The Healing Power of Chinese Herbs & Hemp: Natural Remedies for Stress, Sleep & More with Dr. Chloe Weber of Radical Roots - Episode 271

Important links:

Check out Radical Roots Herbs here:  https://radicalrootsherbs.com/

Check out Noxi Herbs for women's health here:  https://www.noxiherbs.com/

Join my Substack here:  https://substack.com/@sandyknutrition?utm_source=user-menu

Dr. Chloe Weber returns to the podcast to share her profound knowledge of Chinese medicine and how it offers a refreshingly different approach to wellness—one that sees the body as an interconnected ecosystem rather than isolated systems needing separate fixes.

We dive deep into the five elements theory (wood, fire, earth, metal, water) and how each element connects to specific organs, emotions, and physical manifestations in the body. Chloe explains why your tongue is a powerful diagnostic tool, revealing internal patterns through its color, coating, and marks. Those teeth marks on the sides of your tongue? They're actually showing spleen qi deficiency, common in overthinkers and worriers!

The conversation takes a fascinating turn when we explore how hemp has been used in Chinese medicine for thousands of years. Far from being a modern addition, ancient Chinese practitioners recognized hemp's ability to tonify the liver, nourish the kidneys, and calm the heart (or spirit). Chloe breaks down the confusion around CBD, THC, and full-spectrum products, offering practical advice for finding quality products that actually work. Her insights on why full-spectrum hemp with that tiny 0.3% THC creates dramatically better results than isolates will change how you shop for these products.

For women approaching or experiencing menopause, Chloe shares a beautiful perspective from Chinese medicine—viewing this transition as a "second spring" when energy previously directed toward reproduction redirects to the heart, allowing women to finally focus on themselves and share their authentic wisdom with the world.

Whether you're dealing with chronic pain, sleep issues, hormonal challenges, or simply seeking a more balanced approach to wellness, this conversation offers practical wisdom that bridges ancient knowledge with modern understanding. The key takeaway? Building health through daily choices that follow the "middle way"—not perfection, but progress toward balance in all aspects of life.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Sandy K Nutrition
• 5:31 Dr. Chloe Weber and Radical Roots
• 12:07 Core Principles of Chinese Medicine
• 22:35 Hemp and the Endocannabinoid System
• 30:28 CBD vs THC: Understanding Differences
• 41:06 Topical Applications and Skin Health
• 56:25 Finding Balance and Building Health
• 59:12 Episode Closing and Resources

Transcript

Sandy Kruse: 0:02

Hi everyone, it's me, Sandy Kruse of Sandy K Nutrition Health and Lifestyle Queen. For years now, I've been bringing to you conversations about wellness from incredible guests from all over the world. Discover a fresh take on healthy living for midlife and beyond, one that embraces balance and reason, without letting only science dictate every aspect of our wellness. Join me and my guests as we explore ways that we can age gracefully, with in-depth conversations about the thyroid, about hormones and other alternative wellness options for you and your family. True Wellness nurtures a healthy body, mind, spirit and soul, and we cover all of these essential aspects to help you live a balanced, joyful life. Be sure to follow my show, rate it, review it and share it. Always remember my friends balanced living works. Friends, balanced living works. Hi everyone, welcome to Sandy Kay Nutrition, health and Lifestyle Queen.

Sandy Kruse: 1:31

Today with me I have a return guest, Chloe Weber of Radical Roots Herbs. She's been on my podcast. I think it was four or five years ago, a long time ago. Today, we're going to talk all about Chinese herbs, eastern medicine. We're going to talk about hemp. We're going to break it all down for you, how this form of wellness can help you. So be sure to listen to the entire conversation, to listen to the entire conversation, share it, engage with this content. I would so appreciate any reviews on Spotify or on Apple podcasts. Those are great places to leave me a review If this podcast has helped you in any way, and also with a few kind words. Also, follow me on anywhere. Anywhere you do social media it's Sandy K Nutrition, instagram, tiktok, facebook, youtube, rumble.

Sandy Kruse: 2:39

Also, I am a writer and I have a private podcast on my Substack. You can follow me there. It's sandycruisesubstackcom. There I write a lot of articles in wellness to really help you think about wellness as it pertains to you. So it's not telling you, it's helping you critically analyze your own wellness. And my podcast that is on my Substack is called Think About it and it really aligns with all of my writing and my platform. The cost to join Substack is only $8 a month. So if you want full access, that actually goes a long way to help support me as a writer, as a podcaster, because everything I do is always passion over profit. So this just a little bit goes a long way. So this just little bit goes a long way.

Sandy Kruse: 3:45

I wanted to wish you all a very, very happy Mother's Day. I know this comes out the day after. But I've been thinking a lot about this and I do believe that moms are really special and we should honor them. And I know that many of you who follow me maybe no longer have your moms. I'm fortunate enough to still have mine. She's going to be 79 this year and I just I just wanted to honor all of our mothers.

Sandy Kruse: 4:20

There's so much that goes on in the world right now that you know this is not any kind of a political statement or anything like that. It's just that you cannot erase what a mother does, what a mother's presence is, in a healthy way, obviously, because I know not everyone has that experience either. No, not everyone has that experience either. But I do feel our moms are special and you can't erase that and you can't call mothers birthing parents, because it's nonsensical. A mom is a mom and only a female can give birth, which I think is a pretty incredible gift. So you know that's not meant to be any kind of political statement or against anything else, it's just saying fact. So for those of you who are honoring your moms or who did honor your moms yesterday, happy Mother's Day.

Sandy Kruse: 5:21

And now let's cut on through to this amazing episode with Dr Chloe Weber, who is also a mom and she's an amazing person. Hi everyone. Welcome to Sandy K Nutrition, health and Lifestyle Queen. My special guest today is Chloe Weber. Dr Chloe Weber and Chloe's actually been on my podcast before. She was, I think, one of my earliest interviewees my guests I think from five years ago, and I'll give you another description of her expertise because she's done a lot in the last five years.

Sandy Kruse: 6:02

So Radical Roots, which is still Dr Chloe's brand, was co-founded by Dr Chloe Weber, a mama on a mission to bring the safest and most effective hemp oil to the market. She first created the Remy's Revenge formula to help her son, who has a rare genetic disorder causing global delays and catastrophic epilepsy. As a medical provider, herb nerd, nerd, nerd, nerd and mother, chloe knew that the current one-size-fits-all approach to hemp was not the most effective way to work with this powerful plant. Chloe joined forces with co-founder Bart Beckerman and together they figured out how to potentiate the actions of the hemp with Chinese herbs and Radical radical roots was born. So today we're going to talk all about Eastern medicine, hemp, chinese herbs and how this form of medicine can help many.

Sandy Kruse: 7:18

I am going to preface this conversation by saying we are not making medical claims here. We are simply providing you with educational information and it's up to you to go to your own provider, your own practitioner, to see if it's right for you. Dr Chloe is a doctor of Chinese medicine, correct, of Chinese medicine, correct? Yep yeah, but I'm not their doctor, but you are not the doctor for the listeners of this show. So it's really important that I note this because I don't know.

Sandy Kruse: 7:58

I've noticed that for some reason on social media, chloe, it's gotten so weird where I'll post something and it will trigger people on social media. Chloe, it's gotten so weird where I'll post something and it will trigger people on social media and say, but I'm not doing this and I think that's wrong for me and I'm like girl, I'm not talking about you, I'm just giving information to the masses. Whoever wants to listen can listen. So I think that's a very important way to begin this discussion and I have to ask you your background, because it's been so long since you've been here. Let's talk about how you got into this. I know you have an amazing story.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 8:39

It's always such a joy to talk to you. Yes, our last recording was a long time ago. I was at an intensive with my son and I was recording with you in the bathroom of a hotel and it was a very memorable experience, but it was a lot of fun. So I'm excited to be back and I love talking about herbs, so hopefully this will be helpful and informative for your listeners. So I'm a doctor of Chinese medicine.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 9:08

I fell in love with Chinese medicine, particularly the idea of using Chinese herbal medicine for public health intervention, way back 15 years ago when I started school for this, and to me, it is just the most powerful, most dynamic and safest medical system in the world.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 9:26

I really truly believe that and I've absolutely fallen in love with Chinese medicine, particularly Chinese herbs, which are something that are used in the States and in the West, but less so than something like acupuncture, which is a little bit better known. So my mission is really bringing Chinese herbs to more people and letting people understand the safety and efficacy of it. And with Radical Roots, as you said, I started it because my son, remy, was diagnosed at two and a half with a rare genetic disorder called STXBP1. And you know, a lot of these seizure medications have so many detrimental side effects for development and since he was already so significantly delayed, I wanted to make sure that I was not only addressing the seizures but supporting his development as well. And with all of the incredible research on how effective full spectrum hemp is to support epilepsy, you know, I really knew that adding the Chinese herbs to address the underlying patterns of disharmony within his body would create dynamic formulas to really really change the game for him.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 10:34

And they've done that for him and for a lot of people. So I really love those products, I really love what we're doing with that, and I do really love the hemp plant so much, despite all of the hoops that I have to jump through as a business owner with it.

Sandy Kruse: 10:50

So we're going to get into the differences. But I first would like to start like, when I say differences between hemp and CBD oil, and then there's THC and you know I think it gets really confusing. And of course there's you know, different, I guess legal ramifications, depending on where you are Like. For example, I know that CBD and THC it's all legal here, where I am now, and there's dispensaries. But we will get into all of that. But I think it's important to first really understand the core principles of Chinese medicine because, you're right, most people know just acupuncture but they don't know a lot about Chinese medicine. And I remember doing some research and just on tinnitus and how like Chinese herbs can do so much and what they actually do in China for people who have tinnitus. So tell us what are the core principles of Chinese medicine?

Dr. Chloe Weber: 12:07

Well, in Chinese medicine we really look at the body as an ecosystem. So it's not about one, one organ being out of, out of alignment or one system that we're fixing. It's really how these different organs and different elements are working together. So we talked about the five elements a lot. So that's wood, fire, earth, metal and water, and so each of these five elements corresponds to a different organ system, a different color, a different taste, a different emotion. So often we can see that emotions are stuck in the body in different ways. So one of my favorites, or one of the most common you'll see, is if somebody has chronic lung issues, the lungs are connected to grief, and so that one manifests very clearly a lot of the time. So a lot of times when I'm working with patients and they're talking about their chronic lung issues, I'll be like what happened when this started, you know, like was there some sort of trauma in your life, right? But so again, we're looking at these five elements and how they're working together. They're all supporting each other in different ways, are all controlling each other in different ways, so it's very dynamic. So we look at the body sort of as a microcosm of the macrocosm. So in Chinese medicine we use a lot of environmental terms to describe physiological actions within the body. So, in Chinese medicine, we use a lot of environmental terms to describe physiological actions within the body. So, instead of hearing like dysbiosis and candida, we're going to talk about damp heat or damp cold, right. Instead of here, instead of, you know, talking about certain neurological conditions like epilepsy, where there's like a tick or a tremor, we're going to talk about wind invading the body right, so there could be wind that's going to cause that tremor. So you think of a leaf tremoring in the wind? So, while these sound very simplistic, the way that Chinese medicine is addressing it is actually very complex and very nuanced, and it's just blows me away time and time again to see the safety and efficacy of it. But fundamentally, what we're looking to find out in your body is what is going on underneath.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 14:17

So, a lot of times, somebody will come in with a presenting symptom. Right, you're going to a doctor, you want to get something fixed, right, so you've got headaches. Let's say, instead of just saying you have a headache, here's my formula for headaches, here are the herbs that are going to stop your headache we're going to find out where that headache is coming from. So say your headaches in the front of your head and happens after you eat, that could be associated with a stomach channel right.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 14:41

Or say the headache is coming along with stress, then that's most likely indicated that it's coming from the liver cheese stagnation. So your liver is deeply connected to stress and impacted by stress. It's also very connected to a woman's monthly cycle. If you have a dull headache or it's more in the back of your head, that might indicate that it's a deficiency headache. So you might be run down, you might be burning the candle at both ends and you might be dehydrated or not have enough electrolytes. So instead of just giving somebody sort of the answer to heal the branch you know the symptoms that are coming we really do try and get to the underlying patterns of disharmony so that we're able to support the symptoms that are manifesting but build health over time by restoring homeostasis to the body. Hopefully that made some sense. It's very challenging explaining Chinese medicine to lay people.

Sandy Kruse: 15:37

Okay, do you know who? There's a lot of them, dr Bradley Nelson, there's a lot of them, dr Bradley Nelson. There's Yvette Rose, there's Dolores Cannon. There's like there's so many of these practitioners, doctors, whatever you want to call them, that connect the emotion to the ailment, so. But Chinese medicine has a very structured way of looking at that which I find super fascinating. So, for example, if you're a woman going through menopause, you probably have issues with stress, and so you may have those headaches like the back of the neck which I get, I get that I get migraines at the back of the neck, which I get, I get that I get migraines at the back of the neck. And then you know how because I know I have a lot of women listeners who are around menopausal age you still would treat them all differently, correct, like it's not, like there's a one formula for all menopausal women, because they could have different symptoms, right?

Dr. Chloe Weber: 16:50

Totally so. Ideally, the gold standard in Chinese medicine is that you get a customizable formula from a practitioner who's working with you, and so in our system we always look at it as sort of like beginner's mind. So every time I see you you're a different person, right? Because you're coming in with what you're, what's going on in your body today. So even if I saw you a week ago, there are going to be shifts in your health and your well being since that week. So I want to look at you sort of with those fresh eyes, those beginner's mind. But we do have some overlapping similarities. So for me, like I'm trying to make Chinese herbs more accessible, so I've created some patent formulas, which patent formulas are used in China a tremendous amount. But so, like when it comes to menopause, fundamentally what you're seeing in Chinese medicine is you're seeing the decline of the kidney qi and particularly kidney yin. So most people have heard of yin and yang, right, or yin and yang, however you want to say it. But so the yin is the female aspect of the body, it's the fluids, it's the nourishing aspects of the body. The yang is, like the fire, the active aspects of the body. So the yin is sort of the shady side of the mountain, whereas the yang is the sunny side of the mountain. And so the kidneys are in charge of our vital energy that we're born with, and they're also deeply connected to our reproductive health and our reproductive energy.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 18:20

So starting at 35, we see a decline in kidney chi, but particularly that kidney yin. So as kidney yin declines we see more dryness symptoms, we see more heat symptoms. That yang is not checked by that coolness, so the yang is flaring up and causing heat. The yin is not nourishing our hair, our skin, our different aspects of our body. And so for most women you're going to want at least some sort of kidney tonic that is going to support the kidney qi and particularly support the kidney yin.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 18:53

A lot of women also then will see, as you said, sort of more anxiety that's tying into the heart. So a cool thing about menopause and Chinese medicine is we look at it as it's a time and we call it the second spring, and it's a time when the energy that we have put into reproduction, all of our kidney chi, all of that energy that we put towards being able to reproduce, flips and comes into our heart. So in Chinese medicine we look at it as a time for women to finally stop putting their energy into everybody else, put it into themselves and also be able to share more truthfully who they are. So it's just a fun little shift in perspective than how we look at it here in the West. But yeah, so most you know.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 19:42

So there are patterns that that are pervasive throughout, you know, society you know like so women in menopause and perimenopause, want kidney support, but again, that kidney support might need more liver cheese stagnation support, so you might be more stressed and irritable and having more emotional fluctuations, so that's more liver. If you're having more heart palpitations, night sweats, anxiety, more like generalized anxiety, we're looking at that more as the heart, which is like the spirit, and then some women are gaining more weight and carrying more of that dampness. So then we want to support the spleen in Chinese medicine.

Sandy Kruse: 20:22

So Wow, it's very complicated but at the same time it makes a lot of sense to me. Now, on top of, you know, being able to assess patients that come in, then you have actual like acupuncture that you might use and that just kind of helps rebalance those meridians. I don't know if I said it right.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 20:49

Yeah, so we have 12 different meridians going throughout the body and so basically in Chinese medicine we're looking for the free flow of qi and blood throughout the body. So where there's stagnation A, you're often going to see pain. So in Chinese medicine we often want a warm stagnation. So we can use something called moxibustion, which is a warming herb that we burn on top of acupuncture points it's pretty cool. Or you can use sort of a warming topical or heat lights.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 21:26

We're really looking to make sure that everything is flowing correctly through the body on like a fundamental basis, and by putting the acupuncture needles in different acupuncture points it's really just a reminder to the body of what it already knows, what it's supposed to be doing, because our body just already has so much innate intelligence. But then we pile on all of the toxic crap emotional and physical that we're dealing with day to day and our body sort of gets out of alignment. So what the acupuncture needles are doing fundamentally is just really reminding the body where to bring some attention, where to bring some energy and on a basic, you know, physiological perspective, we're bringing white blood cells and repair mechanisms to that area, because we're putting a needle into whatever area we're putting it into. But yeah, acupuncture is phenomenal. I've seen it change so many lives.

Sandy Kruse: 22:17

I will say just from experience I think it's very, very important to choose an acupuncturist that you trust when they have access to your meridians and your energy flow, Because I'm not going to get into the personal side of this, but I have seen acupuncturists not do the greatest work on patients to make sure that they keep coming back and spending money with them, and so it's like creating that whole need, like you need me, and so and I say that actually I say that, Chloe, with anybody who has access to your really your energy, like the goal this goes for, like Reiki practitioners or anything like that. This is just totally my personal opinion here, but I feel that people need to be more aware and cognizant of how that practitioner makes you feel. I just wanted to add that in there, because I have seen some shady shit, my friend, and with some practitioners and I'm like you know what, you have to use some discernment personally. What are your thoughts on that?

Dr. Chloe Weber: 23:41

I think any practitioner you go to who has a sort of pay to play model, you know like it's in terms of like even functional medicine a lot of functional medicine doctors will have you just keep coming back and back and back. I have a friend who's paying thousands of dollars for functional medicine stuff and she needs it, but like they're retesting whether she has leaky gut every like month or two and I'm like whether she has leaky gut every like month or two and I'm like she clearly has leaky gut. Like there's no like do not run this test. This is absurd. You know it's like there are a lot of people who are looking to make money and are trying to survive. You know like the healthcare industry is not immune from the ramifications of what's going on in society right now. And what I always say about acupuncturists is like a lot of them are really bad business people and so they're stuck in sort of a fear-minded mentality, because nobody who gets into acupuncture gets into acupuncture to make money. We get into acupuncture because we're in love with the medicine, we want to help people, but then when you get out in order to practice, you have to be able to successfully run a business and unfortunately, some people just really don't know how to do that well and do that authentically and be able to show up with the level of integrity that I know, you and I find so very essential. And also, you know, even in the healing arts there is a lot of ego that can go into that. Also, I've seen a lot of practitioners, whether they're acupuncturists or others, who do sort of fall into that line of feeling like, oh, I'm this master healer and I can heal you with my hands, and you know it gets a little creepy and weird. So I agree completely A you know, when it comes to practitioners of Chinese medicine, we all practice very differently.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 25:36

This is a medicine that has evolved for thousands of years, so the way that I practice is very different than the way anybody else practices. I personally focus on Chinese herbs and custom herbal formulas. I'm more of an internal medicine doctor, right? A lot of people are great at sports medicine and really phenomenal at that, want to look around and find a practitioner that works with you and never, ever, ever stay with any doctor, no matter what, if they do not pass your gut check. And that's something that I really also stress for for moms working with practitioners, with our kiddos as well, because I feel like we often get gaslit as women about our health and about the health of our children and like if there's nothing that anybody else takes from this podcast, please take. Hear me when I say always trust your gut when it comes to your health and your child's health and find a doctor that will listen to you, no matter what. Like do not give up on that. Do not take no for an answer.

Sandy Kruse: 26:36

Yeah, thank you for that, because we're seeing. One thing I actually really love, chloe, is that more and more people are spotting that, spotting that, and so I for sure this. After I had my thyroid out, I was at this one place and I was doing some pretty cool stuff, for back then Nobody was doing this stuff. I was doing the IV therapies and we're talking this would have been about 14 years ago and here where I am, nobody was doing that and I was with a great functional medicine doctor.

Sandy Kruse: 27:19

But then, exactly to what you said, then, all of a sudden, all these really expensive tests. I'm like, hold on a minute, I don't have millions of dollars here, people, is this test really necessary? And then something in my gut just said you know what? You've gotten everything that you needed to progress to the next stage of your wellness. So now you can, you know, stop seeing this person and I was okay to move on. But you know, I think it's very important to use that discernment and that gut feel when something doesn't feel right. But I have to ask you this, and because we kind of went off on a tangent here, which is okay, but in Chinese medicine they always want to see your tongue. Why? Why is that?

Dr. Chloe Weber: 28:13

So the tongue is a really easy representation of what's going on internally for you. So the tongue tells us a lot about your health. So anybody who's listening, I highly recommend that you just Google Chinese medicine tongue diagnosis. Pull up one of the charts. So what we're looking for is the color of your tongue. Is your tongue really pale? Is it purple? That would indicate stagnation, dark. What's the coating on the tongue? Is it clear? Is there a coating? Is it thick? Is it yellow? Is it black?

Dr. Chloe Weber: 28:52

Not ideal, I've seen that one before. That is definitely something you want to go to a practitioner for. But like, if you're sick like, say, you have a cold or a flu, right, but like, if you're sick, like, say, you have a cold or a flu, right, if you have a sore throat, or like really dry heat, phlegm, you might see that you have a yellow tip of your tongue. It's going to be a little bit red. That indicates anxiety, heart heat. You might have, uh, some heart palpitations at nighttime. Um, again, sort of night sweats potentially, but really more just sort of indicating that generalized anxiety. Another one that's super common is the teeth marks on the side of your tongue.

Sandy Kruse: 29:39

Yeah, so that's lean chi deficiency, so that's spleen-chi deficiency.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 29:42

So that's overthinking, over worrying. You might have some loose stools or digestive disharmony, penchant for allergies or food allergies, sometimes foggy headed thinking. Spleen-chi deficiency is super common in our society. For me, I've got a crack down the middle of my tongue that often indicates, like food allergies again, some sort of stomach disharmony. So it's pretty easy to actually get a big grasp on diagnosing your own tongue and looking at it. But it is pretty fun and it is wildly effective, like it is very, very, very accurate.

Sandy Kruse: 30:21

Yeah, so I was going to ask cause everyone always asks this. I know not everything has to have a research, but is there research backed up on, like, what's going on with your tongue and ailments in Chinese medicine? You?

Dr. Chloe Weber: 30:35

know. To be honest, I've literally never looked into it whatsoever. I would imagine that there is.

Sandy Kruse: 30:39

I mean, there's all sorts of studies into it whatsoever. I would imagine that there is.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 30:41

I mean there's all sorts of studies on Chinese medicine, so I would imagine there is. I always, whenever I'm nerding out on Chinese medicine I'm always looking at the herbs because it's so much fun because you can look at the Western pharmacological actions of the herbs and the Eastern energetic actions. So it's fun to be able to validate people's western minds with the research aspects. I've never looked up research for tongue diagnosis but I'll check it out after this.

Sandy Kruse: 31:06

I'm curious, I know, and I know I always have those stupid teeth marks.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 31:11

So like, okay, overthinker yeah, that's why you have a podcast. I mean mean you're you're trying to process all the information that's coming at you because you have a. Your brain is very curious. It makes sense, girl myself down so I gotta be calm.

Sandy Kruse: 31:29

So okay, how does hemp fit into all of this? Because to me I'm like okay, chinese herbs, there's tons of different ones, and but then there's hemp. Like hemp is not a traditional um, or well it's, I guess it is a plant extract, right, technically am I right, but it's not typically chinese but it's not typically chinese, it is, yeah, oh, I didn't know that I know it's pretty cool.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 32:14

Yeah, no, in ancient china. So they used hemp and marijuana. So they even had different classifications for hemp and marijuana in terms of how they were using it medicinally. So hemp is, you know, hemp regulates the endocannabinoid system, and the endocannabinoid system is a master regulatory system of the body.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 32:36

So I'm always talking about the middle way, which is an important tenant in chinese medicine. Right, we don't want to go too far this way, too far that way. It's like balance. Right, we want to find the middle way, and in our society, we're very, very bad at that when it comes to health or when it comes to politics, or when it comes to pretty much anything. So I'm constantly reminding people that there's a middle way. But so the endocannabinoid system is basically trying to find the middle way, the Goldilocks zone for our entire body and nervous system, all the time. It's incredibly important for our immune system, for our brain health, for inflammatory disorders. It is just. There is no aspect of the body that the endocannabinoid system does not impact. I just did a whole webinar on CBD and its impact on women's health. It's wild. So it's like one of those things where, like anytime I want to go down a rabbit hole with, like any sort of aspect of how CBD impacts the body.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 33:35

There's like a ton of research on it. But so hemp in Chinese medicine is a liver tonic, so again it's supporting stress and regulating the liver, alleviating stagnation. It's nourishing, so it's nourishing the kidneys and the yin of the body again, and then it's also calming the heart, the spirit. So in Chinese medicine I alluded to this before, but the heart is what we refer to as the shen and the shen is the spirit. So hemp has been traditionally used in formulas for thousands of years.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 34:11

In Chinese medicine actually and I haven't gotten into it yet but with Chinese herbs what we do is we use different herbs together to create dynamic formulas. So it's very rare that you see a single herb alone being used in our system. So, like in Western herbology or Western medicine, again, you have one ailment, you get an herb, you get a prescription. In Chinese medicine we look at what's going on with you and we create these dynamic formulas that have multiple herbs in it to address again the symptoms and balancing those underlying disharmonies that are going on. So hemp is really amazing at potentiating the effectiveness of these shiny circle formulas. It's really quite dynamic and supportive okay, so hemp it.

Sandy Kruse: 34:59

Okay. Hemp doesn't make you high, no, so they're. They're from different parts of the plant, aren't they like? Hemp is not. Hemp is still part of the, the marijuana plant isn't it.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 35:27

It's part of the marijuana family, so it's like I never get this right because I haven't looked at it, but it's like the genius and the speed. So it's basically like hemp is marijuana, with the thc bred out and bred for the CBD and other cannabinoids that are in it, got it. So marijuana is bred for higher THC counts and so the THC is what's going to have the psychotropic effects. With hemp, you're allowed to have 0.3% of THC in your hemp products and so really, when people are looking for a high quality hemp product I'm sure a lot of your listeners are in Canada, so it's very hard. You can't ship to Canada. So when you're looking for a CBD product in Canada, since you can't just get mine, probably you want to find something that is full spectrum. So a full spectrum product is going to have 0.3% THC in there and that 0.3% THC is going to potentiate the actions of the CBD very dramatically.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 36:30

So there's a ton of research on how much more effective full spectrum hemp is than isolates. So a lot of people are using isolates in their products. So if you're getting something that's like a gummy or drink that has CBD in it, that's really just an isolate, most likely. And if you see a CBD product that has really high CBD counts like 2000 milligrams of CBD but it's still pretty cheap, and you're like, wow, I'm getting a great deal Probably nonsense, even if it says full spectrum in there. A lot of companies are then putting a little bit of full spectrum and then dumping a bunch of cheap isolates in there, and so the problem with the isolates is that a they're less effective, they have many more side effects and they also interact with pharmaceuticals much more. So if you have a full spectrum hemp, it's much less likely to have any sort of interactions with pharmaceuticals, and so I really am a big proponent of getting that full spectrum hemp, because there's a lot of really crappy products on the market.

Sandy Kruse: 37:33

Yes, that I will say, especially since you know everything became legalized here. I mean, I know a lot of people who listen to my podcast are from the US, so US laws are, by state, correct. Yeah, so you'll have to check into what's legal wherever you are, but here in Canada it's extremely confusing in terms of you know, knowing what to look for. So, like you said, they might say full spectrum on there, but then, in addition, they're dumping a bunch of isolates on top, so the full spectrum part is only going to be this much and the isolates are going to be this much, and so it's not going to be as effective. But for what? Why? I know why. You created a formula for your son of the hemp formula. That's Remy's revenge right of the hemp formula. That's Remy's revenge, right? Yeah, yeah. So, um, and and in terms of safety for children, um, what do they say about hemp for for children?

Dr. Chloe Weber: 38:54

Um, I mean, the hemp profile safety profile is incredibly high. I I would feel very comfortable using it even if I was pregnant. I'm not recommending that to anybody, there's no safety studies on that but, like for me, if I was pregnant I would continue taking my my products for sure. Um, because I feel like the way that hemp is able to support our bodies and our brains dynamically, support our hormones, support our digestive health I mean it's just, it's such a dynamic and safe plant. I see no reason why it shouldn't be used. Obviously, there's no research on that and you know. You know how it works.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 39:37

Now that CBD went through such a boom, there are some big pharma companies that are creating products that are made off of CBD and so now it's makes. Most of the research is around those pharmaceutical products and they're squashing all of the research on full spectrum hemp, which is extremely expensive to do, and most of the companies like mine do not have the money to do research like that. But yeah, I think the safety profile is incredible. If you're working with kids, it's not the first herbal product that I would jump to, but if you have a child who is dealing with any sort of neurodevelopmental disorder I've seen it have incredibly dramatic effects very quickly, whether it's epilepsy or autism or ADHD or Tourette's. Hemp can be really, really supportive for those kiddos.

Sandy Kruse: 40:29

So for that's good to know. Now for, oh sorry, go ahead.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 40:35

No, no, no.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 40:36

I was just going to add, especially when you compare it to the pharmaceuticals, that would be the alternative. So again you know, like with herbs it's one thing you can try them on these products and see how they do. You're not gonna have a problem getting these kids off of these products. A lot of the epilepsy drugs, a lot of the seizure drugs, a lot of the ADHD drugs, these drugs are fairly addictive to the brain, so weaning off of these medications can be really difficult. So to me I always am like start with herbs, try it, see how the kid does, as long as the doctors are okay with it, and then if it's not getting to the support that you need, then you can try the farms. But there's no reason not to try the herbs first if you're not in, you know, a critical condition or situation.

Sandy Kruse: 41:27

So what is? What are some other applications for full spectrum hemp and you kind of use so CBD? Is the what the, the component of the hemp, like, how come like? Can you use those words interchangeably? Are they two still two different things?

Dr. Chloe Weber: 41:52

so the reason why I always talk about full spectrum hemp is because, since, uh, there's a pharmaceutical product called Epidiolex, which is a seizure medication based off of CBD, we can no longer use CBD in any of our marketing, so I've just been so conditioned in order to say full spectrum hemp. But so in hemp, there are approximately 113 different cannabinoids, right, so CBD and THC are two of the most are the most commonly studied cannabinoids, right? So CBD and THC are two of the most are the most commonly studied cannabinoids and the most prominent cannabinoids that are found in hemp and marijuana, right, but so there are 113 different ones. In there, cbd is the one that is most potentiated for. So, like in my products, most of my products have either 500 milligrams of CBD or 750 milligrams of CBD in the bottle, right? But there are other minor cannabinoids in there, so there's trace amounts of CBG and CBN and CBC.

Sandy Kruse: 42:57

So so yeah, so it is pretty interchangeable for the most part. Ok, so here here's the thing. And it gets so confusing, Chloe, because here in Canada they have dispensaries, so I might go into a dispensary to look for something that helps with sleep and stress. Okay, and it gets so complicated. First of all, I'm not a big fan of THC personally. I mean, I smoked enough weed in university and it was very different back then in the 90s.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 43:33

It was much milder back in the day. It was really different.

Sandy Kruse: 43:36

Anyway, I do not like THC personally, not that everybody really gives a shit what I'm saying here, but it's just. It's just my opinion for me. But what I do like is to look for something that helps me with that heightened brain activity that I have, and I think that this goes hand in hand with menopause with a lot of women. But also it's part of my personality, it's part of who I am.

Sandy Kruse: 44:12

Where I have trouble kind of shutting down, so I walk into a dispensary for something that just kind of helps me at night, just to kind of be a little more chill, like I don't need to always be on. And then I walk in and I'm like, okay, cbd, cbg, oh, you gotta try cbg. And I'm like, well, like I'm just so confused and then they'll be like there's thc here, but it's not gonna make you high, don't worry. I'm like, but I honestly I get so confused that I actually walk out just like going, no, I'm not doing anything. I can't afford to have a sleepless night, so I don't like to take risks and I can't afford to feel anxious either, which is what I find happens with THC like that anxiousness.

Sandy Kruse: 45:03

So for somebody in general I know you mentioned full spectrum what else will I look for to help even with you? Know we're talking about spleen chi deficiency and we're talking. What do I look for?

Dr. Chloe Weber: 45:20

So well, that's. I mean. That's why I started Radical Roots, because I was like, okay, we can use these chinese herbs to direct the hemp to do the things that we want it to do, as opposed to just being like here's this one size fits all when nothing's really one size fits all right. So like for you. I mean, you're a classic rest and relax gal um, in terms of what we have to offer, which is a shen tonic, it's calming the heart, it's great for sleep, it's got full spectrum CBD. What I want to do is I might make a variation of that with CBN in it, which CBN is great for sleep. So that's one of those other cannabinoids that's really phenomenal for helping calm the mind and helping you get deep sleep. I haven't made it yet, but if people are interested I might just do it. I know my sleep has been wonky, but the rest and relax is a game changer for a lot of people with sleep.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 46:15

These other cannabinoids are coming out and they are very interesting. The research is pretty cool. Cbn and CBG are the two main ones that I've studied. Again. Cbn if you find a product particularly for sleep, you know they have sleep gummies that have CBD and CBN and those can be really effective. Cbg is very interesting to me because it activates the CB1 receptors in the brain. So it activates the endocannabinoid receptors that THC activates, but it doesn't actually have the psychotropic effects. So CBG, I really enjoy the effects of that. For me I probably have ADD, judging by the fact that I own three businesses. So CBG is really nice on my brain. I enjoy that one. But really as long as you're getting a high quality CBD you're in good shape.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 47:13

The other ones are still sort of emerging. They're worth playing around with. One thing that's good to note is that CBD does compete for some of the same receptors as THC. So if somebody is stoned, is having sort of like what's the term I'm looking for? If somebody's sort of overdosed on THC, if somebody's gotten uncomfortably high, giving them a high dose of CBD will help mitigate those effects and sort of bump some of that THC off of the receptors. So when you're getting those gummies or tinctures that have a little bit of THC but have some other cannabinoids in there, those are going to be helpful in mitigating the psychotropic effects of the THC.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 48:00

But again, I always encourage caution when it comes to gummies, because I have been a fairly lifelong cannabis user, at varying extents, varying times in my life, and even like a quarter of one of those 10 milligram gummies is more than enough for me. So you know, just always use caution. Some of them are great and some of them can be really fantastic for sleep, and I think that THC can be really really effective and really necessary for certain conditions. So if you're dealing with like epilepsy, you want, you definitely want to make sure that there's a little bit of THC and you might want a little more THC than what I can put in my products. If you have, you know, ms, more significant neurological issues or really severe pain, you know increasing the THC can be really really powerful for that. And then doing that in combination with the CBD again reduces those psychotropic effects but bumps up the efficacy for some of these conditions. But bumps up the efficacy for some of these conditions.

Sandy Kruse: 49:03

Okay, that answers the question why you always see, you know you walk in and they'll be like okay, here's a perfect formula for, say, arthritis, and I've actually tried it for my dad. But my, you know, he's going to be 88. He's like I don't want to feel loopy, I don't want to feel off, I just wanted to help with the pain. I think he's like the pain is pretty major, so he still hasn't found a formula that will actually help and he's not interested in taking a formula that has more of the THC. So it's kind of like well, you can't, you can only do so much if you don't want to increase something else. Is that right? Like what you were saying?

Dr. Chloe Weber: 49:55

Yeah, it depends on like condition. So, like you know, and that's why we add the herbs to ours. So you're getting the benefits of like proper chinese herbs which are singularly effective on their own um, and then, combined to make them as effective as possible, then the added benefit of the full spectrum hemp um. But yeah, there are certain conditions in which it's like okay. So if you have pain, I don't want to be on an opioid but the CBD might not be touching it.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 50:27

So what I would do in those circumstances I recommend that people consider, or talk to their doctor, do whatever you know, blah, blah, blah a little bit of additional THC to those tinctures or to those topicals, just to make them a little bit stronger, so that they're getting a little bit higher of a THC, but still making it so that it's not having the psychotropic effects or really mitigating the psychotropic effects as much as possible. I would really I've wanted to, for, while trying to find a cannabis company, that I could make formulas, versions of my formulas, with a little bit of THC in them and making them titratable so that people can do that. But it just hasn't gotten to the top of my to-do list yet. But I do think for certain conditions it's really, really beneficial to have a little bit extra of that THC.

Sandy Kruse: 51:24

Yeah, I've used Topical. It's formulas that have CBD and THC and then they have whatever menthol stuff or whatever for certain issues issues like I had a wrist issue and I find them to be quite effective topically, but not all of them are created equal either.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 51:54

Yeah, well, again, it's. You know, people use a lot of people are in the supplement industry in order to make a quick buck. And you know, I think I know a lot of chinese or companies. Again, people who are in chinese medicine don't get into chinese medicine typically to make money. Um, there are some people who are, you know, scam artists, I'm sure, or just not living in their authenticity. But most of the herb companies that I know are, you know, really phenomenal herbalists who have come up with products, who are really passionate about getting these herbs to more people.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 52:32

Our topical. I'm always blown away. I'm very fortunate that I don't deal with much chronic pain yet. I'm sure I will, but that's not one of my current things that I'm always dealing with, and so I'm always blown away whenever I sell out of the topical. The amount of messages that I get from people like absolutely losing their mind that the topical is out of stock, and I'm like, oh, okay, I will make sure this does not happen again. I'm so sorry, but in my mind it's like it's not that, you know, it's like it's not my focus formula, because it's not something that I use all the time, but it's, it's, definitely it's. It's like our second bestseller. Everybody loves it because, like people don't realize, you know your skin, like absorbs everything.

Sandy Kruse: 53:29

I'm very careful about what I put on my skin. You know what I put, and even fragrance, you know. It's just so funny when I see people, or I hear people on there, like with their perfume, and listen, I like to smell good too. So if I'm going out, if I'm, you know, going out and I want to put a little bit of perfume, listen, I know I'm still going to smell it. So I know there's the whole, that whole part of fragrance, but I'm not going to put it on my skin, I'll maybe put it on my shirt and then, yes, I know I'm still getting a little bit of it because I am breathing it in, but it's not penetrating through my skin along with all the alcohol and the chemicals and all the other stuff that is in perfume and cologne. I think people just don't realize how, how important our skin is for absorption, for whatever it is that we put on it. Oh, it's terrifying.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 54:32

It's like I know you probably feel the same way where it's like the more you learn, the more overwhelming it all gets.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 54:39

I, um, I recently went on a microplastics deep dive and now I'm throwing away all of my leggings and switching to all organic cotton underwear, bras and everything. And then when I was doing the deep dive, I did like a masterclass on it for, like my group in school, and I didn't realize that over 50% of the microplastics that are getting into our bodies is inhaled microplastics. So that's just from like cars driving down the road, or from us drying synthetic materials in our in our dryers, in our washers and dryers, and then that's pumping out microplastics into the air within our homes and then we're breathing that in. When we breathe it in through our nose, it crosses the blood brain barrier, gets straight to our brains. So it's it's a wild world out there in terms of the toxins that we're putting on our skin and and exposed to every day. I mean it's one of those things where it's like unless we know about it, we can't mitigate it, we can't detox it. But it's also a slippery slope to go down as well.

Sandy Kruse: 55:45

I know and and we're not, you know, anybody who's listening we're not trying to fear monger or anything, but I think everybody just needs to do what they can to you know, within their capacity. And if everybody does a little bit, then it will help on a larger scale. If you actually think about it, and that's the key. If you think about it and do what you can to you know, like you said, just change a few things. Watch what you're putting on your body, watch what you're putting on your skin, make sure that you're detoxing, make sure that you're moving, make sure that you're sweating, and all those things. That's all going to help. So I want to see if, like, did we? Did we talk about everything? We? We kind of covered a lot in this almost one hour. Anything that maybe we didn't cover off, that you want to make sure you talk about, please, we didn't cover off that you want to make sure you talk about, please, by all means.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 56:50

Fundamentally, with Chinese medicine, what we are looking to do is to help you build health so that you're not responding to disease with pharmaceuticals, and so that is what I really want to help empower people to understand that they have the capacity to do.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 57:02

And, as we were saying, when it comes to microplastics and all of these different toxins, it's really about the small steps in the direction of health.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 57:12

It's making these small changes, day by day, these decisions that add up and build health, instead of slowly falling down the rabbit hole of disease by, you know, making these up, making the other, taking the other path, you know, and instead of going hyper fixated on healing, I do also want to encourage everybody to to look into the middle way, and you know it's like for me. I know everything in my house that I cook is organic regener psycho mom status for me and my kid. That being said, remy eats bubbles all day, every day. That kid is bubble maniac to the face right, and if I go out to get tacos, I'm going to eat the pork belly tacos with the likely GMO corn tortillas, and I'm going to drink a margarita, it is what it is, that's my middle way that helps keep me sane and happy and also help you. So it's like find that balance for you and just keep moving in that direction. And you know I'm sure anybody listening to your podcast is is moving in the right direction already.

Sandy Kruse: 58:20

Let us know where we can find you, chloe. Where can we find you and more information about you? And I know you're very active on TikTok and is it radical rootscom?

Dr. Chloe Weber: 58:32

Yeah, I've got radical roots herbscom for CBD and Chinese herbs. I just launched noxy herbscom, which is noxi, which is a woman's's health line, and then my podcast is radicalremedyorg. The podcast is Radical Remedy and it's all about really supporting healthy kids and happy moms, because, at the end of the day, I do not believe that you can have one without the other, and I'm really obsessed with the idea of building health in our children and in order to do that, I think we also need to support our mothers, because this is not an easy path.

Sandy Kruse: 59:10

I love it. Thank you so much, chloe. It was just so great, such a great conversation with you always.

Dr. Chloe Weber: 59:18

Thank you. It's an honor to be here. I always love your show and appreciate so much the authenticity and the integrity that brings everything that you do.

Sandy Kruse: 59:26

Likewise, my dear, likewise, I hope you enjoyed this episode. Be sure to share it with someone you know might benefit, and always remember when you rate, review, subscribe, you help to support my content and help me to keep going and bringing these conversations to you each and every week. Join me next week for a new topic, new guest, new exciting conversations to help you live your best life.