Just lately, I’ve been putting butter in my coffee. The first time I did it, I posted a picture and was surprised by how many of my Facebook followers said “oh yes, I do that too.” Since then I’ve posted several photos (I post a lot of photos), and lots of people have asked me what the heck I’m up to.
When I first decided to attempt the whole sugar-free thing in September, I read that a good way to get through withdrawal is to replace the sugar in your diet with fat. I cut the sugar from my coffee, and replaced it with cream, and that’s something I’ve stuck with since. Everyone thinks I’m bonkers, but I’ve never really bought into the whole low fat con. When I heard about bulletproof coffee then, I was keen to try it.
Strictly speaking, a “bulletproof” coffee should contain butter and MCT oil, which is a derivative of palm kernel and coconut oils. MCT oil is fairly expensive though, so I’m sticking with butter and coconut oil, and have been building up both gradually. Having read several articles about it and seen it included in a recent TV show, I found that the main complaint was that it was an “acquired” taste and the greasy feeling you get from drinking it feels odd. I decided to build up gradually so that I could acquire the taste gradually rather than be put off by my first attempt. So far, that’s going well.
Here are four reasons I’m loving bulletproof coffee:
1. Energy
Apparently having that much fat in your coffee gives you energy. I first heard about the idea of bulletproof coffee through reading the I Quit Sugar blog. In the post, Dave Asprey, who came up with the idea of mixing butter and MCT oil into coffee, talked about why it’s a good thing…
Dave says that many of us are so starved of good, healthy fats that it can take a week or so for the body to turn on its fat digestive system when it first gets on to Bulletproof coffee. But when it does, you’ll have boundless energy, and feel satiated first thing in the morning.
The way it was explained to me by top PT Alan Levi, this is not some new miracle drink that will make you super alert and energetic, but it’s a lot better, and healthier, than those insidious cans of energy drink you see in every shop these days.
2. A Prolonged Caffeine Hit
Putting butter in your coffee can avoid that jittery caffeine hit that’s usually followed by a massive desire to go back to bed. The fat allows the “hit” of the caffeine to be drawn out into a more extended period of feeling… er… awake. For me, that’s ideal as I’m often knackered first thing in the morning and I’m finding that adding butter to my coffee does mean I can avoid that instant caffeine hit. Apparently the fat is scientifically proven to slow the digestive process. Personally, I find that having a bulletproof coffee first thing means I’m more productive in my work through the morning – which is always a plus.
3. Weight Loss
Apparently a lot of people have butter in their coffee for weight loss. I heard of one person who absolutely swears by it, and claims to have lost “loads” of weight with it. I’ve no idea how that works, unless you’re doing the Atkins diet where you essentially replace fat with carbs – but caffeine is known to increase the metabolism though. I’ll be interested to see if this suddenly makes me stick thin though… watch this space (where my hips and belly used to be).
4. Keeps Hunger Locked Up Til Lunch!
I am terrible for bothering with breakfast. I don’t even manage it once a week, to be honest. I go through stages where I’ll make the effort… they never last. My routine in the morning is to get S breakfast, make a coffee, and sit and chat with her until nursery. Then I come home from nursery drop-off and think “hmm, I’m hungry, perhaps I’ll have something to eat… wait, let me just do this first…” and before I know it, it’s mid-morning, and I’m snacking on whatever crap is to hand. Bulletproof coffee actually makes me feel full, and I stay that way until lunch time, when I actually have the motivation to have a proper lunch, not just some crappy snacks.
Top Tips for Bulletproof Coffee:
- You can’t just whack in a lump of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter; it has to be actual butter; the good quality, expensive stuff that you usually wince at and walk past in the supermarket. Grass fed, unsalted. Kerry Gold and Yeo Valley are both good. Don’t make the mistake I did: I picked up the only Kerry Gold in my local Tesco and it wasn’t until I had my first sip of coffee that I realised my local Tesco only sells salted Kerry Gold. Euch!
- Ditto for coffee: the value range instant coffee just won’t cut it. You need good quality, organic coffee. If you follow Asprey’s instructions, you need beans that are fairly expensive too, but I suppose that depends how far you want to go. Bare minimum though, organic and the best quality you can get.
- You can get MCT oil from your local health food shop or from Amazon
. It’s not the cheapest stuff in the world though, so I use a good quality coconut oil.
- Alan Levi recommends adding a teaspoon of cinnamon to it for insulin management.
Have you tried bulletproof coffee? If you have, I’d love to hear what you think of it – and whether you’ve
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