Bulletproof coffee has really gotten press over the last year, but honestly, what is it? Bullet proof coffee is…you guessed it…a coffee. But it’s made with a few special ingredients which is what make it “bulletproof”. It is made by adding fat to your coffee in the form of MCT oil, heavy cream, coconut oil or butter. It also can contain collagen protein. Some claims are that it will jumpstart your day, giving you crazy energy and ability to focus. Others claim that it is great on a diet to replace a meal. Is there any truth to these claims? Let’s find out!
The Treasured Benefits of Bulletproof Coffee
The goodness of adding this coffee to your daily regimen stems from how it processes through your body. This high fat, high protein fuel allows you to avoid ingredients rich in complex carbohydrates which require insulin for digestion.
On the contrary, this keto coffee makes use of ketones, energy produced in your liver from fat sources. Those fat sources can be from ingested fats like butter, or your body fat if you’re in a state called ketosis, attained by people on the ketogenic diet. By avoiding carbohydrates, simple or complex, your body relies on fat for energy.
These ketones are the main key to all the proposed benefits in bulletproof coffee – surprise, it’s not the caffeine/fat combo that does it.
Introducing fat that quickly creates ketones into your diet every morning provides you with stabilized energy production throughout your day – it could give you up to ten hours of sustained energy and clear focus.
Whether as part of a ketogenic diet regimen or not, consumers also report more joyful moods, accelerated fat loss, and increased desire for social interaction. In addition, studies have shown that ketones provide favorable impact against Parkinson’s disease, Type II Diabetes, liver disease, liver cancer, depressive moods, inexplicable mood swings, and leaky gut. This coffee can also assists your body with hormonal balance, improved immunity and powerful antioxidant release.
Who best benefits from Bulletproof Coffee intake?
Not everyone will have the same benefits when it comes to bulletproof coffee. For a normal person not on a special diet, the bulletproof coffee will have the same benefits of a regular coffee – the caffeinated benefits of alertness. The butter or added fat does not actually extend or improve the caffeine benefits in your body – so ignore these claims.
However, if you add MCT or coconut oil, these can create the ketones in your blood we mentioned earlier. These can be used by your brain for energy. This benefit is for anyone, whether on a ketogenic diet or not. The ketone production will suppress glucose and insulin, thereby lowering your blood sugar and insulin levels. The ketones will give your body a more steady supply of energy as opposed to sugary drinks that come with sugar highs and lows.
In addition, the collagen in bulletproof coffee is makes it a great meal replacement for someone on a diet. Collagen is superior to several other protein types in that it keeps you full longer, therefore allowing someone to ingest less calories without a hunger feeling. Collagen can be mixed in hot or cold drinks, as opposed to other protein powders like whey that do not mix well in hot drinks. The collagen also provides a lot of additional anti-aging benefits!
If a person was using keto coffee as a way to extend an intermittent fast, they could do this as well. However, if collagen is added this will stop some of the benefits of intermittent fasting like autophagy (the butter or fat will not stop autophagy). But, because it does not contain sugar your glucose and insulin will remain suppressed throughout the fast.
So in reality, anyone can apply and enjoy the use of keto coffee in his or her daily regimen. But you should ignore any claims that this is a miracle worker coffee. Yes, it can give you a better sustained source of energy and keep you fuller longer, but you will not turn into superwoman just by one cup of bulletproof coffee.
Of course if you also employ the ketogenic diet as part of your daily intake measures, you will enhance your experience of the reported benefits. Those who do observe the keto diet can fit this coffee anywhere into their day because of its high fat content that fits right into the ketogenic diet.
Two Keto Diet Coffee Recipes
If you are using bulletproof coffee to help with weight loss, keep in mind that depending on the recipe, the calories can really add up! A tablespoon of heavy cream, a tablespoon of coconut oil are 150 calories total. If your recipe calls for more than this, be prepared to watch the calories add up and negate any “dieting” you’re trying for. Remember, a calorie is a calorie!
Recipe One: Immersion Blend
Ingredients per cup: 8 ozs. of brewed drip coffee, 2 Tablespoons of heavy cream, 1 tablespoon of Hydrolyzed Gelatin (i.e. collagen). Set out your heavy cream and collagen so that they obtain room temperature prior to mixing. Using a heated mug and an immersion stirrer, put in the heavy cream and collagen and blend them until emulsified (usually 25 seconds). Pour in your hot, freshly brewed coffee leaving the immersion stirrer inside the mug. Pulse stir the complete mix for another 20 to 30 seconds. Using an immersion blender creates a thicker coffee that gives you a feeling that you’re drinking something more filling.
Recipe Two: Stir & Go
Ingredients per cup: 8 ozs of brewed drip coffee, 2 tablespoons of grass fed, unsalted butter or 2 tablespoons of coconut or other MCT (medium chain triglycerides) oil, and 1 tablespoon of collagen. Pour in your freshly brewed coffee, place the butter or oil into the heated mug along with the collagen, and spoon stir until fully blended. Enjoy!
Also, feel free to make up your own recipe with ingredients like cinnamon or turmeric that will added more health benefits to your keto coffee!
So Should You Try It?
If you are looking for a way to boost energy and benefit from ketones in the body, then yes! If you try the keto coffee in the morning before ingesting any other carbohydrates, your body will benefit from the ketones just like a person on the ketogenic diet would. In fact, you don’t need to even drink caffeinated coffee to get these benefits. You could mix the fat in herbal tea or decaf coffee!
In the end it is up to you, but if you give it a try let us know if you feel any benefits!
Guest Blogger
Janine Einhellig is owner and author at KetoDomain.com, a website focused on helping people achieve success on the ketogenic diet through information, meal plans and coaching. Janine enjoys writing and operating Keto Domain because of the great impacts the ketogenic diet can have on quality of life.
