WHY YOU MIGHT WANT TO ADD OILS AND BUTTER TO YOUR COFFEE

Adding fats to caffeinated beverages is a tradition in several cultures. The Nepalese, Tibetans and Indians of the Himalayan regions add yak butter to teas and chais, and the Moroccan people add fermented butter, known as smen to their traditional teas. The resulting beverages are considered strengthening and fortifying, providing energy, nourishment and clarity for long days in rugged environments.

Perhaps you’ve heard of the ‘Bulletproof’ coffee craze, a concept recently made popular by Dave Asprey, the Bulletproof Executive, but ultimately ‘borrowed’ from these traditional people.

The process involves adding both grass-fed butter or ghee and medium chain triglyceride (MCT) oil to black coffee, blending the brew to a foamy, frothy consistency and drinking the resulting latte style java first thing in the morning.

Why put fats in your coffee?

Well, I'm glad you asked, coz there's a bunch of reasons and I'm pumped to share them with you. 

// Boosts mental clarity

// Sharpen focus

// Create sustained energy
// More productive
// Perform better

// Decrease appetite (making it especially useful for intermittent fasting)

// Aid in weight loss by providing fast-burning, metabolism boosting fats

And for me? Well I have noticed all of the above, daily, for over a month now (I don't recall exactly when I began drinking this everyday without a solid meal for brekkie along side or instead of), and I love it. It's also a fabulous add-in to clients who run their own business and love their morning cuppa coffee

On top of this I want to make mention on another facet of the Bulletproof Coffee that I have experienced. If I go out to grab a 'regular' long black or even my old favourite, a cold drip black coffee, no matter how excited I may be about it, when I'm done I feel tired, dopey, lost in my thoughts, spacey and have previously, fallen asleep. Yep, not so fun, or productive. 

None of this happens when I drink a Bulletproof cup. In fact quite the opposite happens. I'm alert, focused, with ideas flowing fast. I'm known to have a pen and paper, or the notepad app open in my phone whilst sipping a cup, unless I'm firing these ideas in conversation with B in which case I write them down later.

It could be the fact that most coffee shops don't use organic coffee, but I'm betting it's more than that, as on the odd occasion I can grab an organic brew, the same symptoms appear. It turns out that according to Dave Asprey's research, that it has more to do with mould that is commonly found on coffee, than the beans itself. One way to ensure your beans a mould free is to buy Bulletproof Coffee Beans. I like to suggest trying these at least once to see if you notice any significant differences, and go from there. Alternatively be sure to only buy organic coffee, and if you ca get single origin from a local roaster near you, the no-mould situation will be even better. I've been using both Bulletproof beans and a local organic single origin bean, and find neither of these make me sleepy.

If you've got a soft spot for a milky coffee, replacing that milk with butter or ghee (and MCT oils) is beneficial for a few different reasons (in addition to those above). Dave Asprey says "one of the antioxidant polyphenols in coffee that helps your performance is called chlorogenic acid. When you put the milk protein casein into your coffee by adding your milk (or cream), the polyphenols become 3.4 times less bioavailable. Cultured butter has very little casein, and ghee has none. So by switching your milk to butter or ghee, you get 3.4 times more antioxidants from your coffee". And as butter contains butyric acid, you'll also be healing your gut and lowering inflammation in the brain.

Doesn't fat make you fat?

Can I give you a massive, big, loud, resounding HELL NO on this one, and leave it at that?  I'm not going to go into great details about it right here right now coz I want to keep this tight. But I will say more and more research is proving and showing us that healthy quality fats do not make us fat (processed, hydrogenated, trans-fats... another story). And after more than a month on upwards of 5 Tablespoons of coconut oils, ghee, MCT oils, olive oils, nuts and seeds, I'm proof fat doesn't make you fat. I've actually lost fat.

The main reason I want to share this with you is to outline the brain-boosting, productivity-producing, satiety-settling, tasty benefits of this drink. And to let you know that you don't have to quit your morning cuppa coffee. But you might want to reconsider how you drink it if peak performance and optimal nutrition are goals of yours.

But Coffee... ?!?!

Yep. The stuff that no doubt has as many negative research articles as it does positive. Few people sit on the fence when it comes to java, either all for it, or completely against it. I would suggest going with your gut on this one - only you know how it effects you and how you feel drinking it. For better or worse, drink it or don't. But know what works for you regardless of everything you read on it.

If coffee doesn't work for you, check out my No-Coffee Fatty Vanilla Latte for most of the same benefits.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The Bulletproof (TM) Coffee Recipe

1-2tbs unsalted grass-fed butter (minimum)
1-2tbs of Brain Octane or XCT oil 
1-2 cups (~250-500ml) of hot coffee


>> Brain Octane and XCT oils are 18x and 6x stronger than coconut oil, with no flavour - they are not generic MCT oil, which is about 1.6x stronger than coconut oil
>> Brew your coffee with low-toxin beans (like Bulletproof Upgraded Coffee) using a metal filter (like french press or gold filter drip) so as to not lose the precious oils the beans contain


// Brew coffee as you normally would. Use a metal filter if possible.

// Pre-heat blender by boiling extra water and pouring it into a blender while your coffee brews

// Once your coffee is ready, pour the water out of your blender, and pour your coffee in. Add your butter, and XCT oil. Blend until there is a thick layer of foam on top like a latte. The stronger the blender, the better. A spoon won’t work.

// Optional: Add cinnamon, vanilla, dark chocolate, or a sweetener like Stevia, erythritol, or xylitol (this is technically a sacrilege if you use awesome beans, but some people love their mocha…)

// Put on a satisfied look and enjoy the high performance buzz from your creamy mug of Bulletproof Coffee

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Key Points here...

:: Only use grass-fed butter. Butter from grain-fed animals has a different fat composition. It doesn’t blend as well, doesn’t taste as good, and lacks fat soluble vitamins (which is one of the reasons this makes you Bulletproof).

:: The XCT oil promotes high energy, fat loss, and brain function. It will make you feel better and get thinner. It also makes the coffee have a better feel in your mouth, but coffee with just butter is ok too.

:: Low-fat diets reduce the amount of fat-digesting enzymes you produce. If you’ve been avoiding fat for some time, add less butter and allow your body to adapt. Digestive support may be necessary. Taking a betaine HCL or a digestive enzyme supplement will help your body digest the butter as you ramp up to digesting real food. This goes double for vegans or people who have been starving on low fat or low calorie diets.

:: Don’t you dare use a low-fat butter substitute. Bleah.

:: Butter is better than even unhomogenized, grass-fed, raw organic cream. Casein found in milk and cream binds to the antioxidants (polyphenols) in coffee and makes them unavailable. Butter has far less casein, and ghee has none. Besides, raw cream isn’t raw after you add it to hot coffee.

:: If you must use a sweetener, use xylitol, erythritol, or stevia. I’ll be writing more about the negative effects of aspartame, Ace K, sucralose, and other sweeteners soon.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

My Bulletproof Coffee Recipe

This makes coffee for one person

2 Tbsp Organic ground coffee 

1-2 Tbsp organic grass fed ghee

3 Tbsp organic coconut oil

1-2 Tbsp Brain Octane oil

1/2 tsp sunflower lecithin
Cinnamon sprinkled on top

// Brew your coffee as you would; I'm recently hooked on the Aeropress coffee maker (amazes!!)

// Add all ingredients to your blender and blend until nice and frothy

I add sunflower lecithin as I prefer it to soy lecithin and find that as I use ghee instead of butter (for the casein reasons), I don't get such a frothy coffee. Enter lecithin, and we've got it goin' on (add to that the fact that it is also a brain boosting food means double win!). I also still use coconut oil as I have been consuming more of it for gut health and anti-bacterial reasons, but this is in addition to the Brain Octane oil or MCT oil. And of course, cinnamon on top has become a staple for me. It makes all the difference!

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Can I shake it if I don't have a blender?

Hmmm... I'm just gonna come out and say it. No. And I'll tell you why. I've had shaken Bulletproof coffees and they're shit. Honestly. They are exactly how you would imagine fats and oils in your coffee - floating at the top. Gross. When you blend it, you can't even tell you have oils in your coffee, and it goes down a treat! In addition to that, by blending your coffee, you vigourously break up the ghee/butter and oil particles into smaller particles called micelles, which is essentially tiny fat molecules, but these can be used as fuel in your body far more efficiently than larger particles (as you would have if you merely shook your coffee), which is essentially what we want.

If you're wanting to get your hands on these amazing oils and coffee (along with loads of other amazing products) check out this site here - where you can grab it all. Yes this is an affiliate link but these guys are super cool, and there's only one company that makes Brain Octane oil so it's the only place you can get it.


Now I want to hear from you - 

Are you already drinking and making Bulletproof coffee? How do you feel? Do you make the original version or have you jumped outta the box and created your own? Let me know in the comments below.



References:

How to make Bulletproof Coffee - The Bulletproof Executive
The Bulletproof Diet book - Dave Asprey