I first heard about Bullet Proof Coffee a few years ago. It seemed that it was being advertised on every entrepreneurial, life hacking, and brain hacking podcast I listened to. After it was being advertised continuously and hearing a lot of people in general talking about the health benefits they were experiencing with Bullet Proof Coffee & their MCT Brain Octane product, I became very curious.
Shortly after the advertising blitz it seemed that Dave Asprey the founder of Bullet Proof Coffee was popping up as guest on multiple podcast. After I heard him the first time, he seemed credible and it made sense, so I immediately ordered the coffee and MTC Brain Octane fuel on Amazon.
Honestly, I never will forget the first morning I had this coffee and the MCT with a teaspoon of oil. After the first sip it was like a bomb of mental clarity was dropped into my brain. I mean a brain fog lifted that I didn’t even know was there. I told all my friends and family members, and made my bullet proof coffee for everyone one morning on a family trip our entire family went on the mountains. I am talking everyone, mom, dad brother sister, and the spouses, grown kids, all in all probably 15 coffee drinkers.
I have been faithfully drinking my bullet coffee now for several years, and here is what I have discovered many many people have an immediate, radical experience the first time they consume the coffee and oil like I did, however many don’t. (About ½ my family have been drinking it since the morning I shared it with them)
Honestly I have no idea why, it just is what I have seen from talking with dozens of people like myself, consume bullet coffee daily. At one time I thought this brand would take over the world. Let me just say this, if you have never tried bullet coffee …… you should. If you receive the benefits myself and many others have received there is no way you can put a price tag on a product that has added so much to my over all quality of life. When it comes to quality of life it is one of the best decisions I have ever made.
After listening to Dave Asprey one evening on a podcast I got up the next morning and ordered the coffee and MTC Oil from Amazon. Two days later I was trying it for the first time and it has been part of my morning routine every day since.
BulletProof Coffee and MCT Oil is one of the best investments I have ever made. I had to do some research to try to understand why so many people have such a profound, almost magical experience with Bulletproof coffee.
”Perhaps Austrian Mountaineer Heinrich Harrer would have liked butter coffee better than the Tibetan Yak Butter tea. Recently, blending some mixture of fat in your coffee and having that for breakfast has become more and more popular.
The main
version, Bulletproof Coffee is made by mixing Coffee, Grass Fed Butter and pure
MCT Oil in a blender. This recipe comes
from entrepreneur Dave Asprey, who apparently got the idea after having Yak
Butter Tea in Tibet in 2004. Proponents of Bulletproof coffee claim that the
coffee will keep you focused and curb your appetite for hours.
While coffee with a gob of fat may sound like a newfangled trend, the practice
of ingesting coffee with fat was around even before people drank coffee as a
beverage. Sometime between 575 and 850 BC,
nomadic mountain warriors of the Galla tribe in Ethiopia would combine crushed
coffee beans with animal fat, and snack on that for energy during long treks
and warfare. “Excuse me, can I have a butter bar please? “Personally,
I can attest to the sustained energy that comes from BullettProof coffee, but
what could be making it so magical? And
Should you be replacing your breakfast with it?
Before we get into it, it’s necessary to understand that saturated fat in general is not the enemy that it’s been made out to be. You also have to know a little bit about ketosis because this is one of the goals of the coffee. Very briefly, ketosis occurs when you restrict carbohydrate in take enough and for long enough. When you’ve burned out enough of your carbohydrate stores, your liver then turns fatty acids from your diet, and from your body fat into ketones.
These ketones are used for energy in the body and brain rather than relying on glucose or carbohydrate. Ketosis has many benefits, physical and mental.
It helps you
lose weight and reduces hunger. There’s also evidence that it improves
longevity and healthspan, it suppresses oxidative stress, and it improves
cognition and memory. So by doing intermittent fasting or being on a low carb
and high fat diet, your body gets energy primarily from fat rather than carbohydrate. This allows you to get through the day without
blood sugar spikes and crashes, and you’ll have more stable energy, feel more
focused and less hungry.
Obviously, butter in coffee plays into this because it’s just fat and zero
carbs. But there are some other fascinating properties of butter coffee that help
get you into ketosis. First, the caffeine in the coffee actually helps to boost
ketone production, even if you’re not doing a low carb diet. This study from
last year in the Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology had people
fast for 12 hours, then have breakfast.
One group had no caffeine, another had 1 and½ cups of black coffee, and another had caffeine pills that were the equivalent of 3 cups of coffee. They found that “Caffeine given at breakfast significantly stimulated ketone production in a dose-dependent manner. ”
So, the more caffeine, the more ketones. This is interesting, because insulin which is produced in response to eating carbohydrates hinders ketone production, but the subjects’ breakfast was 78% carbohydrate.
Though, that doesn’t mean you should drink butter coffee no matter what your diet is. We can expect that ketone production would have been even higher if they had the caffeine without carbohydrate. It’s important to drink this with a ketogenic breakfast, or better yet, with no breakfast at all. If you’re mixing up some grass fed butter and MCT oil in your coffee and then you have a cream cheese bagel, or bowl ofcereal along with it, you’ll blunt the ketogenic effects of the coffee and store a lot of that fat on your body. You see, there are two ways you can fill up fat cells: One is by eating enough carbohydrates to where carbohydrates are stored in the body as fat through a process called de novo lipogenesis; the other is through a process called re-esterification.
Simply put: re esterification is the process of taking fatty acids and forming them back into fat, which is then stored in your fat cells. Then, the way you get the fat out of your fat cells is by breaking down the fat through another process: lipolysis. So, let’s say you’re on a ketogenic diet and you decide to whip a up a bunch of fat in your coffee, and drink it for breakfast while you are reading the paper about the latest recruiting updates of your sports team the Kentucky Wildcats. Fat’s going to be coming in, but because the main feature of ketosis is that you use fat for energy, lipolysis is going to be way up and you’re going to be using the fat from your fat cells and the fat from your coffee for energy.
So that’s not too bad. But if you’re having toast, eggs and potatoes with your butter coffee, then you’re gonna have some of the carbs stored as fat through de novo lipogenesis, and actually even more_reesterification will occur and the fat output, lipolysis, will be low.
When you fat with carbs, even more of that fat goes into your fat cells and you burn less fat because insulin, which is secreted when you eat carbohydrate, increases re-esterification and inhibits lipolysis. One of the benefits
of bulletproof coffee is that it’s supposed to help you lose weight, but it might do the opposite if you put sugar in it or have it with carbohydrates. I didn’t realize how big this Butter and MCT oil coffee trend was getting until I saw that a pre-made version of it hit the shelves of a convenient store chain when I was in Tokiyo. Unfortunately, the coffee they use is so weak the drink just tastes like skim milk but…I was impressed that they got the ingredients right – it’s not just coffee with butter, it actually has grass fed butter and MCT oil int it.
So what’s the deal with the MCT Oil?
MCT stands for medium chain triglycerides,and, compared to long-chain triglycerides, MCT’s are:-Absorbed quicker and turned into energy more efficiently-Result in less body fat gain.
They make you feel fuller faster-And, they enhance the production of ketones. So here we have another ingredient that promotes ketones. There’s a couple different types of MCT’s – c12, c10, c8 and c6 which refers to the length of the chain. The shorter the chain, the easier it turns into ketones. C6 isn’t usually used because it easily upsets the stomach and apparently smells like goats pee.
– So, pure C8 – caprylic acid, is your best bet for maximum ketone production, but a mix of C8 and C10 is usually more available and more cost effective. So why the grass-fed butter? Well, Butter provides great fat soluble Vitamins like VitaminK2 and Vitamin A and Vitamin E. And studies suggest grass fed butter has better VitaminA and E content, higher omega-3’s and higher levels of the antioxidant glutathione.
Though, this is just a nice little bonus- I wouldn’t say BulletProof coffee is packed with vitamins. So the big point of this fatty coffee is to
boost your ketone production so you can get the benefits of ketosis even when you’re not super strict on intermittent fasting or eating really low carb. But is it healthy having this every morning? I would say “healthier than what?” If having this coffee is getting you to keep your blood sugar down and insulin levels low thanks to it replacing your high carb breakfast, I would say yes, it’s healthier. I’d consider Grass fed butter and MCT oil a healthy addition to your daily diet for reasons I just discussed, so the question becomes: is daily coffee consumption healthy? There’s a ton of research on coffee showing that more coffee consumption increases longevity, reduces diabetes risk and heart disease risk.
Recently, coffee and even decaf coffee have been shown to promote an anti-aging process called autophagy. But coffee is a very complex beverage that affects all kinds of hormones and neurotransmitters like Adenosine, Dopamine, Cortisol, Adrenaline, Cholecystokinin and
Gastrin. Coffee has also been shown to produce inflammation.
Personally I love butter coffee and feel great for a couple hours after I drink it, but I feel more calm and content in general when I don’t have a coffee habit. Recently, I’ve slowly cut my morning coffee consumption in half over a couple weeks. I get less of a spike in focus, but I’m calmer
and more focused in general throughout the day. Then again, that’s just me. There’s a lot more to say about coffee, but that’s a great topic for another time. There is one more thing I should mention about
coffee. This June 2012 paper, authored in part by Ryan N. Coffee actually has nothing to do with coffee, but if coffee is something you like to indulge in on a daily basis, you might want to know how to make a really good cup. I guess since I brought up the health benefits of bulletproof coffee I may as well go ahead and continue the thought.
THE HEALTH BENEFITS OF BULLETPROOF COFFEE
Are уоu a coffee lоvеr whо can’t ѕееm tо lіvе wіthоut drіnkіng аt lеаѕt thrее оr fоur cups оf coffee a dау? Dіd you know thаt unlike саrbоnаtеd drіnkѕ or еnеrgу drіnkѕ, соffее in fасt does provide substantial bеnеfіt tо the body?
Here аrе several bеnеfіtѕ brоught about bу drіnkіng уоur favourite сuр оf соffее.
#1 It соntаіnѕ mаѕѕіvе аmоuntѕ оf antioxidants
Antioxidants thаt thе bоdу саn absorb. Antіоxіdаntѕ аrе іmроrtаnt bесаuѕе thеу аrе thе оnеѕ rеѕроnѕіblе for rеmоvіng frее rаdісаlѕ іn оur body. Frее radicals аrе mоlесulеѕ thаt cause сhаіn rеасtіоnѕ іn a cell thereby dаmаgіng іt аnd еvеn kіllіng іt. Drinking аt least a сuр оf Bullet coffee еvеrу dау ensures thаt you gеt your dаіlу dose оf аntіоxіdаntѕ.
#2 Coffee can Fight Depression
It саn fight dерrеѕѕіоn аnd асtuаllу makes a реrѕоn hарріеr. Cоffее contains саffеіnе thаt іѕ rеѕроnѕіblе fоr іnсrеаѕіng thе lеvеl оf neurotransmitters іn thе brain. Neurotransmitter ѕuсh аѕ ѕеrоtоnіn іѕ rеѕроnѕіblе fоr thе fееlіngѕ of hарріnеѕѕ аnd ѕеnѕе оf wеll-bеіng. That is why drіnkіng at least three tо fоur сuрѕ of соffее еvеrуdау wіll fіght depression аnd hеlрѕ rеduсе thе rіѕk of ѕuісіdе. Suісіdе іѕ the mоѕt common rеѕult attributed tо сlіnісаl depression due tо thе fееlіng оf bеіng аlоnе, unloved аnd unwanted.
#3 Coffee can low the risk of Alzheimers
Coffee саn lower thе rіѕk оf Alzhеіmеr’ѕ, dеmеntіа and Pаrkіnѕоn’ѕ disease. Thеrе іѕ a ѕауіng thаt prevention is bеttеr than cure. Studies indicated that drіnkіng a сuр of соffее every dау, the сhаnсе of dеvеlоріng Alzhеіmеr’ѕ dіѕеаѕе which can later on cause dеmеntіа decreases. Furthеrmоrе, ѕtudіеѕ hаvе ѕhоwn thаt саffеіnе іn соffее іnсrеаѕеѕ the lеvеl оf nеurоtrаnѕmіttеrѕ іn thе brain lіkе dopamine, thе ones responsible for mоtоr mоvеmеntѕ. Because оf this, the еаrlу оnѕеt of having Pаrkіnѕоn’ѕ disease is hіghlу reduced.
#4 BulletProof Coffee can Prevent Liver Cirrhoisis and Diabetes
Cоffее саn hеlр рrеvеnt lіvеr cirrhosis аnd Type 2 diabetes. Excessive alcohol consumption mау lead tо lіvеr сіrrhоѕіѕ, lіvеr fаіlurе and cancer. Drinking at lеаѕt a сuр оf соffее every dау can help rеduсе thе сhаnсеѕ оf having lіvеr cirrhosis. In addition, drinking аt least fоur cups a day соuld reduce thе rіѕkѕ оf dеvеlоріng diabetes since іt hаѕ chemicals thаt hеlр reduce gluсоѕе аnd іnѕulіn buіld up.
#5 Coffee Drinkers are More Intelligent
Drіnkіng a сuр оf соffее еvеrу dау еѕресіаllу whеn ѕlеер-dерrіvеd wіll mаkе уоu sharper аnd more intelligent. It hаѕ bесоmе the nоrm оf еvеrу іndіvіduаl whо іѕ sleep-deprived tо drink a сuр оf coffee іn оrdеr to wake uр. Drinking mоrе thаn thе nоrmаl аmоunt of caffeine needed by thе bоdу саn result to іnсrеаѕе іn hеаrt rate, аnxіеtу аttасk аnd blood pressure. So we are all different the secret is to experiment and discover how your body reacts to Bullet Proof Coffee. If your reaction is anything close to mine, you will be very pleased.