These were the words of Simon Church, football player and co-founder of the CBD supplement brand, when he spoke at NutraIngredients’ Active Nutrition Summit last week (October 9-11), providing insight into the perception of CBD in elite sport.
Today, Church is a passionate entrepreneur and runs the CBD Performance brand. He once played international soccer but suffered from arthritis in his hip throughout his career.
“From the age of 22 I had a hip injury and started relying on sleeping pills and painkillers. I had to live with these medications every day and get through my training and games.
“But it had such a negative impact on my body that I started looking for natural alternatives.”
This happened in 2018 – the same year CBD was removed from the WADA doping list.
“I looked into CBD and began increasing my consumption over a six-month period so I could wean myself off the medication. I felt better and more comfortable and felt like there was something to it.”
When he retired at the age of 29 due to hip problems, he began discussing CBD as a business opportunity with his friend and co-founder Russell Short, a soccer player and fitness model.
Their goal was to create a CBD brand that appealed to health-conscious consumers and professional athletes.
They focused on creating all-natural, highly bioavailable, vegan, THC-free products that look and feel just like other sports nutrition products on the market.
“Back then there were only tinctures with a cannabis leaf on the packaging.
“We wanted to create a brand that had appeal as a sports nutrition supplement that friends and other athletes would enjoy taking.
“Especially now in professional sports, players don’t want to have to rely on painkillers and sleeping pills, but rather something more natural.”
However, during his fireside chat with NutraIngredients US Editor-in-Chief Stephen Daniells on ANS, he revealed that sports governing bodies have major concerns about these products.
“Unfortunately most clubs only want products that are certified by Informed Sport and they don’t want to certify these products even though there is so much regulatory uncertainty. That’s a pretty big hurdle.
“There were a lot of cowboys in the industry and a lot of bad claims. There have been companies that said they had a certain level of CBD, but when tested, the products did not contain any. It has given the industry a bad name.”
“We have elite athletes who take our products, but they don’t want to publicly recommend them because they’re worried about how they might look.
“They’re under a lot of pressure and they get enough negative comments and media attention on social media that I can understand that from an athlete’s perspective.”
In contrast, Daniells pointed out that although some states have their own legislation, the use of CBD in dietary supplements is not legal according to the FDA, but elite athletes in the states are still investing in and openly endorsing these products.
“Charlotte’s Web became the official CBD product of Major League Football and I thought that would have a huge impact on the industry, but it hasn’t moved the conversation.”
Church agreed, adding: “In the US the NFL is creating funding to research this and the impact on players.” In the UK I try to talk to the governing bodies, but you might as well talk to the wall.
“The Informed Sport thing is a pretty big hurdle, but ultimately I think it needs a big partnership [like that with Charlotte’s Web] to really change perception.”
He added that he would like to see football and rugby governing bodies be more open to helping develop science in this area.
However, he pointed out that the rugby federation was more open to it, probably thanks to the influence of FourFive CBD’s founders, who are former pro rugby players who remain closely associated with the sport.
CBD performance
The CBD Performance range includes: night spray oils with added magnesium; Multivitamin oil with added vitamin D3, vitamin A and turmeric; Protein powder in chocolate or vanilla flavor; Orange and berry flavored “moisture supplement” powder with added BCAA, electrolytes and vitamin B6; and a CBD muscle gel.
The range also includes a ‘Pro Series’ of CBD Isodrop oils, which are manufactured to ensure that athletes and anyone else subject to doping controls can use the entire range with peace of mind as they contain only 100% CBD and no contain other cannabinoids.
Comments are closed.