We rely on heavy doses of caffeine in the morning because we need it. Withdrawl has set in and we need a dose to feed the addiction. With as much as we all do in our day to day lives, we can’t settle for something that gives us a quick rush and then an inevitable crash. Our potential energy can’t be reliant on something so unreliable.
Cacao contains many compounds that work almost incomparably well for a coffee substitute. That is because it contains key energy elements like theobromine, magnesium, and PEA.
Caffeine and coffee alternatives are being used to help with what we all self-diagnosed as chronic fatigue syndrome. There are many substitutes already out there like chai tea or green tea. Green tea although healthy is as useful for energy as decaffeinated coffee.
If you are looking for energy rather than an amount of caffeine than cacao will likely deliver your specified result. Energy is brought on more calm and sustained. Rather than a heart palpating jolt of espresso that leaves you jittery and anxious.
While theobromine has a very similar chemical structure to caffeine it operates in a different way. It delivers the benefits of energy and mental focus without the overstimulating effect coffee does. The chemical does also bind to adenosine like caffeine which is a part of where the anti-fatigue benefits stem from. But does it in a slower fashion. This yields a slower onset of energy, more sustainable, and no crash.
The compound is even a vasodilator meaning you won't see the typical high blood pressure you would experience with coffee. It is hard to combat feeling tired without synchronously raising your heart rate. Which is an uncomfortable feeling for most.
Theobromine is also a bronchodilator, meaning it opens your lungs up allowing for deeper breaths.
Why Am I Always So Tired?
Because odds are you are always tired, literally. It is suspected that 50% of the population is magnesium deficient.
One of the minerals in cacao is magnesium. This mineral is responsible for activating ATP in your body which starts the entire process for giving your body energy. In simpler terms, magnesium is energy for your energy. You can’t solve your energy crisis without the fundamentals of building energy.
Magnesium also supports a circadian rhythm. This is your natural sleep-wake cycle. Allowing you to wake more naturally in the morning and sleep better at night. Something caffeine actually disrupts
BETA-PHENYLETHYLAMINE
A compound found in the cacao bean is PEA (BETA-PHENYLETHYLAMINE). It functions as a neurotransmitter. Neurotransmitters are important because they are chemicals that enable neurotransmissions. Which is how your brain sends messages. This is why you are seeing this endogenous substance in respected nootropics, supplements that work in a way to make you “smarter”.
Endogenous means the chemical is coming from within. So your body knows what the substance already is.
Despite being endogenous these are considered, trace amines meaning found in low traces, and can be located in the spinal cord and brain of mammals. So ingesting PEA can lead to heightened awareness, mental clarity, mental motivation.
Caffeine Alternatives
You can see the trend shifting that people are wanting an alternative. Gas stations used to typically only stock the three main energy drinks. With the emergence of new ones that rotate. Odds are more people have consumed an energy drink than people who can actually pronounce yerba mate correctly. Society is still in the early stages of a switch. But it is not uncommon to know someone who drinks yerba mate.
The chart below shows an emerging trend of people searching for an alternative for caffeine.
Why Not Caffeine?
Going caffeine free makes people more anxious than caffeine actually does. And relying on an overpowered yet paradoxically weak energy source will lead you down the path of inevitably searching for a caffeine alternative.
Caffeine really only does one thing well, and that’s bind to adenosine. Which is needed at certain times. But with caffeine, you get the overstimulation effect which is an easy experience to accidentally dose yourself to. We drink caffeine to be productive but it winds up doing the opposite. You either did too much or you are on the later part of the cycle and need more of it.
Theobromine doesn’t have these negative effects. It lasts longer, meaning you don’t need multiple cups. The effects are more stable allowing you to be productive for a sustained time rather than shaky 20 minutes.
The majority of people’s morning mug is filled with coffee. But we live in a time now with better options. Cacao brings forth an option that does more than trick your brain into no longer being fatigued. It creates processes for actual energy.
Simply put, theobromine is everything caffeine wishes it could be.
G\M