The Feel Free Lawsuit And The Controversy Around Kratom.

• Founder and CEO of Botanic Tonics (use code BEN40, all new customers will get $40 off)
• The first time, he introduced Feel Free
  • Alternative for energy drinks and alcohol
  • Ben absolutely loves the product and continues to use it
  • Averages 3-5 bottles a week
• On the second show, he presented another product
  • Feel Free in capsule form, with the same ingredients (kava & kratom)
  • Talked about dosage
• Now the NEW product, a kratom-free Feel Free Tonic drink (use code BEN to save $40 for new and returning customers)
• Previous podcasts with JW Ross:

-The lawsuit against Botanic Tonics…07:52

• Getting sued
  • An individual claiming wrongful marketing
• Jerry is a recovering alcoholic
  • Hasn’t had a drink for 13 years
• The individual is also a recovering alcoholic
  • Started drinking Feel Free but way beyond the recommended dosage
  • Claims he needed alcohol to get off drinking Feel Free
• People don’t pay attention to the recommended dosages
  • Consuming too much of anything can be dangerous
  • You can OD on water if you drink too much
• Anything that makes you feel good can be habit forming
• The individual that sued the company claims that:
  • There is way more kratom than kava in the product
  • That the kratom has been synthetically altered
• None of it is true

-How testing works in the supplement industry…12:35

• The individual who sued has not done any testing
• The company did all the required testing
  • Tested every single batch for:
    • Contaminants
    • Active ingredient levels
  • Had a full FDA audit
• How does testing work?
  • You’re allowed to either test in-house or external
  • Most of the bigger companies actually test internal
  • Smaller companies go to a limited number of accredited labs
  • From each batch produced, samples are sent for testing
• What were the test results?
  • You have to get the results back before you can even release the product
  • A batch that is out of spec has to be disposed of
  • A certified third party comes in for the disposal, and has to certify:
    • That they picked up the disposal
    • When they took the disposal
    • How much they took
• During the FDA audit, records of every single batch that was ever produced were reviewed
  • The company is obliged to keep retains of each batch produced from six months to a year
• What does it mean to be out of spec?
  • The active ingredient was a little bit higher or lower than what it was supposed to be
  • Happened twice to Botanic Tonics
  • A certified third party had to come for disposal
• Ben invested in the cannabis space
  • Visited one of the facilities in Seattle
  • They had giant trash cans full of chocolate cannabis blended with cow manure and compost
  • Homeless people around the warehouse used to consume what they threw out

-Kratom and kava in Feel Free…17:27

• The kratom over kava ratio is 10:1
  • 10 to 1 kavalactones over alkaloids
• Kratom and kava are stimulants or anxiolytic compounds
  • Delved into the science of every ingredient in previous episodes
• Mark Bell
• Mind Bullet
• The lawsuit states that the ratios are different than claimed
• Feel Free doesn’t contain kratom extracts, just full-leaf ground kratom
  • They use 25 milligrams of alkaloids of kratom per serving
  • Products available in the market start at about 50 mg and they go up to 250 mg
  • Some products could have up to 10x the amount than Feel Free
• What would it take to make that synthetic?
  • You would have to synthesize it and basically make a drug out of it
  • One step beyond making an extract
• Feel Free takes natural kratom leaves, dries and grinds them, and puts them into the shot
• Whole-leaf kratom has 50 different alkaloids while typical extracts have only one or two
  • Could be the reason for the different feel of the Feel Free product 
  • Then kava is mixed in
• Why combine kava with kratom?
• Initially, Jerry made the product for himself because he stopped using alcohol
  • Needed something that creates a similar feeling
  • Couldn’t find anything on the market
  • Started mixing different things together
  • Came out with a kava-kratom mixture
• Kava is relaxing, and kratom is energizing
• Ben’s experience with kava and kratom
  • It can cause a little bit of gastric upset
• Some people have gut issues or constipation
  • The reason can be taking excessive amounts, meaning a lot of plant fiber
• Ground kratom leaf is not considered a fermentable gut starch

-The labeling of kratom and FDA regulation…31:21

• Kratom has been around in the US since the ’70s
  • Originated in Southeast Asia
• Could be between 15 and 20 million people in the US that use it on a regular basis
• You have to consume it responsibly, or you’ll have issues
• FDA has tried for a long, long time to ban it
• DEA actually tried to schedule it, but Congress stopped them
• FDA tried to get the World Health Organization to ban it internationally
  • Scientists looked at all the data and said it does not warrant a ban
• FDA still continues to try to figure out ways to tamp it down
• When companies reach a certain size, they come in and raid them
  • Botanic Tonics was raided too
  • Came in with a court order and asked for an inventory of finished and unfinished product
• Jerry filed a motion to dismiss based on feeling they don’t have the grounds to do that
• They’ve done this about 4-5 times to different companies
  • Jerry is the first one to challenge them
• Labels have always been compliant
• Botanic Tonics Fact Sheet

-Reddit users complaining about side effects of kratom…36:19

• Reddit thread with people claiming to have similar experience to the person that is suing has 300 members
• Another Reddit thread with the opposite stance has 32,000 members
  • For many people, it is a lifesaver
• Kratom is not for everyone
• People metabolize things differently – like slow and fast coffee metabolizers
• CYP enzymes
• 20% of people are bad at metabolizing kratom
• Most of the people complaining are having 5-6 a day
• Deaths related to kratom
  • Jerry used the data from the FDA site
  • Not a single verified kratom-only death to date
• There are hundreds of deaths every year from caffeine
• Kratom is much safer than alcohol, caffeine, or Tylenol
• Not had a single report of a death related to Feel Free itself
• No verified liver damage or any physical damage

-The use of kratom as an alternative to opioids…41:39

• Ben used it a couple of times for pain instead of a prescribed painkiller
  • A lot of ultra-runners use microdoses of THC and LSD to get through a 50-mile run
  • People use kratom to blast through a hit workout or high-intensity workout
• Looking at the FDA’s database, about, 50,000 to 60,000 people a year die from opioids

• No clinical studies as to the efficacy of kratom in terms of an opioid alternative
• Most of the people that die from opioids die because they stopped breathing
  • Kratom does not have a respiratory suppressant effect
  • Large doses will make you sick 
• Kratom as an Alternative for Opium Withdrawal – Dr. Mercola article

-The benefits and safety of kava…43:44

• No single verified death from kava ever that can be found anywhere
• Podcast with Cameron George:
• Tru Kava (use code BEN10 to save 10%)
• Kava is very safe to use
• The biggest issues our society is facing today are stress and anxiety
  • People are self-medicating for that
  • Using sugar, alcohol, prescription drugs
• Probably the best treatment for stress and anxiety is kava
• Kava is the main ingredient in Feel Free products 
• The key is to make it taste good and offset the bitterness
• Kava is the closest thing to weed but it doesn’t result in any of the neural deficits
• Enhances creativity 
• People in the Pacific Islands are consuming it regularly on a daily basis
  • They’re happy and unstressed
• About 80% of the kava in the world is grown in Vanuatu, a group of islands between Fiji and New Zealand
• Also gown in several other areas throughout the Pacific
• There are probably 200 strains of Kava
• Weed has much more THC today than in the past, it’s now more potent
• Synthetic THC, synthetic kratom extracts, caffeine powder, and energy drinks don’t do any good

-How JW is handling the lawsuit…50:39

• Went through a lot of stress throughout his life
• Now using Feel Free to relieve stress and anxiety 
• Does sauna, cold plunge, workout every morning
• Good eating habits are effective but uses Feel Free to cope and not go back to alcohol

-The new formula without kratom…51:55

• New product with a new formula, Feel Free Tonic (use code BEN to save $40)
• Took a group of ingredients and blended them together to get the same feeling that kratom gives
• It was difficult to figure out the right ratio of the ingredients 
• The ingredients are
  • Kola nut
  • Rhodiola
  • Lion’s mane
  • Kava
• Kola nut provides a natural caffeine
• Why Kola nut?
  • Tried every different form of natural caffeine that’s available
  • Over 200 different ingredients in different combinations
  • Did blind sensory testing until getting the right, the closest to how kratom feels
• The ingredients combined together provide a productivity and energy enhancement
• Ben tried the new formula – a little bit less kava in the new product than in the original
• It’s not about the individual ingredients but the effects when they are combined
• The capsule version of the new formula is coming out soon
• What is Rhodiola?
  • An adaptogen, not a mushroom
  • A natural ingredient used for productivity enhancement and focus
  • Similar to Reishi mushroom and Ashwagandha
  • Effective when combined with other ingredients
• Why lion’s mane?
  • Great when combined with other ingredients
  • Appears to act a little bit similar to psilocybin
  • It’s a precursor to BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor)
• Ben and his sons carry the gene that limits the production of BDNF so they use lion’s mane on a regular basis
• Useful as a creativity enhancement agent or a neuroplasticity-increasing agent
• It’s a mushroom so many people are concerned about the sourcing
• How the mushroom is grown or where it’s from?
  • The company is meticulous about the quality of the sourcing
  • Tried several different sources
• Mushrooms are bioremediants, they draw anything out from the soil or the medium that they’re grown upon
• Feel Free Tonic Ingredients

-Future innovations for Feel Free…1:01:55

• Coming soon is Feel Free carbonated soda with the same formula as the Feel Free Tonic 
• Tru Kava is also fantastic
• Some people tried to make Feel Free at home but are not very successful
  • It’s not just about the combinations and ratios; it’s also about the strains
  • It’s always more than what you think it is
• Ben’s oxtail experimentation for his new cookbook
• Botanic Tonics (use code BEN40 to save $40)