You may have heard about bulletproof coffee, read about it or noticed articles on your Facebook feed. Right now Bulletproof coffee is all the rage. But what is it? Is it healthy?
What is Bulletproof Coffee?
Bulletproof coffee is a concoction that has been popularised by Dave Asprey (creator of the company Bulletproof Coffee) where you mix black coffee with butter and MCT oil. This is actually not a new idea, for many years people have added fats such as butter to their coffee. Some did it to raise calories when needed, and others have done it to adopt a higher fat diet.
But isn’t fat bad for us?
Fat has long been seen as the enemy in terms of weight loss and health, however in recent years there has been a paradigm shift in the view of fat.
Fat has gone from being the ugly duckling to the bell of the ball due to diets such as Atkins and Ketogenic.The research supports this shift away from carbohydrates towards fats. Previously carbohydrates were seen to be what should be the main constituent of our diets, but this was partly due to a misunderstanding in the science and political lobbying. Carbohydrates (such as rice, potatoes and fruits) are needed as the muscles use them for energy. However, if we have a more sedentary lifestyle then they aren’t as important. Fat is a healthy way to replace them as it can be used for energy instead.
When we have excessive carbohydrates in our diet and don’t exercise enough to balance it out it can lead to obesity, diabetes and heart problems.Excess carbohydrates can also have an inflammatory effect in the body, especially in unhealthy forms like sugar, flour and processed foods. High fat diets replace the carbohydrates while giving healthy benefits, such as:
- aiding weight loss
- regulating hormone production
- extra mental energy
- Coffee (The type of coffee really is up to you, this can be instant, hot/cold, dripped, French press, espresso…..the choices go on and on!)
- MCT Oil (such as found in coconut oil)
- Butter (preferably grass fed and non-salted as this can affect the taste)