Is there anything better than starting the day with a smooth, bold flavoured cup of coffee? In today’s fast paced world, many are turning to a morning cup of Joe to kickstart their day. While coffee offers a host of health benefits, however, it also comes at a price, increasing anxiety and stress levels. Enter CBD oil, used to complement coffee to lessen those negative side effects. When paired together properly, this duo can help increase alertness, improve your mood, and protect your brain. Intrigued? Read on to learn why CBD and coffee are the perfect pairing.

BENEFITS OF COFFEE

The Coffee Association of Canada reported that over 70% of Canadians drank coffee everyday last year. An average of 3.2 cups were consumed daily among males and 2.3 cups consumed daily among females. In fact, coffee was the most popular drink consumed in Canada, followed by tap water.

Let that percolate for a second (pun intended): Canadians drink more coffee than they do water.

And in today’s non-stop society, coffee has become a staple in most Canadians’ diet whether they intended it or not. Basically, we’re a nation running on caffeine and anxiety…but it’s not all bad.

HEALTH BENEFITS OF COFFEE

In addition to fitting in comfortably with your health and fitness goals, making you feel less tired, and improving your energy levels, coffee can offer up a bunch of other health benefits as follows:

1. Boosts metabolism

Caffeine can help boost your metabolic rate by up to 11%, which is why it’s usually found in fat-burning supplements.

2.  Contains nutrients essential for our body

Coffee isn’t just for jolting awake, it also contains nutrients like riboflavin, pantothenic acid, manganese, potassium, magnesium, and niacin.

3. May lower your risk of disease

One Harvard study showed those who increased their coffee intake by one cup a day reduced their risk of Type 2 Diabetes by 11%. Another linked coffee to a decreased risk of Alzheimer’s by 65%, when 3-5 cups were consumed daily.

Other studies have shown regular coffee drinkers have a lower risk of Parkinson’s ranging from 20-30%. This may be due to the antioxidants found in coffee, as well as increased insulin sensitivity that comes with a cup of coffee.

4. May lower risk of liver disease

We all love our post-work Old Fashioneds every now and again, but it’s no secret that in today’s society, our livers take a beating. Adding 4 cups of coffee to your day can reduce the risk of liver disease by up to 80%.

5. May help you live longer

If you’re proudly here for a good time, not a long time, and are a regular coffee drinker, think again. Two major studies have shown regular coffee drinkers can have a lower risk of death—up to 20% in women, and up to 26% in men aged 18-24 years. That just means more time left on Earth for you to fuel your hustle.

6. Coffee contains the biggest source of antioxidants in the Western diet

Canadians drink more coffee than water, so it should be no surprise that we’re getting more antioxidants from coffee than from fruits and vegetables combined! When drank black, coffee can be considered one of the healthiest beverages around.

COFFEE FOR DIET AND FITNESS

Intermittent Fasting and coffee

If you’re immersed in a lifestyle of health and fitness, coffee can be the perfect complement to your fitness regimen or diet. Currently one of the most popular health and fitness trends, Intermittent Fasting is an eating pattern that cycles between feeding windows and fasting windows.

Common windows include 16:8 (fasted and feeding) or fasting for 24 hours on alternating days. If you’re the type to mindlessly snack or eat way too much at one go, Intermittent Fasting can be a powerful weight loss tool to help regulate calories.

Clocking in at a cool 0 cals, coffee acts as an appetite suppressant and can be drank in abundance if you’re Intermittent Fasting without breaking your fast.

Keto diet and coffee

The Keto diet is a high fat, high protein, low carb diet, which dictates a maximum of 25g of carbs per day. Chances are, we all have a friend who’s “on keto” and needs to keep their body in a state of ketosis, avoiding carbs like the plague—this might even be you.

If so, you can breathe a sigh of relief to know that coffee is keto friendly. When drank black, coffee contains with 0 carbs, and there’s even such a thing as keto coffee, infused with MCT Oil (the same oil resolveCBD Oil contains), to help you hit your fat goals without sacrificing carb intake.

Coffee as a pre workout

Traditional pre-workout supplements can boost performance in the gym, however, we like to keep things as simple as possible. When drank an hour before your workout, coffee not only acts as a pre-workout, increasing energy to hit that PR, but also causes fat cells to be used as an energy source rather than glycogen, leading to faster fat loss.

In fact, some studies show an increased physical performance of up to 12%. Keep in mind, we’re talking about black coffee, CBD infused coffee or keto coffee. Leave the carb-filled Pumpkin Spiced Lattes on Instagram where they belong.

BENEFITS OF CBD OIL

Before understanding how CBD oil and coffee can work together to enhance your life, it’s important to understand the benefits of CBD oil. Some benefits of CBD include:

1. Acts as a natural pain reliever

While the exact reason why CBD oil works as a pain reliever is still being researched, evidence shows that CBD’s effect on the Endocannabinoid System may be why. One of the ECS’s functions is to regulate pain, and when applied topically, CBD can reduce inflammation, joint swelling, and even heal wounds faster. Consumed in oil or edible form, CBD can also help with stiffness, aches and pains throughout the day.

2.  Reduces anxiety and depression

Remember that anxiety we mentioned earlier? CBD has actually been proven to help manage anxiety by relaxing the mind and body. ln fact, it can reduce many forms of anxiety including social anxiety, mood disorders, panic attacks, and even help those suffering from PTSD cope. For those suffering from depression, CBD oil helps target the issue in a more holistic manner than traditional antidepressants, allowing you to get to the root of the problem, rather than simply mask it.

3. Relieves symptoms of epilepsy

Evidence shows that CBD can in fact treat what was once thought to be an untreatable form of childhood epilepsy. Parents worldwide are now turning to this miracle, natural product to control this ailment.

4. Helps relieve migraines and headaches

An estimated 2.7 million Canadians have been diagnosed with acute migraines, which severely impact their day to day life. Due to its anti-inflammation and pain relieving properties, CBD oil may be the natural answer to relieving migraines and headaches without the use of traditional painkillers.

5. Helps you sleep better

Who doesn’t want better sleep? CBD oil taken before bed daily can help your body regulate its sleep cycle and slide into REM sleep more easily. ‘Nuff said.

BENEFITS OF CBD OIL AND COFFEE

So, now that we know the benefits of CBD oil and coffee, how do they work together to help you reach peak performance?

Although CBD oil does help you get better sleep, it’s important to note that CBD itself does not make you sleepy. Its ability to reduce anxiety and relax the body is what makes you fall asleep and stay asleep. Therefore, when taken in tandem with coffee, the caffeine in coffee keeps you awake, while CBD reduces that jittery anxious feeling associated. The result? A beautiful medley of high alertness, increased energy, and increased serotonin levels (the happy hormone), leading to improved mood.

Also, CBD and coffee both contain antioxidants, expelling unwanted toxins in our body while protecting cells from damage and ageing. By combining CBD and coffee, you get a double whammy of antioxidants in one serving.

CBD also protects your brain cells from degeneration, while coffee increases brain function, giving you a better brain boost. This combination is particularly beneficial for those engaging in physically demanding activities. For instance, if you’re into rock climbing and looking for a performance edge, explore how CBD can be the perfect boost in our article on CBD and Rock Climbing Canada: The Best Performance Boost.

All in all, CBD acts as a complement to coffee, amplifying good effects and reducing the bad ones. Basically, CBD helps coffee reach its final form and is the ultimate pairing for peak performance.

HOW TO COMBINE CBD OIL AND COFFEE

Firstly, while CBD and coffee do complement each other, it is important to note that CBD does not fully neutralize the negative effects of caffeine. At the end of the day, caffeine is still a stimulant, and while coffee can be beneficial in small amounts, drinking multiple cups of coffee a day is never good for you. Adding CBD to your coffee does not erase that.

When combining CBD oil and coffee, we caution you to go slow until you’ve learned what dosage works for you. In small doses, CBD will make you more alert, however, too high a dosage may have adverse effects and knock you out for the day. If you are purchasing CBD coffee at a coffee shop, be sure to ask the barista about the dosage in the coffee before consuming it. If you have never tried CBD coffee before, we recommend making your own first, so you can control the dose and get used to it.

Finding the right dosage

resolveCBD Oil is available in a tincture bottle with an eye dropper for you to easily measure out and experiment with doses. Start off slow by adding half a dropper to your morning Joe, and see how it affects you. It’s always best to try a lower dosage and build up from there, than start off too strong.

Once your body is used to the CBD coffee once a day, you can start to take it more often if you drink more than one cup of coffee a day, however, do not drink CBD coffees back to back. Be sure to wait at least 3 hours in between doses, to avoid any negative side effects like sleepiness or headaches.

It is also important to note that CBD is affected by heat, and its efficacy reduces when in contact with high heat. It is best to mix CBD oil with cold-brew coffee to avoid this.

While there’s still research to be done on the effects of combining CBD oil and coffee, current evidence profoundly shows that combining the two can enhance your life in a multitude of ways. We encourage you to give it a try and let us know your results in the comments below.