F.A.Qs - Arena Life

Is a standard hemp seed oil the same as a CO2 hemp extract/isolate?

  • Absolutely not. Standard hemp oil, which can be found very cheaply at a grocery store, is a much different product than our CO2 hemp extracts/ Isolate. Standard hemp oil is produced by cold pressing the seeds, whereas our hemp extract is a supercritical CO2 extraction of the hemp plant itself, not the seeds. Regular hemp oil is considered to be a great nutritive food, but it doesn’t have the naturally occurring terpenes, compounds and other components that our extracts contain.

What is hemp oil extract?

  • Primary molecules produced by the hemp plant are of the non-psychoactive nature and contain lipids and fatty acids that aid your body.

What exactly is a hemp extract?

  • Hemp oil extracts are a class of naturally occurring constituents of agricultural hemp, commonly used to support general wellness. Our Hemp extracts are also known as hemp oil molecular Isolate. This means that the hemp plant has been extracted in such a way that our isolate is 99.8% pure.
  • Many of our products contain hemp oils from the supercritical carbon dioxide CO2 extraction method used that are then further refined into hemp oil isolate. In addition to the naturally present hemp oil extracts, there are also many other types of natural molecules and phyto-chemical compounds such as amino acids, carbohydrates, vitamins (including B1, B2, B6, D), fatty acids (including omega 3 & 6), trace minerals (including iron, zinc, calcium, magnesium, potassium), beta-carotene, chlorophyll, flavonoids, ketones, nitrogenous compounds, alkanes, glycosides, pigments, water, and terpenes. The most common terpenes in our hemp extracts are Myrcene, Beta-caryophyllene, Terpinolene, Linalool, alpha-Pinene, beta-Pinene, Nerolidol OG Phytol, trans-alpha-Bergamotene, Limonene/ beta-Phellandrene (Co-elution), and alpha-Humulene.

What is the endocannabinoid system (ECS)?

  • Discovered in 1992, the endocannabinoid system (“ECS”) refers to endocannabinoids and the enzymes that regulate their production and degradation, align with their receptors. Endocannabinoids are “messengers”, isolated from brain and peripheral tissues that communicate via endocannabinoid receptors.
  1. Endogenous Endocannabinoids (eCB): Anandamide and 2AG
  2. Main Receptors: CB1 and CB2

How do hemp extracts work? What are the benefits of taking hemp oil?

  • Due to the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994, (“DSHEA”) guidelines, we cannot specifically state conditions that hemp oil may effect. We encourage you to do your own research, consult with doctors and use resources like PubMed.gov as newly published research is coming out in real time. Anecdotal evidence and case reports are pushing the research progress forward. However, more research is needed in order to provide users with specific structure/function claims associated with taking hemp oil. We encourage you to talk to your doctor first before starting any new nutritional and dietary supplement program.

Why don’t you source your hemp from within Colorado?

  • We sell country-wide and worldwide, so we must abide by the federal and not just state law. Regarding hemp cultivation, the state and federal laws here in the United States are presently contradicting and to avoid stepping into an ambiguous area of the law, we are only sourcing our hemp from countries that we know for certain it is legal to do so from. Unless we are selling products only within Colorado from Colorado grown hemp. This way we are following both state and federal law and are able to provide hemp extracts to people all around the world. We hope to be able to one day provide Colorado hemp extracts all around the country and world. However, we can’t do this until hemp farming becomes fully legalized at the federal level.

What’s the percentage of hemp oil extracts in your product?

  • Our raw extracts have varying percentages of hemp oil extract content. The range has been 99.4 to 99.8% so far. The final amount of actual hemp oil extract in a bottle will always be the stated amount on the product container as though the hemp oil extract is >99% pure, despite the variation in percentage of the base extract.

What is the best method of ingestion?

  • As a dietary supplement we can only recommend our hemp oil blends for internal consumption. Although we do have products that can be used topically.

What’s the ideal serving size for me, and how often should I take it?

  • There is subjective to the user and depends upon getting hemp oil extract into your system. Once you have been taking hemp oil from 2-3 days you can begin to taper off your intake somewhat. You should feel a noticeable difference when you are using the hemp oil and when you slow down or stop. The starting recommended serving size is 15-25 mgs (“milligrams”) of hemp oil extract per 100 pounds of body weight. We generally recommend experimenting to see what feels best to you. Some prefer 5-10 mgs, some prefer over 50 mgs per day.

What is the safety of your hemp extracts? Are there negative side effects?

  • Hemp is considered by many to be generally safe. We’ve never seen or heard of any significant or negative side effects in our experience. That said, we can’t rule them out. Please consult with your physician before using any dietary supplement including hemp extract supplements.

Which of your hemp products should I get?

  • As a company who sells various oral, topical and edible products, we can’t suggest any of our products for the prevention, treatment or cure of any disease or ailment.
  • When considering our different hemp products, know that they all come in various strengths. Our tincture and oil blends all have 500+mg of hemp oil extract per fluid ounce, and our concentrated blends have 1,000-2,000+mg per fluid ounce, three to four times the potency of our traditional oils. We’ve found that sometimes less is more, but nevertheless, some people like to take very large serving sizes of our hemp extracts.
  • We suggest you research the separate components of each of our product labels to determine which product may be most appealing to add to your regimen.

 

THOSE WHO SUSPECT THEY MAY HAVE A DISEASE OR ARE SEEKING HELP FOR A DISEASE SHOULD CONSULT A QUALIFIED MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL.

Why are CO2 and Isolate hemp extract oils so expensive?

  • Our CO2 hemp extracts and Isolate are produced from industrial hemp, and in order for us to legally (through Federal law) acquire and sell the hemp oil, the hemp must be grown outside the United States. So in order for us to get it here and be able to sell it to all forty-nine states (with exception to Missouri) and worldwide, we must import it from out of the country (more specifically we acquire our hemp oil from multiple European countries), and the importation is very costly.
  • A supercritical CO2 oil extraction is performed on the stalks and seeds of mature industrial hemp plants, and the resulting hemp oil is analyzed by us or one of our outsourced dependable laboratories in a high-performance liquid chromatography, (“HPLC”) test. Then the raw CO2 extracted hemp oil/ Isolate is shipped to the U.S. and is further refined at a GMP certified facility. The purified hemp oil is then again analyzed for its potency and purity. And then turning this naturally high-cannabinoid hemp extract into our final products is another additional process that takes time and resources. And then a final testing is performed on the finished products at a few third party laboratories. These necessary steps to ensure ultimate potency and purity throughout each stage of the process, and the facilities that are required to perform all the steps, all add up to CO2 hemp extract/ Isolate products being very costly to manufacture.
  • We hope to see the cultivation of industrial hemp become fully legal within the United States. There are small steps being taken in this direction, and we are hopeful that process will continue favorably. This would lead to a dramatic decrease in cost for both the manufacturers and consumers of hemp products, including CO2 hemp extracts/ Isolate naturally high in hemp oil and terpenes.

Why do people use hemp extract? Terpene benefits and uses?

  • In accordance with federal regulations we cannot make health claims regarding the use of our products. We can only recommend our products for general wellness.

Do I need to move to Colorado to get my hemp extract? Where do you ship?

  • Many people are under the impression that the only way to acquire hemp extracts for themselves or a loved one is to move to Colorado or another hemp-friendly state. Many big news outlets are misinformed and are unfortunately spreading this idea, that you can only get rich hemp extracts in the states where there has been legalization of certain substances. This is simply not the case though. Because our extracts come from hemp, and because we acquire it legally from outside the U.S., we can and do ship to forty-nine (with exception to Missouri) states, and no medical card is needed.
  • Yes. ArenaLife proudly ships our proprietary hemp extracts to forty-nine (with exception to Missouri) states. The United States Farm Bill of 2014 classified industrial hemp as containing less than 0.3% psychoactive substances on a dry-weight basis. Because our products contain less than 0.3% psychoactive substances, we are allowed by U.S. Federal law to conveniently ship to your doorstep.
  • We also ship to other worldwide destinations including, but not limited to Japan, Australia, the UK, Switzerland, and Brazil.

Is your hemp extract oil similar to Rick Simpson Hemp Oil?

  • They are similar, as the hemp oils and potential effects are similar looking and acting. But our hemp extracts are more highly standardized and will usually have a much higher content of non-psychoactive hemp oil than one produced through the Rick Simpson method. And oils produced through his method will usually have a much higher psychoactive substance content.
  • Rick Simpson Hemp Oil, (RSHO”) is actually more a method of extraction than it is a specific product. People use the Rick Simpson method with hundreds of different strains, so the psychoactive substance content of the final oil is always varying greatly, depending on the plant the consumers are acquiring. Usually what’s used for Rick Simpson oil is a strain with an inferior non-psychoactive content (and getting high), because that’s what the vast amount of psychoactive substances are nowadays.

Will I get “high”?

  • No. Our hemp extract products are all made from industrial hemp, which only has zero amounts of psychoactive substances, so there is no psychoactive effect from taking our products.

Where do you source your hemp from?

  • We source our industrial hemp from locally operated hemp farms both in Colorado and in Switzerland.
  • We have a supply agreement with one of the largest hemp producers in Colorado, grown pursuant to section 7606 of the 2014 Federal Farm Bill. We’ll soon be using US grown hemp from Colorado for products sold only within the state of Colorado.

What kind of testing/analysis is performed on your products?

  • We have a very strict internal quality assurance system, and we have third party laboratories analyze all of our hemp extracts and our final products for potency, heavy metals, bacterial and microbial life, mycotoxins (fungus), and pesticides.

What is CO2 extraction? What’s the difference between subcritical and supercritical CO2 extractions?

  • CO2 extraction is an extraction process that uses pressurized carbon dioxide to extract phytochemicals from a plant. CO2 at certain temperatures and pressures acts like a solvent, without the dangers of actually being one. It is the most expensive extraction method, and is widely considered the most effective and safest plant extraction method in the world.
  • Many hemp companies boast about their supercritical CO2 extractions, but that’s actually only one (and perhaps an inferior) method of using a CO2 extraction machine. There are also subcritical CO2extractions, and ‘mid-critical’, a general range between subcritical and supercritical. Subcritical (low temp, low pressure) CO2 extractions take more time and produce smaller yields than super-critical, but they retain the essential oils, terpenes, and other sensitive chemicals within the plant. Supercritical, on the other hand, is a high pressure and high temperature process that damages most terpenes and heat sensitive chemicals, but can extract much larger molecules such as lipids (omega 3 and 6), chlorophyll, and waxes. A truly full-spectrum CO2 extract includes first performing a subcritical extraction, separating the extracted oil, and then extracting the same plant material using supercritical pressure, and then homogenizing both oil extracts into one. This is similar to making a conundrum wine.

Challenges of Making the Perfect Tincture

  • For an introduction, we pride ourselves on using only all natural, organic, non-gmo flavors. Natural flavors are often sensitive to changes in environment including, but not limited to: processing temperature, storage temperature, UV light exposure and humidity.
  • Very often the production of these flavors by plants is variable from plant to plant and growing season to growing season. Because we use only all natural flavorings, there is going to be slight variations in the flavors and pigments associated with each flavor as they are extracted and packaged for sale. There will be slight variations from batch to batch.
  • Very often, some natural pigments are extracted in the process of extracting the flavors. Some flavors when extracted can also be sensitive to light and or heat when processed or stored. A classic example is the use of vanilla extract combined with sulfuric acid to develop thin layer chromatography plates used in qualitative chemical analysis. The vanilla extract sulfuric acid mixture combines with certain chemicals when lightly heated to produce colors ranging from red to purple with yellow and orange often present.
  • The yellow and orange pigments associated with fruits, flowers and vegetables are called caratenoids and are often present in natural flavorings. The red and purple and blue pigments are called anthocyanins. Some caratenoids are photosensitive and may change color slightly when heated or stored at different temperatures.  There is also a question of lighting in the ambient environment, halogen overhead lights will appear more “white” rather than some of the “soft white” incandescent or compact fluorescent lighting that can effect the appearance of some liquids especially when stored in clear containers.
  • The color change is a result of our conscious decision to use all natural, organic, non-gmo flavorings and is nothing to worry about. It DOES NOT indicate degradation or breakdown of CBD in solution and is no cause for concern. We will be happy to package your orders in white containers moving forward.

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