For 17 years, Margaret Wenzel has been a fixture in her little shop, New Canaan Healthfare, which she co-owns with her husband, Jim. While we know her best as a dietitian armed with infinite knowledge on supplements, healthy foods and general wellness, Margaret has developed a specialized interest in tick-borne infections.

In her studies on tick-borne illness, Margaret delved into learning more about CBD products. Even with initial mixed thoughts, she believed that CBD had potential and in an industry that housed a great deal of confusion over varying ingredients and drastically differing qualities, Margaret had her work cut out of her. She jumped right in to conduct CBD studies out of the store. Loyal customers volunteered and filled out surveys, there was a "beautiful community feel" she says. Many of the study participants were interested in CBD oil in the hopes of it bringing them anxiery relief. Her final dissertation, using Using Social Cognitive Theory to Explain Cannabidiol Usage for Generalized Anxiety Disorder, helps prove that CBD can be quite effective.

"I went into this study hoping to gather people's opinions, but what I quickly saw was that CBD oil was giving the solutions." says Margaret. It was positive experience for most participants and even life changing for others."One woman said that she had never experienced life without anxiety until she started taking CBD oil."

We caught up with Margaret at the shop recently to discuss the benefits of CBD and what we should look for in a product.

Q: What makes one CBD oil better than another?

A: It simply comes down to the quality of raw material. There are various grades of raw materials and, frankly, some of them are quite questionable. We have scrutinized the brands that we have placed into our store. For example, my favorite CBD company oversees absolutely every step in the process of producing the finished product from seed to shelf. They even have their own olive groves where they grow the olives from which the carrier oil is extracted.

Q: What specific thing should we be looking for on the label?

A: This is another complex part of choosing the highest-quality CBD oil. For example, we have read labels of the products that customers are hoping to fill in which the ingredient label merely reads "hemp oil". There is hemp oil that contains absolutely no CBD.

Q: What might make a particular product the wrong choice?

A: I like organically grown CBD products. When there is a concentation of an extract, applied during the growing process, a pesticide or herbicide, these substances can also get concentrated into the finished product. We can avoid this quality breach by choosing organically grown CBD products.

Q: Does price indicate a better a quality CBD oil?

A: In my experience of comparing various brands, potencies and raw material qualities, there is often no rhyme or reason for the unique price points. CBD products have captivated a lot of interest, and some of the companies are simply motivated to make quick money.

Q: Would you direct people to buy the same product for pain as you would for anxiety?

A: Yes, CBD is highly effective for anxiety, inflammation, sleep issues and seizure orders.

Q: It is said that cannabidiol works by repairing whatever needs "fixing" in the body. Is this true?

A: Cannabidiol modulates the unique imbalances in the individual's endocannabinoid system not discovered until the 1990s. This system oversees other subtle systems in the human body. The degree of imbalance in the endocannabinoid system determines a person's unique effective dosage, which is different for everyone.

Q: Other than CBD, what other wellness trends are emerging in 2022, and what are some products that you will be the selling that you are most excited about?

A: Many individuals fail to achieve optimal health because they struggle with symptoms spring-boarding from undiagnosed tick-borne diseases. I have recently created a trademarked business platform called Lymelabs. My goal is to provide accessibility to the more sophisticated and comprehensive testing for all individuals who need to be tested for tick-borne infections. Lymelabs includes a list of supplements that will be in supporting those recovering from tick-borne diseases. This arena is grossly misinformed.

Part of this platform is to provide an accurate re-education public health campaign to shed a bright light on the fact that this area has been tragically misleading patients astray with false-negative test results and not treating individuals to the point of eradicating these infections. I am passionate about this because it will heal many individuals dealing with peculiar symptomatology get to the root cause of their struggles.