REVIEW – I’m always interested in trying alternative foods like the meal replacement shakes that I’ve been writing about lately. I’m also interested in alternative medicines that can help provide relief for a variety of health issues. I was invited to try some CBD products from Daddy Burt Hemp Co. CBD products have gained popularity in the last year, so I was game to give them a try.

What is it?

CBD aka Cannabidiol is an extract from the hemp plant and also the trendy new ingredient being used in 100’s of products including oils, lotions, edible gummies, and more. Some people claim that CBD helps with stress, anxiety, pain, inflammation, epilepsy symptoms, and more.

Daddy Burt Hemp Co. has family ties to the hemp farming business in Kentucky for over 100 years.

Are CBD products legal and will it make you high?

Those are the 2 main questions that most people wonder about when it comes to CBD products. Simply put, the answer to the first question is yes, and the answer to the second question is no.

CBD products that are made from hemp (like the ones from Daddy Burt) are legal to use and purchase from online retailers in the US.

Using CBD products will not make you high because CBD has no psychoactive, intoxicating, or mind-altering effects. That said, some types of CBD products can contain traces of THC which can show up in a drug test. Daddy Burt Hemp Co. offers CBD isolate oils which contain zero THC so there are no worries about it causing a failed drug test. CBD is also not addictive and has no side effects.

For more info on these topics, you can check out the CBD FAQ on Daddy Burt’s site.

My experience using Daddy Burt Hemp Co. CBD oil

Daddy Burt Hemp Company sent me a bottle of their THC free CBD oil and a bottle of their full-spectrum CBD oil which does contain less than 0.3% of THC, so it can show up on a drug test. If that is a concern, the THC free CBD isolate should be chosen instead.

I was interested in trying the full-spectrum version of the CBD oil because it has 85 different cannabinoids from hemp which is supposed to provide extra benefits over the isolate version. I have tried another company’s CBD oil in the past and didn’t feel any benefits at all.

I also wanted to see if CBD oil could help with mild joint pain and mild stress/anxiety issues that I sometimes have. For joint pain, I think I have the start of arthritis or an RSI (repeated stress injury) in my right lower thumb. I usually just take Tumeric capsules for it and stopped taking Tumeric prior to testing the CBD.

As for stress, I will sometimes feel a little anxious when it comes to social events. This is very mild and usually only consists of getting an upset stomach before the event or the worry that I might get a stomach ache at some point. I do not and have never taken drugs for anxiety.

I realize that my experience trying these products are personal to me and that others can have a completely different experience or no experience at all.

Both types of CBD oil samples that were sent to me came in a small brown glass bottle that holds 30 25mg servings.

The bottles have a glass eye dropper attached to the cap. The dropper has dosage markings on the glass tube.

You can use the oil sublingually by putting the drops under your tongue and holding them there for at least 60 seconds. There aren’t any specific dosage rules as far as if you want to take a full dose (25ml) once a day or break up the dose twice a day. During the few weeks that I’ve been testing them, I would take a dose in the morning and another in the late afternoon.

The taste of the oils are neutral like a light olive oil or in the case of the full spectrum version, it has a slight peppermint flavor.

When I first took the full-spectrum oil, I wondered if I would feel “anything” weird since it has a tiny bit of THC in it. I really didn’t feel anything at all. I didn’t get all zen, and I didn’t get the munchies. I just felt nothing. I was actually a little disappointed. But, I kept taking it and after a couple of weeks, I have noticed a few things.

The swelling and minor pain in my hand seem improved. It’s not like it’s healed and 100% better, but I would say that it’s 20% better than when I was taking Tumeric.

What about anxiety? Since I don’t have many instances when I have that issue, I wasn’t sure I’d have a chance to really test for improvement while testing this product. But 2 occasions did come up while taking the CBD oil. The first instance was when we were going to a concert in another town. Typically, I would feel a little stressed about driving there, finding a place to eat, finding parking, etc, in time to get to the theater for the show. I had no worries or upset stomach issues during the trip.

Then, another time we had plans to meet with a family member that I’ve not seen face to face in a couple of years. I would normally be anxious about that but this time I wasn’t at all and didn’t even realize that I wasn’t nervous until it was back home.

What I like

• Easy to use
• U.S. Hemp Authority Certification

What I’d change

• Nothing

Final thoughts

Reviewing a product where the results are subjective is tough especially when it comes to foods and products like CBD oil where each person that tries it can have a completely different experience. That said, I will say that I feel like I’ve had good results when taking Daddy Burt Hemp Co. CBD oils.

I feel like the oil helped with the inflammation in my hand and it helped with my anxiety issues. I can’t promise this product will do the same for you, but if you’ve thought about trying CBD oil but weren’t sure which company’s products to try, I have no problems recommending Daddy Burt Hemp Co. CBD products and I hope to try some of their other CBD products like their lotions and gummies in the future.

Price: $74.95 per 1 oz (30ml) bottle
Where to buy: Daddy Burt Hemp Co.
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Daddy Burt Hemp Co.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Health and fitness

Daddy Burt Hemp Co. CBD oil review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 25, 2019 at 11:22 am.

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REVIEW -Remember in The Lion King, when the hyenas, Shenzi, Banzai and Ed, say,

“Mufasa”
“Ooooo, do it again”
“Mufasa”
“Ooooooo”
“Mufasa, Mufasa, Mufasa”

It’s just fun to say.  Kinds of like, “sphygmomanometer”.  OK, maybe that’s a little more difficult than “Mufasa”, but it’s still a fun word.  What is it, you ask?  That’s the official, hoity-toity medical word for a blood pressure cuff.

One of the most important health indicators is blood pressure. High blood pressure means that there is too much resistance in your arteries and that can increase your risk for stroke, heart attack, and heart or kidney failure. Low blood pressure can predict future heart issues.

Other than going to a local grocery store and use that public blood pressure tester with questionable cleanliness and accuracy, what is a health-conscious person to do if they want to keep tabs on their blood pressure regularly? Homiee has the answer with their reasonably-priced BP1003 home blood pressure monitor.

What is it?

The BP1003 is a battery-operated, automatic blood pressure and pulse monitor. It can store 120 individual readings for two different users.  It can also detect atrial fibrillation (AFib) – a quivering or irregular heartbeat.

What’s in the box?

• BP1003 monitor
• Adjustable cuff
• 4 AA batteries
• Welcome card
• Instruction manual

Hardware specs

• Dimensions: 4.7 x 3.9 x 6.3 inches
• Weight: 1.32 pounds
• BP accuracy: +/- 3mm Hg
• Pulse accuracy: +/- 5%
• Memory: 120 readings for each of two users (about 8 weeks of 2 x daily readings)
• Cuff size: 9″ – 17″

Design and features

The main unit is a solidly constructed wedge design, meant to keep the display aimed comfortably at your eye when you are seated and the unit is on a table.  It works for me.  The cuff is adjustable and secures with several inches of overlapping velcro, making it easy to get your arm in and snug up the cuff.  The cuff’s hose is long enough to allow you to comfortably have your arm resting with the monitor in front of you.

On the back, we find a micro-USB port.

Interestingly, there is nothing in the manual about it.  Online, I discovered that it is a power port if you elect to eschew the convenience of batteries and tether yourself to a wall plug. I won’t be doing that.

Setup

Setup starts pretty simply.

Install the included 4 AA batteries in the back battery compartment.

Plugin the cuff hose.

Then, the setup gets a little more complicated.

On the right side of the unit, we find two buttons:

They are cleverly labeled “M” for memory to access the stored readings and “L” for setup. OK – I don’t get that last one, but that’s what it is. To complete the setup, hold the “L” button until the user icon flashes.  Hitting “M” when something is flashing changes values. Hitting “L” changes the active parameter. So, hit “L” to get to the year and “M” to set it, “L” to get to the month and “M” so set it, “L” to get to the day, and so on. This continues for the hour, minute and measurement units – millimeters of mercury (mmHg) or kilopascals (KPa). Your doctor most likely uses mmHg. This is the same process used to changes from user 1 to user 2.  Suffice it to say that the user interface needs some tweaking.

Performance

First – a note about the photos. Any missing segments on digits are an issue with the photo and not the unit.  LCDs flash a little bit.  While this isn’t visible to the naked eye, a camera’s shutter can open at just the wrong time and a segment may appear to be off when it is actually on to the eye.

After putting on the cuff, you press the “x1” or “x2” button to start a blood pressure reading. More on the “x1” and “x2” button later.

Like all blood pressure units, the cuff inflates beyond where it needs to be to read the pressure, and then slowly deflates while it records the systolic number or top number, followed by the diastolic or bottom number. The systolic number measures pressure inside your arteries during a heartbeat while the diastolic number measures that same pressure between beats.  Once both numbers are recorded, the cuff deflates completely and the reading is complete.

The large pressure numbers count down as the pressure is released.

While readings are being taken, the heart icon on the left flashes as it detects heartbeats.  This indicator turns off after the reading unless it defects AFib. In that case, it will remain on and will also show when you review historical readings where AFib was detected.

If you move your arm too much during a reading, the person icon shows up to remind you to sit still.  To the right of that is the OK icon, indicating that the cuff is properly attached.  It will indicate if the cuff is too loose, ensuring that you get a good reading.

Once you get a good reading, the display shows your systolic and diastolic numbers in large, easy to read numbers, Your pulse is shown in the lower left in smaller numbers.  A vertical bar graph along the left indicates if you are in the green (normal), yellow (at risk) or red (see a doctor – now!) zones.

One problem with blood pressure readings is that they are notoriously variable.  I was at my doctor’s office and a nurse took it the old-fashioned way with a manual cuff and stethoscope. It was abnormally high so another nurse took it the same way five minutes later and got results 10-15 points lower on both numbers.  Automated monitors suffer from the same variability.  Homiee has an answer for that.

Remember the “x1” and “x2” buttons?

Pressing x1 will a single reading.  Pressing x2 runs a reading, pauses for a few seconds and then runs a second reading.  It then averages the two providing what should be a more accurate overall reading by allowing for the small variances that happen naturally.  I really like this feature.

To the left of those buttons are the day and night buttons. Pressing these provides overall eight week averages and weekly averages for daytime or nighttime measurements.

To change users, as mentioned above, hold the “L” button for three seconds until the user icon flashes and then press the “M” button to change users.

Here we see a user #2 reading for my lovely, and low-pressure wife.

When you aren’t in reading mode, pressing the “M” button will cycle through the last 120 readings for the selected user.  Time and date are shown for each reading along with the AFib indicator if AFib was detected for that reading.

One thing to note is that the display never shuts off.  It always displays the time, user, and the buttons along the bottom. LCDs have a very low power draw, so that shouldn’t affect battery life in any meaningful way.

Another user interface issue for me is that there is seemingly no way to get out of memory review other than wait for the unit to power down and revert to time display mode. After fiddling a bit, I discovered that hitting the “x1” button reverts the unit into reading mode without actually starting a reading.  Again, poor user interface design.

Finally, holding the “M” button for several seconds will wipe out all stored readings.

What I like

• Accurate
• Super easy to read
• Good memory for tracking trends
• The double reading averaging feature

What I’d change

• The user interface needs to be improved and simplified – especially for switching users.

Final thoughts

We should all be aware of our blood pressure.  For a healthy person, once a year readings during your annual physical can suffice.  But as we age, or are otherwise at risk for health issues, that need becomes more critical.  The Homiee BP1003 is a capable unit that can help you track your blood pressure and watch for any trends that might warrant a trip to the doctor.

Sphygmomanometer
Oooooo, do it again!
Sphygmomanometer
Oooooooo
Sphygmomanometer, sphygmomanometer, sphygmomanometer!

Price: $49.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Homiee.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Health and fitness

Homiee BP1003 blood pressure monitor review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 13, 2019 at 9:00 am.

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REVIEW – Do you have questions about your health? Maybe you wonder how your body reacts to stress or if you’re sensitive to certain foods. Maybe you want to check your levels of vitamin D or even take an HIV test. Going through your family doctor for a variety of lab tests can be very expensive especially if they are not covered under you your health insurance plan. Is there another way to get health tests done quickly and without a huge expense? EverlyWell thinks so. To try their service, they sent me two of their at home lab tests to try, let’s check out the tests, the experience, and the results.

What is it?

EverlyWell is a company that offers physician-approved lab tests that you can do yourself in the privacy of your home without requiring a visit to your doctor’s office.

EverlyWell offers a wide variety of health tests like an HIV test, cholesterol test, Vitamin D test, Lyme disease test, and many more. I was sent a stress/sleep test and a food sensitivity test.

Sleep & Stress Test

EverlyWell sent me their Sleep & Stress Test which provides some guidance on how four hormones that deal with stress and sleep change throughout the day and can affect your sleep.

This test requires that 4 urine samples be collected throughout the day. Oh boy, I get to pee in a cup! Basically, you collect urine first thing after you wake up, again in 2hrs, again at dinner time in the evening, and one last time before going to bed.

Special filter paper is included with this test kit along with a collapsible cup. So you pee in the cup, place the paper in the cup, remove the paper, let it dry, and place all the dated/timed sample collection papers in a biohazard bag and ship them back to EverlyWell for testing.

Results

I mailed the completed test kit to Everlywell on a Monday and received the results four days later on Friday.  The sleep and stress test results provided levels info on the hormones Cortisol, Cortisone, Melatonin, and Creatinine (not a hormone) for each of the 4 collections. Although the results showed the levels, I was confused about what I should do with the info. Luckily, EverlyWell provides free help to understand the test results. They have online chat or one on one phone calls from a health professional who can answer questions and provide insight into the results.

I was able to schedule a call at a time that worked best for me and was called promptly at the scheduled time. I was able to ask all the questions I needed to ask to understand the results. It was interesting that she was asked if I watch a lot of screens before I go to bed because she could tell that one of the hormones was low at the before bedtime reading and suggested that I try to stop screen use 1-2hrs before bedtime. I don’t really have sleep issues, but I may try that tip just to see if my sleep can be improved even more.

Food Sensitivity test

First of all, it’s important that you understand that this test does not tell you if you are allergic to a food. Unlike food allergies, food sensitivities aren’t life-threatening, but they can cause a body immune response like skin problems, GI problems, headaches, body aches, bloating, etc hours, and even days after the food is consumed.  For example, if you are lactose intolerant, you won’t die if you drink a glass of milk or eat some ice cream, but doing so might leave you feeling bloated or cause other GI issues.

The EverlyWell Food Sensitivity Test tests the IgG reactivity to 96 foods that are commonly found in western diets. IgG stands for Immunoglobulin G which is an antibody which circulates our immune system and can trigger to show sensitivity to certain foods that we eat.

Each kit contains everything you need to collect the bio samples needed for the test and then mail them back to EverlyWell. Depending on the test, the package contains different items. The food sensitivity test includes:

• Alcohol prep pad
• Collection card
• 2 lancets
• Bandaid
• Gauze pad
• Biohazard bag
• Return envelope and a paid return label
• Instructions

The tests also include easy to understand step by step instructions for collecting the samples.

The Food Sensitivity test requires that you collect blood samples by using a lancet which is a small plastic device that has a tiny spring-loaded blade which pricks your finger so you can place 5 drops of blood on a special collection card.

Once the samples are collected, the card needs the patient’s name, date, and time written on it. Then the card is placed in the included biohazard bag and the bag is placed back in the box. The box is then placed in the included bag and the paid shipping label can be pasted on it. All that’s left to do at this point is to mail the test via USPS back to the lab and wait for the results which only takes 1-2 weeks give or take.

Results

The results are provided on EverlyWell’s website in an easy to read format. It should be obvious that results for any medical test will be different for each person. My results for the Food Sensitivity test surprised me quite a bit.

The test showed that I have a high reactivity/sensitivity to Brewers Yeast. Good thing that I don’t drink beer, eat much soy sauce, or vegemite which contain a lot of Brewers Yeast. I do however take B vitamin supplements which contain this substance.

Another food item that I’m supposed to be moderately sensitive to is oats. This really concerned me because I eat oats like… well, a horse! I have oatmeal many times a week and drink a lot of meal replacement shakes which use oats as a protein source.

Should I be concerned? It’s not like these eating these foods will kill me, but could they be causing some of the minor problems that I have taken for granted like sinus issues, and minor aches and pains?

Everlywell suggests that the best way to see if high and moderately reactive foods in the test results are causing you issues is to do a 2-part elimination diet where you stop eating the foods for 30 days and then reintroduce one food at a time to see if any symptoms are noticed.

You can also do a quick test where you eliminate the foods for just 4 days and then on the 5th day reintroduce one food, wait for 3-4 days to see if any symptoms are noticed and then add the next food back for 1 day and again wait 3-4 days for symptoms.

I’ll post an update to this review after my elimination diet time is completed. Right now I’m just doing the quick test because going 30 days without oats sounds terrible to me because I enjoy them so much.

What I like

• Easy tests that can be done at home
• Relatively inexpensive
• Fast results

What I’d change

• Unsure of the usefulness of some test results

Final thoughts

I went into this review with a healthy dose of skepticism especially about food sensitivity test and after doing some research, I find that I’m not alone. While there are many people who rave about IgG tests and finding foods that have caused them many problems, I found articles from others, including doctors that say tests like the one I’ve reviewed here are unproven and controversial and can show many false positives. Here are a few articles that I found on the subject.

The myth of IgG food panel tests from the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology

A ‘Shark Tank’-funded test for food sensitivity is medically dubious, experts say

IgG Food Intolerance Tests: What does the science say?

While tests from EverlyWell that test for things like Vitamin D levels, and sexually transmitted diseases seem like they should be accurate, tests like the Food Sensitivity test could actually be harmful if someone sees a bunch of foods that are so-called reactive and eliminate them from their diet. On the other hand, it’s possible that the IgG test can help a person find a culprit for chronic health problems. Can you tell that I’m on the fence on this one? For that reason, I’m trying the elimination diet just to see what happens. If my sinus issues and aches/pains disappear, by cutting out oats and vitamin B, you all will be the first to know. In the meantime, be careful with tests like the Food Sensitivity test. If you’re having health issues, it’s always best to consult your family doctor first before trying at home health tests.

Price: $49.99 and up. Varies depending on the test
Where to buy: EverlyWell and Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by Everlywell.

Filed in categories: Reviews

Tagged: Health and fitness

EverlyWell at home lab tests review originally appeared on The Gadgeteer on August 6, 2019 at 9:32 am.

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