All You’ll Need to Know About Bulletproof Coffee
As more and more people are starting to get in shape and transition into healthier lifestyles, different workout regimes, diet plans and health trends have been popping up everywhere. Some say to avoid all carbs and focus on protein. Others say to count your calories. Meanwhile, there are other nutrition plans that push to for high calorie intakes as long as you are working it all off. But there’s one food fad that seems to come up more often than not, and that is bulletproof coffee.
If you ask anyone who has added bulletproof coffee to their lives, then they’ll simply tell you that it’s adding some butter to your cup of java. Yes, it is that simple, but there a little bit more to that. However, before we get into what this caffeinated beverage is, let’s learn a little bit about where it came from.
Well, it all started with the Dave Asprey. The Silicon Valley investor, tech entrepreneur and founder of Bulletproof Coffee, found that he was starting to live a very unhealthy life. But like the technology that he is pushing to progress, Asprey believed there was a way to work on or hack the body in a way that will not only make you healthier but actually improve your overall state. According to Asprey, people can start participating into bio hacking, which is “changing your environment from the inside-out so you have full control of your biology; using your body as your personal laboratory, finding the exact hacks that work for you.”
And drinking a cup of bulletproof coffee is one of the initial ways to biohacking your body.
What is Bulletproof Coffee?
So what exactly is bulletproof coffee? Well, it looks a lot like a latte but is very different. It starts out with a typical cup of black coffee. Also don’t just go to the supermarket and grab any bag of coffee beans and forget about the instant coffee. Asprey highly recommends good quality beans that don’t mold are the best ones to use. Making sure the beans are single origin, small batch, rainforest certified or test for mycotoxins and mold are good things to look out for when choosing the right coffee beans. You can also pick up Arabica beans or ones that are grown at high elevations, too.
After finding the right beans, then you add medium-chain triglycerides or MCT oil as well as unsalted butter or grass-fed ghee. Ghee is commonly associated with clarified butter. But there are a few differences. Although both are made by melting down butter to a point where you can separate the salt, dairy and water from the actual substance, they put ghee into the good fats category since it’s easily digestible. Because they can simmer it at a higher temperature than clarified butter, there is a nutty flavor to ghee and has been a staple in India for years. Meanwhile MCT oil also adds nutrients and has healthy properties that will help you curb your appetite and shed off the pounds.
Getting back to bulletproof coffee, this combination of ingredients may sound really rich and heavy. However many fans of the drink, swear that its delicious, smooth and doesn’t make you feel heavy at all.
Why Should You Try It?
Most people who start adding bulletproof coffee to their diets are usually trying lose weight or build muscle. According to the Bulletproof camp, people really do eat less, shed the pounds but still have all the energy because of the nutrients in bulletproof coffee. So instead of making a bowl of oatmeal or having some toast for breakfast, just have a cup of bulletproof coffee. You will have enough energy to take on the day, and you won’t crash before lunchtime.
How Do You Make Bulletproof Coffee?
So now that you know what it is and what the ingredients are, how do you put it all together? As you can see above, Asprey highly suggest to different methods of brewing coffee — French press or pour over. Regardless of which method you decide to go with, the coffee should take at least four minutes to brew. Once you finish brewing the coffee, then you put the java, the MCT oil and the butter or ghee into a blender. Whip the mixture until it’s blended and frothy and then serve.
What are the Health Benefits?
Although people may still be skeptical about drinking all that butter, there are actually a bunch of health benefits to consuming bulletproof coffee. There are studies that say that bulletproof coffee has similar properties to standard black coffee in that they can prevent diabetes, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.
It can help with weight loss because it curbs your snack cravings and your overall appetite. And when you eat less, then you’re more likely to drop excess fat and pounds. It has also been said that your brain functions are heightened with bulletproof coffee. Apparently, bioflavonoids in coffee make you smarter because brain cells communicate faster.
MCT or Brain Octane Oil also help with brain functionality and won’t make crash in the middle of the day.
What are Risks?
Although many people have advocated for bulletproof coffee including celebrities, that doesn’t mean that the drink doesn’t come with its own risks. Let’s start with the fact that you’re drinking a big cup of fat. Sure, grass-feed unsalted butter or ghee has its own “good” properties. However, too much of something is a bad thing. It may only be two tablespoons of butter.
But over time, your cholesterol will go up. This is especially true if you’re still continuing to eat foods with high saturated fat along with the bulletproof coffee. And although bulletproof coffee claims to curb your hunger, a study shows that doesn’t last very long. At some point, you may actually gain your appetite back.
Bulletproof coffee isn’t a substitute for healthy food. You still need to incorporate other vitamins and nutrients into your diet while drinking the beverage in the morning.
What’s your favorite way to do coffee in the morning? Have you tried Bulletproof Coffee yet? How’d you like it? Let us know in the comments below.
