The Coffea plant produces seeds we know as coffee beans. We’re all so familiar with how coffee beans are roasted and how it practically wakes the nation up on a daily basis. We also all know about caffeine in our coffee and let’s be honest here, that may be the main reason we love coffee – right?
People may also drink coffee for the caffeine to relieve or prevent drowsiness and to improve cognitive performance – So far, that’s all very acceptable and has been for decades.
But did you know, Caffeine is the world’s most widely consumed psychoactive drug and unlike most other psychoactive substances, caffeine remains largely unregulated and legal in nearly all parts of the world. You can even become dependent on it and if you choose to stop consuming it, you can experience withdrawal symptoms.
The chemical complexity of coffee is emerging, especially due to observed physiological effects which cannot be related only to the presence of caffeine. There are more than 1,000 chemical compounds in coffee, and their molecular and physiological effects are areas of active research in food chemistry.
All this and we don’t bat an eyelid, we wake we drink coffee. We’re tired, we drink coffee. We meet for a chat, we drink coffee. And so on….
To boil it down (pun intended) we drink coffee because of one of its plant compounds, or substances if you like because we embrace the effect it has on our brain – awesome!
With all this in mind, let’s look at the ‘not so’ new kid on the block – the hemp plant. Like coffee, this plant has hundreds of compounds in it which can offer enormous benefits to us humans. And like coffee, we’re going to focus on just one of them called Cannabidiol aka CBD.
In the UK CBD is classed as a food supplement by the Food Safety Agency (FSA). Retailers of CBD have to adhere to strict regulations, unlike coffee. Retailers cannot openly discuss or advertise any perceived benefits of this plant compound even though it 100% natural, non-toxic, legal and also………non psychoactive.
But wait! I hear you say, caffeine in coffee is psychoactive and fully legal and can be talked about.
Notice how because of the above, I’m not taking a deep dive into how CBD can help and specifically what it can help with – so frustrating!