One World Pharma's NBA Legend Isiah Thomas Is Creating CBD-Infused Sports Performance/Recovery Drink, Tapping Power Of Pressure BioSciences Nanoemulsions To Amplify Absorption Rates

A line of next-generation sports drinks infused with CBD and antioxidant nanoemulsions is set to come to market soon, thanks to a collaboration agreement announced in January between leading cannabis producer, One World Products, Inc. OWPC and Pressure BioSciences, Inc. PBIO, developer of the breakthrough UltraShear™ nanoemulsification technology.

The $9.5 billion sports drink market is growing consistently, as not just athletes but general consumers increasingly prioritize health, performance and fitness in a post-pandemic world. This new line of CBD-infused sports drinks will sit at the intersection of that demand for higher-performing, healthier sports drinks and the emerging CBD-infused beverage market, which is currently growing at lightning speed, with an estimated compound growth rate of 27.5% per year. 

Here’s a closer look at what’s driving growth in the sports drink and CBD-infused beverage markets, and how the OWPC-PBIO collaboration is planning to set a new standard for potent performance and recovery drinks. 

CBD Is Primed For The Sports Drink Market, But Adoption Has Been Hampered By Poor Absorption Rates

Cannabidiol (CBD) is one of the non-psychoactive compounds found in cannabis that has gained popularity in the self-care and wellness space for a mixture of benefits, including pain and inflammation reduction, anxiety reduction, relaxation and as a sleep aid. 

Many in the CBD-infused beverage industry are focused on CBD as a mood booster and relaxation product, producing CBD-infused beers and seltzers, or more innovative CBD-infused alcohol alternatives like the alcohol-free CBD beer Hi-Fi Sessions from Lagunitas Brewing Company HEINY.  But CBD has the potential to offer more than just calming benefits to consumers. 

Most notably for the sports drink market, studies have found that CBD can reduce inflammation and speed up muscle recovery after exercise. It can also reduce neuropathic pain, the kind caused by nerve damage that can occur during intense training or sports injuries, and may speed up the healing process for bone injuries. 

However, a key challenge beverage makers face is creating a CBD-infused drink that the body can efficiently absorb. Oil-based compounds like CBD are generally poorly absorbed by the water-based biochemistry of our bodies, with research showing that as little as 6% of the dose consumed in current products actually makes it into the bloodstream. The rest is wasted, passing through the digestive system unused.

This means consumers do not get the full benefits of the CBD oil infused into their beverage, while manufacturers are having to compensate for low absorption by paying to add far more of the active ingredient than they would need to if it could be more efficiently absorbed. 

That’s the problem that the CBD-infused sports drink line in development by PBIO and OWPC will be resolving, while maximizing CBD’s potential as a performance and recovery enhancer. 

UltraShear™ Nanoemulsions Are Key To The Edge That The New CBD-Infused Sports Drinks Will Deliver To The Market

“This next-generation CBD-nanoemulsion beverage is being designed for fast reduction of inflammation and pain, improved recovery time, and enhanced overall performance - all to be achieved quicker than any competing drink on the market today,” said OWPC CEO and NBA Hall-of-Famer, Isiah Thomas. 

To improve CBD absorption rates, the drink will be manufactured using PBIO’s patented UltraShear™ platform that can break down the oil containing the active CBD molecules into vanishingly tiny, nanosized droplets that are effectively water-soluble. Not only can this dramatically improve absorption rates, but it also makes the emulsion very shelf stable, because the nano-sized droplets are so small that they are easily stabilized and don’t recombine into larger (less efficient for absorption) oil droplets while the beverage is sitting on store shelves. Tests have reported over 30 months of shelf-stability for CBD nanoemulsions made using PBIO’s cutting-edge UltraShear technology. 

The UltraShear™ technology achieves this by shearing the CBD oil under extreme pressure into tiny nanosized droplets while minimizing the heat or chemical additives involved in the emulsification processes. That gives their forthcoming CBD sports drink a distinct edge in a market where consumers are increasingly concerned about the quality, performance, and purity of ingredients in the beverages they drink. 

“OWPC has become a leading producer of the highest quality and sustainably sourced hemp-derived CBD in Colombia, and is closely partnered with their government and indigenous populations,” said PBIO President and CEO, Richard T. Schumacher, “and we are proud to partner with them on this quality and performance leading, innovative new sports drink offering.  Through this partnership, OWPC’s high-quality CBD oil will be processed into a potent nanoemulsion with PBIO’s UltraShear technology, so that it can be rapidly and more fully absorbed by the body to help fuel better workout performance and better post-workout recoveries.” 

OWPC’s new sports drink line will also include formulations with nanoemulsions of other oil-based performance-enhancing ingredients, like vitamins and nutraceuticals that traditionally struggle with the same poor absorption issues. 

Featured photo by Ketut Subiyanto on Pexels

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