So, you’ve not heard of Bulletproof Coffee. Well listen up. Information overload incoming.
About 2 years ago I was chatting to a guitarist/piano teacher friend of mine about the vagaries of diet when he told me about something called “Autophagy”1 which he’d discovered and then he told me how it had literally cleaned up his body and mind. And it works at a cellular level too, so pretty low level stuff. I was looking to change my dietary habits after years of neglect, abuse and doner kebabs, and I went away impressed, determined to research the mysteries of this new age thinking.
Bulletproof
The first thing I discovered was The Ketogenic Diet2, or Keto for short. Then I discovered IF3, or Intermittent Fasting for long. Then I discovered Apple Cider Vinegar4 and then the 3 B’s: Biohacking, Bone Broth and something called Bulletproof Coffee. And, as if I’d suddenly been transported into the mind of my old mum, I said to myself, “Well what’s that then, when it’s at home?”
So, what is Bulletproof Coffee?
Did you just say butter?
Me: “Well, it has coffee in it.”
You: “Ok, so that’s good.”
Me: “And water.”
You: “Excellent.”
Me: “And Butter.”
You: “Ok good….wait. What did you say?”
Me: “Butter, yes.”
You: “Butter? BUTTER? Are you out of your fricking mind?”
Me: “And Coconut Oil too.”
You: “Are you insane? Are you Gwyneth Paltrow? Are you Gwyneth Paltrow insane? Oil and butter? In a drink? So, what do you think, I was born yesterday?”
Me: “It’s true. Other than coffee and water, Bulletproof has two other main ingredients in it. Unsalted Butter and MCT Oil.”
You: “But why? Seriously. Why? Why do that to a lovely cup of coffee? A lovely cup of jitter juice?”
How to make Bulletproof Coffee
Well, there are very good reasons for the additions but first, I don’t think you should be thinking of this as a cup of coffee with a dollop of butter bobbing around in it like an iceberg, á la the image above. It’s more of a frothy, creamy, coffee flavoured drink. But made from coffee. Basically you make it like this.
First you make up a shot of black coffee. Espresso, or Americano. If you’re doing it properly you’d use coffee that is ‘mycotoxin free’.5
Lob it in a blender. Add a chunk of organic ‘grass-fed’ unsalted butter.6
Add some MCT Oil (I’ll come on to that later), whizz it up for 30 seconds and enjoy. Personally, I add some Almond Milk to mine, or even Pea Milk (yes that’s a thing too ladies and gentlemen).
Here’s how they explain the recipe on the Bulletproof Coffee website.
But how did we get here, to a place where people think it’s acceptable to put butter and oil in a hot drink? Well, I’ll tell you.
Dave Asprey
Some years ago this unhealthy, fat American bloke called Dave was wandering about Tibet being unhealthy and fat (his words not mine) when he stumbled gasping, into a tent in the foothills of the Himalayas and the occupant served him some tea made with Yak milk, to revive him. It was so invigorating he vowed to research it when he got back to the US and some years later Bulletproof Coffee was born.
He discovered that by merging organic, grass-fed butter with coffee and MCT Oil, it provided nutrition and health benefits he’d not seen before. But don’t take my word for it, see what Bulletproof say about it here.
It’s a high fat, low carb drink that provides energy for several hours of the day and because there’s no carbs in sight, you don’t crash and burn at 10.30am, or in my case 8.15.
The Bulletproof Bible
Dave though, after coming up with this drink, went on a diet and isn’t fat anymore. And he has a multi million dollar organisation to run now too. I’m trying to discover the latent benefits of Bulletproof Sausages but I can’t get the pig to stand still for long enough to blend up the ingredients. Perhaps I’ll try something else.
MCT Oil
MCT Oil is Oil derived from Coconuts which are high in Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT).7 They get absorbed into the body quicker than fats in food which contain Long Chain Triglycerides (LCT’s). I don’t want to get into biological compounds and chemical structure (mainly because I have no idea what it is) but short chains = quick digestion, long chains = slow. Once they get to the liver they are converted into ketones which the body uses for energy (this assumes you’re carbohydrate consumption is low).
MCT is good for brain functionality because the brain is able to absorb the C8 variety very well, and so a shot of this in the morning should give you a good kick, especially when combined with the caffeine from the coffee (are you beginning to see how this works?). Add in the unsalted organic butter (do not underestimate how unpleasant salted butter in coffee is) and you have a power drink of champions. And me. Except I’m not a champion.
And I haven’t even got onto the weight loss yet. But that may be because Coconut Oil is a natural laxative, so don’t go pouring a few tablespoons into each drink you make. Maybe start with half a teaspoon to begin with and build it up slowly. Better safe than sorry eh?
Careful with that blender, Eugene
It is advised not to use a ‘Bullet’ or ‘Single Serve’ sealed blender to mix hot liquids, as in the blender image below. This is because hot liquids expand as steam is created, which then forces its way through the seal and you’ll discover hot coffee pouring into the motor and ruining your latest purchase (as I did). So, although I was lucky enough to get a replacement (through Amazon), I’ve discovered warm liquids are ok. So, I make up the coffee, pour it in with the other ingredients and leave it to cool for a few minutes, and then it’s ok. I add in hot water from the kettle after.
Aerolatte
I’ve also tried a stick blender which is ok and another invention, the milk frother. You can buy one of these for anything between a fiver and £20. I’ve tried a few different types and the one I bought for a fiver was great, until it fell apart after a couple of months. This is what is considered to be a ‘false economy’, i.e. you get what you pay for.
With this device, you place the frother head into the coffee, just below the surface, switch it on and blend it for about a minute until the froth goes crazy. If it doesn’t froth at all it’s usually because you’re totally incompetent; at everything. Ok, maybe not. It depends on the milk, how fresh it is, the protein content, the fat content, the temperature, what day it is, whether or not you’ve had a sandwich, whether you’ve been to Lidl recently. Lots of things.
Best thing to do is try different things and see what works. Or just stick it in the fricking blender and have done with it. Better still, forget the whole thing and go to the pub. They serve coffee there too these days.
Jackson Pollock
Just one other thing on milk frothing. Ensure you switch the frother on after you have submerged the head into the liquid, unless you were planning on wearing the drink.
Devil Food
On a Keto diet, Bulletproof replaces breakfast because your body burns the fat for energy rather than carbohydrate. And carbs, if you didn’t already know, are the food of beelzebub, his dad and his great aunty Mavis.
That’s it really.
So, the idea is to drink this instead of eating a bowl of devil food cereal as it provides more energy, more nutrition, more of everything, without the shocking blood sugar spikes.
Remember, it’s quite possible that not everything you’ve been told about food is true. In fact, it’s possible none of it is. Except here, of course. This is your happy place.
Thank you for your time. Chin chin.
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- Autophagy literally means ‘self eating’ but refers to your body’s own internal housekeeping system, which cleans up and removes dead cells and regenerates new ones as necessary. Unfortunately you have to fast for about 18-24 hours at a time for it to work, as your body is designed to prioritise the digestion of food over the regeneration of new cells
- Keto is when you reduce the amount of carbohydrate you consume to a low enough level to force your body to burn fat instead of glycogen (glucose) for energy.
- IF is when you reduce the period of eating in the day (the eating window) down to a smaller section of the day. Many people eat (or consume calories) over a 12 hour period, often more. With IF you might reduce this to 4-6 hours which is beneficial for your digestive system
- With ‘The Mother’
- Mycotoxins are essentially mould, as in mouldy coffee beans
- This is shorthand for cows that are fed grass, not butter that’s fed grass. The fact that on the packaging they proclaim they feed their cows grass, did lead me to ask, “So, what do they usually feed cows, and will it make me ill?”
- Triglycerides are Glycerol containing three (tri) types of fatty acids. MCT’s contain between 6 and 10 carbons. The type that improve brain functionality are MCT’s with 8 carbons, which is why the bottle in the image states it is C8 MCT, or Caprylic acid, with 8 Carbon MCT.