I’ve been studying energy drinks for nearly two decades. I started studying them the same time I started studying biochemistry in college: way, way back in 2003. Who’d have thought, back when your only energy drink options were Red Bull, Monster, and Rockstar, that one day you’d have the option of a caffeinated drink with CBD?
What makes Kill Cliff CBD Recovery drink so special? Let’s start with a recap of the ingredients and what those ingredients do, then we’ll look at the beverage as a whole.
Kill Cliff CBD Recovery Drink Ingredients
The key ingredients in this drink include some typical energy drink ingredients: caffeine, taurine, D-glucuronolactone, green tea extract, Panax ginseng, inositol, and B-vitamins); plus some atypical ingredients: ginger root extract and, hello, the CBD as “hemp extract”.
It bugs me when I see a drink with “key” ingredients in amounts too small to have a biological effect – it’s as if their only purpose is to look good on the label and increase sales from people who think they’re getting the benefits of that ingredient.
When I saw Kill Cliff post the lab tests for their CBD content, I was thrilled (yes, thrilled, as in the kind of elation you get when you finally beat the boss in a video game or when your lab experiments finally work after failing over and over). These lab tests prove Kill Cliff is committed to having an effective dose and also respects their customers enough to provide this info.
Good job, Kill Cliff.
Now, let’s talk ingredient function…
Science Behind CBD
What is CBD?
CBD stands for cannabidiol. CBD and THC are two of the active components of the Cannabis plant, but THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) is the one that gets you high. As such, the THC content is a big deal when it comes to the legal status of cannabis products. As of this writing (November 2019), Federal law states CBD oils are legal to possess as long as they contain less than 0.3% of THC.
What does CBD do?
According to “A Beginner’s Guide to CBD” by Healthline, CBD may provide relief from anxiety, PTSD, addiction, schizophrenia, childhood epilepsy, and seizure disorders.
It’s important to note we’re not treating CBD as a drug here – with drugs, you might be able to say “X cures Y” but you can’t use that same kind of promise with supplements or with ingredients like CBD. Hence, the wishy-washy language “MAY provide RELIEF from…”
There’s promising research showing CBD is effective for pain management too. One review paper (which is a research paper reviewing and summarizing other research papers on a particular topic) looked at CBD use for chronic pain from cancer and fibromyalgia. That review concluded CBD was effective at relieving chronic pain.
When my partner tried Kill Cliff CBD Orange Kush, he said his back pain went away within the hour. This is anecdotal evidence, information based on personal experience, not reliable, repeatable data. Still, I’m mentioning it in case you’re considering this drink.
How much CBD do you need? What’s the effective dose?
Kill Cliff CBD Recovery drink contains 25 mg CBD, which is right at the recommended starting dose of ~20 mg. It is STRONGLY recommended to talk to your doctor before having any doses larger than this because the effective dose depends on your weight, any current ailments, and your body chemistry (enzymes and such). Also, don’t drink this if you’re pregnant because there’s not enough data to confirm how CBD might affect you or your baby.
Until you know how Kill Cliff CBD Recovery drink is going to affect you, try drinking half a can the very first time, and wait 4 hours til finishing the rest. Don’t exceed more than 1 can per day without talking to your doctor about the CBD dosage. Watch for side-effects including fatigue, diarrhea, and changes in appetite.
Do any of your medications have a warning about grapefruit? That warning applies to CBD, too. Grapefruit and CBD both interfere with certain enzymes that are crucial to drug metabolism so don’t ignore those warnings.
Related Reading – If you’re looking for more information on CBD in all forms, I highly recommend **this science-based post from CBD Central.**
Caffeine in Kill Cliff CBD Recovery
Kill Cliff CBD Recovery contains 25 mg caffeine – 5 mg of that comes from the green tea extract and the other 20 mg is added caffeine. You might say, “That’s not a lot of caffeine” but actually that’s PERFECT in my professional opinion.
If you’re drinking Kill Cliff CBD Recovery to “recover” from anxiety, you REALLY want to limit your caffeine intake because too much caffeine will do more harm than good – it’ll make you more anxious than alert. This is the Yerkes-Dodson law, or as I’ve explained it in a previous YouTube episode, the “Barks-Doggie Law” (watch below).
If you’re drinking Kill Cliff CBD Recovery to recover from a hangover, the 25 mg caffeine could help reduce headache pain. For comparison, Excedrin Migraine has 65 mg caffeine per pill. The B-vitamins and electrolytes will also help reduce hangover symptoms since some of that pain comes from dehydration and B-vitamin losses.
Related YouTube Episode: Hangovers and How Energy Drinks Help Recover
Electrolytes for Recovery
Kill Cliff CBD Recovery has electrolytes sodium and potassium, but do you really need electrolytes? Technically, no, not unless you are working out for more than one hour or sweating more than normal. However, in many cases, electrolytes make a beverage tastier which means people drink more fluid than they would if it was just water. In those situations, electrolytes help.
Related Post: Caffeine and Hydration
Congrats, you’ve read 1000 words on Kill Cliff CBD Recovery! This is a good place to stop, but if you want to learn more about other ingredients in this drink like taurine, green tea extract, glucuronolactone, inositol, and B-vitamins — GOOD NEWS! There’s a whole book (which I wrote) on this info.
Use the button above to email me for your free Audible copy. I recommend the Audible version because I got a comedian to narrate my silly puns and dad jokes. Each chapter is dedicated to one ingredient (what is it? what does it do? how much do you need?) so it’s SUPER easy to skip around to the ingredients you care about most.
Such A Grate Information. i Love it.