‘The Entourage Effect lives here.’

I use this phrase frequently. But what does it actually mean? The usage 'Entourage Effect’ arose when CBD appeared during the initial growth of hemp’s popularity. Israeli researchers coined the terminology when they realized that, for best effect, CBD should not be ‘sliced and diced’ to remove critical components of the overall hemp plant, specifically, THC.

Researchers found that CBD ‘isolates’ , ‘broad-spectrum, ‘THC-free’ CBD products did not work as effectively when some pieces were actually removed. The CBD benefits were all intertwined with its accompanying brothers, sisters, cousins, nephews - all the myriad and complex chemical constituents that make up a full-spectrum CBD product. In effect, CBD’s benefits were reduced if family members became absent; hence, the Entourage Effect.

Why am I Raising this Issue?

Recently, a (very appreciative) customer wrote and complimented our Original ointment on how good it had helped reduce the discomfort she had been experiencing with her eczema condition. She had tried multiple products, including TraumaPlant, and none had helped. Until she applied the Original ointment.

The Original ointment consists entirely of comfrey. Eczema has what is referred to as a very high cell ‘turnover’ rate. Under normal circumstances, our body replaces a cell about once a month; with eczema, the demand is significantly increased to less than a week; thus, a lot of new cells are required, far more than normal.

Comfrey’s main active ingredient, allantoin, is a cell-proliferant, encouraging new cell growth. Under crisis, it helps your body produce more skin cells. Thus, for eczema and psoriasis, examples of atopic dermatitis, comfrey can fulfill a real need of being the catalyst to supply new cells.

TraumaPlant uses comfrey, too. They use the same comfrey strain, comfrey uplandicum, as we do. The significant difference between our two products, though, is that TraumaPlant uses comfrey oil extract whereas we create our ointments via the infusion process.

Full-spectrum vs Oil Extracts (Essential Oils)

So what could account for our improved efficacy in treating the customer’s eczema issue? At this point, all of the following is conjecture but, in essence, an oil extract of comfrey, though a significant part of the whole plant, remains a selected slice of the pie, whereas our infusion process gives you a full-spectrum transfer of comfrey’s entirety to our underlying carrier oils.

Full-spectrum provides the complete medicinal array found in the large comfrey leaves we infuse, whereas a comfrey oil extract may only provide a reduced set of the intended treatment and benefits.

I’m not fully qualified to judge the merits of this argument; but I will continue making Catskills Comfrey ointments via the classic infusion process, just like you immerse tea in hot water, and create our ointments, ultimately, as a full-spectrum comfrey-based product. Comfrey is a complex plant with numerous, medicinally-beneficial constituents - and the infusion process ensures an encompassing array of comfrey’s entire family of benefits.

Or was the positive eczema response simply due to a higher comfrey concentration, compared to TraumaPlant? I cannot know. I have not found a lab that can assay for allantoin.

The Entourage Effect lives here.