Coffee, butter, and oil are all great for their intended use… but combining all three in one fat-frenzy concoction, while skipping breakfast, under the illusion that it’s healthy? How diabolical.
Regardless, Butter Coffee has popularized tremendously over the last few years thanks to Silicon Valley bio-hacker Dave Asprey. You may have heard of his company “Bulletproof” – home of the Bulletproof coffee and an array of other health-related products.
But long before Mr. Asprey and his cult entered the realm of butter lattés, butter tea had been thriving in the frigid altitudes of Tibet, Nepal, India, and Bhutan since the 7th century. Every morning, it was Himalayan ritual to start the day with a bowl of black tea, yak butter, yak milk, and salt. This godsend helped workers persevere through the harsh conditions of the Himalayan environment (1).
In fact Mr. Asprey got the idea for Bulletproof in 2004 while on a retreat in Tibet, at 18 000 feet and -10 degrees Fahrenheit. As the story goes, he was about to collapse from exhaustion until a local guesthouse offered him a yak butter tea. He could not believe it. Not only was he greeted with a warm vibrant energy, but the drink actually tasted pretty good (2).
Fast-forward to 2019, Dave Asprey and the Bulletproof gang have certainly made a dent in the health and wellness industry. Albeit Asprey notes considerable claims from his Bulletproof brand, not many health professionals support it due to the lack of empirical evidence and “mystical allure” it provides. Fair enough, replacing your breakfast with saturated fats should raise some red flags.
Bulletproof claims that it will increase your energy, suppress your hunger, help you think faster, help you lose weight, and improve your workouts. What a load of BS. Naturally, I had to try it out.
As it would turn out, I quite like the forbidden fruit. Placebo or no-cebo, this fat-fused Joe has had a significant effect on my day-to-day rituals, and she has been in my life for a few months now. But I am still very skeptical about this whole butter coffee thing, and I refuse to fall under the spell of Mr. Asprey.
I figured it was necessary to do some of my own research. Unfortunately there is not a lot of studies done directly on butter coffee, so I took it upon myself to find as much information as I could. Curiosity will not kill this cat.
This article highlights the benefits and cautions of Bulletproof coffee that I have both researched and experienced first-hand.
What’s in a bulletproof coffee?
Bulletproof set out a mission to create the highest-quality products on the market, and its original blend consists of their brand name:
- Grass-fed Ghee
- Brain Octane Oil
- Rainforest Alliance certified Coffee beans
Although Mr. Asprey places a hefty premium on his products, there is likely no difference between them and the one’s you can find on Amazon or at your local grocery store. If you are looking to save money (like me) you can make your very own “bootleg” Bulletproof. All you need is:
- Grass-fed ghee
- MCT or Coconut oil
- High-quality coffee beans
Theoretically, you can make your own butter coffee with standard butter and instant coffee. But the monetary costs you save will certainly cost you in vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and most importantly, hipster aesthetic.
Look, if you are going to replace an entire meal with pure fat, you might as well do it with the healthiest fats you can get. So why not use grass-fed ghee? Grass-fed butter has more vitamin K2, vitamin A, vitamin E, omega-3s, and antioxidants than grain fed butter (3).
Without further ado, here are the top five benefits of bulletproof coffee.
1. More Energy
Before we dive into butter coffee, let’s examine the effects of a regular Joe. There’s a reason 1.4 Billion cups of coffee are consumed every morning – people need to wake up (4).
Caffeine, coffee’s primary stimulant, is known to decrease fatigue, enhance physical activity, improve problem-solving skills, and increase focus and concentration. This is fairly evident (5, 6).
Caffeine is also responsible for accelerating your metabolism. It does this by activating your noradrenaline neurons, the prime reason why it makes you feel so alert. This can also release dopamine and help you feel good (7).
So what happens when you add a lump of (ahem, high-quality) fat to the mix?
It depends. When you are fasted, consuming fat can actually implore more sustainable long-term energy. But if you are running on carbohydrates, adding fat to the mix will just weight you down. And make you fat (8).
Fats are a great source of slow energy, meaning they take longer to metabolize and therefore last longer. Fats provide the body with about twice as many calories as compared to proteins or carbohydrates, making them the most efficient source of energy (9, 10).
The effects of grass-fed ghee are also worth mentioning. Grass-fed ghee contains an abundance of omega-3s and is considered an ergogenic supplement, known to help improve exercise efficiency, enhance recovery from training, and improve energy bioavailability (11). I can personally attest to this. I have much better workouts while fasted on butter coffee.
2. Intermittent Fasting
For me, intermittent fasting is a must. I’ve tried countless times to reincorporate breakfast into my routine, but I genuinely prefer having no breakfast in the mornings. I have more mental clarity, more focus, better workouts, and I just don’t feel like I am being weighed down. I feel like a bird, of sorts.
However, intermittent fasting isn’t for everyone. But it’s a must for me.
Here’s my dilemma. During a fast, any little calorie you consume technically breaks it. And although it is necessary to drink butter coffee on an empty stomach, the drink itself has around 300-400 calories. So the question becomes: does butter coffee break the fast?
The answer: Yes and no.
Butter coffee may have a lot of calories, but fat-based calories play little effect on your biological systems. If you only consume fat during your fast, you won’t interrupt autophagy and you’ll stay in a fat-burning state (12, 13).
Bulletproof is almost like a cheat code to intermittent fasting. The fats will fill you up, but your body will react very similarly as if it were in a fasted state.
The body is constantly searching for a means to burn energy, which is usually derived from glucose-derived carbohydrates. But during intermittent fasting your glucose availability drops, so the body is forced to look for the next available energy source – ketone bodies (14).
It’s the reason why Bulletproof is so popular within the ketogenic community. Yet even for the non-ketoers, like myself, Bulletproof can help you obtain the benefits of ketosis without the negatives like hunger, nausea, fatigue, ketoacidosis, or constipation (15, 16). Note: this can only be achieved when your Bullet is consumed during a period of fasting.
3. Weight Loss
Unless you’re considering self-amputation or liposuction, the only real way to lose weight is to expend more energy than you intake.
I know it sounds very counterintuitive to eat a breakfast high in fat when the idea is to lose fat, but studies have shown that a high-fat intake will suppress your appetite and keep you feeling full for longer, which can lead to weight loss (17, 18, 19).
Several studies also suggest that MCT oil may provide satiating effects that can impact weight regulation (20, 21).
Caffeine itself is also known to be a body-weight regulator, as it increases energy expenditure and also helps to decrease energy intake (22).
If you are in ketosis, butter coffee will help you burn more energy since ketone bodies increase energy expenditure (23).
The type of fat consumed also plays an important role when it comes to weight regulation.
Ghee has a much better lipid profile than standard butter. One study illustrated the effects between these two over 21 days. The group with ghee lost weight; the butter group gained (24).
Grass-fed butter also contains 5 times more CLA’s (conjugated linoleic acid) than grain-fed butter. CLAs are reputable weight-loss supplements and can treat cardiovascular diseases in addition to preventing cancer (25, 26).
If you are going to be replacing your breakfast with fat, you better make sure it’s the best kind of fat available. Grass-fed ghee demonstrates the most beneficial effects when it comes adding butter in coffee.
4. Cognition
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day… Right?
It’s tough to prove that claim, as most of the studies are done with very small sample groups and funded by large breakfast corporations. In fact the phrase “breakfast is the most important meal of the day” was used more as a marketing scheme than anything. There is more evidence to prove that skipping breakfast has no direct influence on health (27, 28, 29, 30).
I have found that the greatest impact I have received from intermittent fasting has not been from its weight regulation, anti-inflammation, or cardiovascular benefits. Rather, the reason I have skipped breakfast every morning for the past few years has been for improved cognition.
For me, I always feel slow and groggy after eating immediately upon waking. I find I retain much more energy when I prolong my first meal, so I usually only eat around 11 am. In fact, I am at my peak productive state between 6 am -11 am. I am laser-focused, I have much better workouts, and I do not feel like my brain is being weighed down.
We are all familiar with the effects of drinking a regular cup of coffee: improved attention span, psychomotor performance, and enhanced cognitive functions (31, 32).
Caffeine also helps facilitate ketosis, which acts as fuel for the brain when glucose runs out (33). Interestingly, Ketones are 70% more efficient than glucose for supplying the brain’s energy needs (34). The best part: you do not need to be in ketosis to activate these benefits. So long as you are fasting, your body will begin to produce ketones (35).
What’s even more interesting is that both ghee and MCT oil hold additional cognitive benefits. One study found that MCT’s improved cognitive function in patients with hypoglycemia (36). I found this quite interesting because I am actually prone to hypoglycemia myself.
Ghee butter has an abundance of omega 3’s, which are known to increase gray matter in the brain and is even linked to happiness (37, 38, 39). Additionally, Butyric acid in ghee butter has been shown to reduce brain inflammation (40, 41).
It’s too bad that there are not a lot of studies done on the direct effects of a Bulletproof versus a standard cup of coffee. Judging from its indirect benefits however, I am willing to bet there is at least some influence on brain health and function.
5. Digestion
Let’s be real. Tell me there wasn’t a time when you woke up for breakfast and didn’t feel like eating, but you ate anyway? That may have been your body giving you a sign.
It takes anywhere from 40-50 hours for food to pass through the colon. Giving the gut a rest allows the body to naturally clean the intestines (42). Since Bulletproof does not interrupt autophagy, your body will be tricked into cleaning itself. Muhaha.
Yet, it’s definitely important to mention the effects of drinking coffee on an empty stomach. There is a lot of conflicting advice.
Lloyd’s pharmacist Nitin Makadia explains that, “Coffee, even decaffeinated coffee, has been shown to stimulate the production of acid which, in the absence of food, can be damaging to the lining of the stomach with repeated exposure.” (43).
However, studies show that there is no relation between coffee and dyspepsia, defined by the symptoms of irritability and indigestion that Makadia is referring to. Coffee actually has a relatively high pH, and an even lower acid content than that of orange juice and tomato juice (44, 45).
Additionally, both grass-fed ghee and MCT oil provide a thick layer of fat that actually helps protect the stomach lining from acid reflux (46).
Regardless, it’s not uncommon to get heartburn after drinking coffee on an empty stomach. If you are worried about this happening to you, adding a knob of regular butter is not a good idea. Butter can potentially cause and augment the symptoms of acid reflux, which may lead to heartburn (47).
Conversely, many health professionals recommend ghee butter as opposed to standard butter for preventing acid indigestion. This is because ghee contains butyrate, an anti-inflammatory that lubricates the inside of intestines and removes bacteria (48, 49, 50).
Butyric acid has also been shown to treat and prevent colon cancer (51). It’s a beloved remedy amongst IBS patients too, as it can decrease pain and normalize bowel movements (52).
Cautions
As much as I love my morning Bullet, it’s not a recipe that is designed for many diets. There are a bundle of things to be concerned of:
- Low in Nutrients
Butter coffee should only replace your breakfast if you are comfortable with fasting and you are still meeting your daily requirements in vitamins, minerals, and proteins.
- Very high fat
The high fat profile of butter coffee is not ideal for those who are prone to heart disease or coronary artery disease (53). Additionally, high fat diets can raise cholesterol, which further detriments heart health (54, 55). Not everyone responds well to cholesterol fluctuation.
- Very high in calories
Although butter coffee can aid in weight loss when accordingly monitored, it is significantly high in calories – up to 400 in a single cup. That’s why it’s recommended to drink only when you are fasted.
If you plan to eat breakfast, any benefits of adding butter to your coffee will be neutralized. You will be simply adding mindless fatty calories that can lead to various health problems down the road.
Conclusion
If you are going to replace an entire meal with a caffeinated lump of fat, you better make sure that it’s the absolute best quality fat you can find.
Bulletproof coffee can only work for you, as it has for me, if you are following a strict regimen of fasting while still meeting all of your nutritional requirements.
There are three primary things to be concerned of:
- The quality of your coffee, butter, and MCT’s must be exceptionally high
- Do not put butter in your coffee if you are fasted
- Be mindful of what you eat the rest of the day
There are so many rules to follow with butter coffee – is the end-goal really worth it?
Answer: maybe.
I have personally found butter coffee to be effective for me, and I plan on staying with it for the time being. However, it is entirely subjective. Most would argue that the diet one must abide to is too rigorous and does not fit within any typical lifestyle.
Amidst the negatives, the positives, and the spellbinding allure that surrounds the Bulletproof brand, you can never really know what it’s like unless you try it for yourself. I encourage you to take on the challenge of replacing your breakfast with your own version of Bulletproof butter coffee. And who knows, you might actually like it.
