Tackling Coffee Jitters with CBD

 It’s probably fair to say that the team here at Skullcrusher has a slightly higher tolerance than most for caffeine, due in no small part to the fact that our working days are fuelled by the strongest coffee around. We love that slap-in-the-face whack of caffeine in the mornings, and we know that our community of coffee fans choose Skullcrusher for the exact same reasons. 

That being said, even the most hardcore among us has suffered from the coffee jitters before - that unpleasant, heart-pumping, anxiety-raising side effect of the caffeine rush we love so dearly - which was just one of the reasons we sought out a satisfying, delicious, and highly effective solution to this age-old problem. Today, we’re going to be diving straight into both the heart of the issue of coffee jitters, and looking at our innovative in-house resolution in a little more depth, too.  

If you ever find yourself on the jittery side of the coffee equation, and are on the lookout for a strong, punchy, and flavourful alternative that keeps you equally alert and mellow… Well, this blog’s the one for you. 

What Causes Coffee Jitters?

We’ve all been there. You’ve had maybe one espresso too many, or got your measurements wrong and accidentally brewed yourself a coffee with a bit too much of a mule-kick to it. Before you know it, the jitters have kicked in.  

For most of us, this takes the form of a sense of rising anxiety; your heart starts beating like a buggered clock, your eyes are darting around as you struggle to find your focus, your breath begins quickening and the good ol’ shakes set in. It’s a feeling of encroaching panic, and while it passes before too long, it can feel like hours before things are back to normal again. 

But what are coffee jitters? Rather annoyingly, they’re just the effects we know and love from our daily cup of joe, but simply dialled up to eleven… and it’s not always predictable if or when they’ll set in, or exactly what form they’ll take.

It all comes down to our dear friend caffeine; an entirely natural compound produced by coffee plants, which evolved to help the bush thrive by killing off competing vegetation. When absorbed by your body, caffeine acts as a highly efficient adenosine blocker, which stops your body and brain from picking up on signs of tiredness or drowsiness.  

Caffeine also sends adrenaline rushing through your body, which usually causes our ‘fight or flight’ reactions to kick in, levelling up blood pressure and encouraging our heart to pump faster. In controlled quantities - for example, just after that first morning coffee - this is what makes us feel awake and ready to take on the day. In larger quantities, this kind of adrenaline primes the body to take down (or run away from) a grizzly bear, which generally isn’t called for when you’re heading into the office. 

The result? Well, unless your office personnel are a hell of a lot different to ours, this results in a massive build-up of adrenaline in your system with nowhere to go, meaning palpitations, anxiety, and the jitters. 

The Solution To Coffee Jitters? CBD Infused Coffee

Skullcrusher Coffee is all about making coffee that doesn’t just taste amazing, but which gives you the get-up-and-go you need to take on whatever life throws at you. However, those pesky coffee jitters are a common enough issue that we felt we needed to explore a way to balance out the caffeine rush, infusing select beans with something mellow, holistically healthy, and equally natural. 

Once we stumbled across the multitude of positive effects of CBD - that’s cannabidiol, for those of you who have a crippling FOA, or Fear of Acronyms - the solution became abundantly clear. 

CBD is extracted from the cannabis family of plants, and while it won’t get you high like its better-known sibling THC (and is completely legal in an increasing number of countries and territories), it does produce a wide array of positive mental and physical effects. These range from impressive medical benefits, including increased cardiovascular, intestinal, and respiratory health, to a reduced risk of diabeties and an increase in concentration, mental wellbeing, and - crucially - a dramatic reduction in stress and anxiety. 

While caffeine doesn’t actually cause anxiety - it merely imitates the effects of it on the body and mind - CBD has been shown to counteract the anxiety-like feeling of coffee jitters. 

The best part? It doesn’t do this by dramatically reducing your adrenaline levels, but rather by activating receptors in the brain’s amygdala which, when blocked, can cause us to feel stressed and anxious. This means that CBD coffee won’t interrupt your coffee’s all-important awakening effect, but will put a stop to those negative side effects. 

What’s more, by combining the wellness-promoting effects of CBD (of which we’ve listed just a few, as every month seems to bring more impressive discoveries about this incredible chemical compound) with the well-documented health benefits of coffee, we’re giving you the best of both worlds. Even more antioxidants, even more ability to process glucose, even better liver, heart, and blood health, and - most importantly - the flavour and punchiness you know and love from Skullcrusher, without any unwanted side effects.