of the medical world. I have been watching very positive outcomes with CBD and occasionally THC for five to ten years. We were starting to get impressed by the anti-inflammatory capacities we were seeing when people are using hemp and CBD products. 

When shopping for CBD, you want to use someone who is doing third party testing for purity and potency, because third party testing says the amount in a capsule or dropper is the actual amount stated, within ten percent, which is the industry standard. There is 30 milligrams of CBD within a BlueSky gel cap and we usually test at 32.5 milligram which is within that ten percent window. We would rather be a little bit over than a little bit under.  And that proof is available via a certificate of analysis, which is the third-party independent assay saying, "Okay, I can put my lot number in from the bottle and see the certificate of analysis that shows me the potency." When we're talking potency, one of the most important things should be pesticide testing on your product. That's something BlueSky does, too.

The other thing that I liked about what BlueSky was doing is that it is a zero THC final batch tested product. To be a hemp product, or to be a CBD extract, you need to be 0.3 percent THC or less. When we're zero THC, that allows me to use it with government workers, firemen, military, police officers and kids with seizures. Our patient population is using somewhere between 30 to 120 milligrams a day of CBD in the BlueSky line. BlueSky also has the best per milligram CBD cost on the market, bar none, that I've seen so far. 

Gary Barg: So, the guy filling the bottles of CBD in his bathtub, not a good idea?

Dr. Eric Dorninger: In the last five years of observing patients bringing stuff into my clinic. It went well once and I was super bummed because it was a rheumatoid arthritis case. And I couldn't glean what dosage she was using and there were no statistics about what dosages was working for her. I'm the guy who's really data collecting and data mining patients' experiences, so we can pay it forward to the next person who comes with RA and it was not possible to do so in this case.

The other thing is CO2 extraction, since you want to be using a clean extraction method. That guy who's making it in the bathtub sometimes will be using butane and that can make for a very caustic marijuana extract.

Gary Barg: How quickly should we be seeing benefits of using CBD?

Dr. Eric Dorninger: I'm so glad you asked that. We like to do what we call the Sky gel challenge. The BlueSky Sky gels are 30 milligrams each and we have people literally chewing them, like a gummy bear.  The Sky gel pops open like an egg and the oil comes out. You just let it sit under your tongue. We have people feel better in five minutes. 

We had one of those situations a couple of weeks ago. I was in the room with my nurse practitioner and the patient in the room with us was super agitated. She was working so hard to get better, yet we were really hitting some roadblocks. I said, "You know what? With that inflammation and how you're feeling, let's just pop a couple of these with us right now."  So, we did the Sky Gel challenge with her. Literally, five minutes later, she asked, "Could I actually be feeling better this quickly?" 

I've been watching natural medicine and prescriptive medicine for 18 years now, as well as the clinical practices of what changes outcomes. I've seen some cool stuff happen. Nothing globally has had as dramatic an effect as with Sky gels.

Gary Barg: What’s the one most important piece of advice you’d like to share with family caregivers?

Dr. Eric Dorninger: Enthusiasm counts when you're feeling like a lump on a log with chronic illness. If I can use the CBD to get someone to the boxing class or get them to their yoga class, or get them to their nondenominational, or church choir, now we're getting somewhere on a holistic approach. Sometimes the CBD is the enthusiasm, ambition, drive, and ability to finish tasks motivator to get them working out.