Bullet Proof Coffee - Endu Rendition

The descriptive bullet-proof is usually reserved for vests, superman, and evil robots from the future. However, about 15 years ago a guy named Dave Asprey added coffee to this list. Now, you may be thinking like I did when I first heard this, “If I drink enough of this I’ll become impermeable to gunfire?” The answer is sadly no. But, the things that it can do for your mind and body are worth noting.

Bullet proof coffee is traditionally a combination of 3 ingredients: Coffee, Coconut oil, and Butter. I have been supplementing another product with mine, whipping cream. If you’re a normal American then you’re probably wondering, “Fat in my coffee?”  My answer is “Absolutely fat in your coffee!”

But before I explain why, here’s a little science story.

When we lay our heads down on our pillows at night we begin a 6-9 hour fast. During that fast our bodies use up the glucose (blood sugar), and then it begins to look for fuel elsewhere; from our fat. Fat is taken from our cells, and then converted into ketones. Ketones have been shown to improve sleep function [1], weight loss, hormonal health [2], and awake mental function; this is only if we exercise and regularly go into ketosis (The makingof ketones) though. The moment that we scrape the crust from our eye-lids we have a choice to make – Do we eat carbs and end ketosis, or do we keep it going?

I would argue that we should keep doing ketosis.

Now rewind your mind back to bullet-proof coffee.

Medium chain triglycerides (MCT), which are a type of fat, help facilitate ketosis, and ketosis helps facilitate weight loss, health, and mental acuity. Can you guess what coconut oil, butter, and whipping cream have in common? That’s right, they all contain MCTs.

Coffee is a catalyst that over 54% of Americans use to get their day going. Coffee has been shown in many studies to improve brain function, alertness, weightloss, and in some cases sports performance. If people aren’t out at starbucks getting a diabeta-mocha-cardioquitta-cappuccino, they’re probably at home drinking Folgers. Coffee is, and probably will always be, the traditional morning drink of hard working people.

With so many people drinking java daily, it only makes sense that we should try and improve this morning ritual.

For starters, we need to improve the quality of the coffee. Many traditional coffee companies, like Folgers, harvest low quality beans. For their entire lives the coffee beans are showered in chemicals. Then, as they are cheaply processed they develop harmful toxins and molds, which make their way to your morning cup. I recommend buying a higher quality bean; preferably organic.

Dave Asprey suggest that you buy his beans.

I suggest that you just try to buy organic. Here’s a link to my favorite bean type. (good beans for cheaper than Dave's)

Now, when it comes to your butter you don’t just want any regular kind. Look for butter that comes from pasture raised cattle. Dave has his favorite, I have mine. I use Kalona organics Supernatural butter for 3 particular reasons: It’s pasture raised, organic, and cheaper than the trademark bullet proof butter.

When it comes to buying coconut oil, we normally don’t have many choices. The traditional bullet proof coconut oil is called “Upgraded Brain Octane Oil.” That’s fancy talk for expensive concentrated medium chain fats from coconut oil. You can buy this slightly better oil for 45 dollars, or you can buy normal coconut oil from the store for 8 and get a very similar nutritional value. 

And by similar I mean the same amount of calories and medium chain fats (Upgraded Brain Octane Oil has 126 calories and 14.3 g fat, while store bought oil has 120 calories and 14 grams of fat) What you do is between your bank account and you.  

Traditional bullet proof coffee doesn’t have this ingredient, but who said traditional was always right? I add whipping cream for the extra vitamins and medium chain fats. Once again, I choose Kalona Organics for their whipping cream.

Your final concoction should contain:

1-2 cups of coffee (2-4 shots espresso)
1 tbsp Kalona Organics Butter

1 tbsp Coconut oil

15 mL Kalona Organics Whipping cream.

This version has more ingredients, but it’s cheaper than the trademark bullet proof coffee. This version has 250 calories, 0 grams carbohydrate, 1 gram of protein, and 36 grams of medium chain fats – Now that’s the best part about waking up.

Here’s a video I made walking you through the process.

Get your brain game up Endu!

[1] Chikahisa S, Shimizu N, Shiuchi T, Sei H (2014) Ketone body metabolism and sleep homeostasis in mice. Neuropharmacology 79:399-404.

[2] Hussein M Dashti MD PhD FICS FACS Thazhumpal C Mathew MSc PhD FRCPath Talib Hussein MB ChB Sami K Asfar MB ChB MD FRCSEd FACS Abdulla Behbahani MB ChB FRCS FACSI PhD FICS FACS Mousa A Khoursheed MB ChB FRCS FICS Hilal M Al-Sayer MD PhD FICS FACS Yousef Y Bo-Abbas MD FRCPC Naji S Al-Zaid BSc PhD3 (2004) Long-term effects of a ketogenic diet in obese patients