Coffee with Butter sounds gross and weird, but I promise you it’s anything but. I’m going to show you the science behind why you should be adding Coffee with Butter to each cup of your coffee. Before we get started though remember that no single supplement or weird fat trick is a miracle. Even if something works for you it might not work for someone else due to genetics or other factors.
Can adding butter to your coffee help you lose weight?
No matter which diet you are following, a cup of coffee can be a part of all of them. And if you are someone who can’t do without two or three cups of coffee in a day and also feel guilty about it later, this article is for you.
If you are looking for ways to make your coffee healthier, stirring a blob of butter in it might be the answer for you. Though coffee lovers might find it disgusting, wellness experts are praising this buttery beverage a little too much. According to experts, this surprising trick can work wonders for your health and weight loss.
Bulletproof coffee
This trendy weight loss drink is sweeping the internet by being the favourite of weight watchers. The recipe calls for two cups of high-quality single origin coffee, two tablespoons of unsalted grass fed butter and one-two tablespoons of MCT (medium-chain triglycerides) oil (concentrated extract of fat found in coconut and palm oils). Stir all the ingredients together and your coffee is ready.
How does it help?
This buttery beverage is creating so much buzz because according to a recent research, MCTs are quickly metabolized, which makes them effective for weight loss. The grass-fed butter in coffee contains high level of omega 3, which has an anti-inflammatory property and can help in improving brain function, gut health and energy levels.
Not just this, bulletproof coffee can provide you with energy and a feeling of satiety along with a bunch of nutrients, all which in turn increases the fat burning metabolism, resulting in weight loss.
Some fans claim that the concoction tastes delicious and creamy latte.
Keep in mind
Your bulletproof coffee can also backfire by adding a lot of high-fat calories if you do not continue with clean eating during the rest of the day. In other words, do not neglect the other healthy eating habits because no coffee alone can do magic and help you lose weight.
Is Butter Coffee Actually Good For You?
Butter coffee has been one of the most persistent—and frankly bizarre—trends to exist in the middle part of the Venn diagram of coffee and healthfulness. Everything we as Americans have learned about healthy eating over the past half century seems to run counter to the notion of putting a dollop of butter in your morning brew; fat is bad, as the thinking traditionally goes, so adding an unnecessary scoop of it to anything seems counterproductive to healthy eating habits.
Of course, we now have a better understanding of nutrition and know that fat—both in our food and our bodies—is in fact not bad but vital by just about any definition of healthfulness that isn’t foolishly conflated with “skinniness”. So what is the truth about butter coffee? Is it healthy? Unhealthy? Merely a vehicle to get cannabis in your coffee? To find out, we’re going to take a look at the alleged benefits and potential side effects of butter coffee.
What are the Benefits?
The espoused benefits of bulletproof coffee are many. A cup of butter coffee in the morning is said to inhibit food cravings later in the day; the high-fat butter provides “steady energy and [keeps] you full for hours.” It is also stated to increase cognitive function and clarity, thanks to the MCT oil, which comes from an “almost-immediate boost of energy to the brain.”
But the biggest purported benefit is bulletproof coffee’s alleged weight loss catalyst. (And before we go any further, I would like to yet again reiterate that weight loss ≠ healthfulness, and if we want to be really honest, all those folks with washboard abs and 3% body fat, while conforming to traditional aesthetic notions, are likely to be at an unhealthy weight/body composition.)
Weight loss can be triggered through ketosis, the primary mover behind the perennially popular Keto weight loss program, which is basically a modern, grass-fed version of your parents high-fat, low-card Atkin’s “diet”. (Both Keto and Atkin’s are weight loss programs, not diets. Your diet is what you eat everyday, good, bad, or indifferent.) Ketosis is a metabolic state where the body is lacking in carbohydrates, the primary power supply, and begins burning fat to make ketones, which it can then use as an alternate power source. If a person consumes little to no carbohydrates, the thinking behind the Keto and Atkin’s plans go, their body will burn more fat for energy, leading to overall weight loss from fat stored in the body.
Butter coffee is also believed to have practical benefits, primarily convenience. Intended to be consumed in the morning, bulletproof coffee is a quick source of a lot of calories—in the ballpark of 450 a cup—and as a replacement for a traditional breakfast.
What are the drawbacks?
Without question, folks have lost weight by drinking butter coffee as part of a Keto program. Anecdotally, I’ve had multiple friends—coffee industry people at that—state they have experienced some or all of the benefits of Keto, so there is at least some truth to the hype. But there are considerations to account for when deciding if you want to butter up your brew.
Among the side effects listed on the Bulletproof website are: dehydration, muscle cramps, low energy, trouble sleeping, constipation, diarrhea, brain fog, keto rash, and something known as keto flu.
Beyond these, though, butter coffee is nutrient-deficient. On its own this isn’t necessarily a problem, but when used as a meal replacement, it effectively cancels out any essential nutrients—carbohydrates, proteins, fiber, vitamins, and minerals—you otherwise receive from the fruits, veggies, and whole grains you would normally consume. Healthline does the simple math showing that, if you replace one of your three meals a day with butter coffee, you’re losing one third of your total nutrient intake.
And butter coffee is high in saturated fat. The American Heart Association suggests only 5-6% of a person’s daily caloric intake come from saturated fat—roughly 13g, per Medical News Today—but two tablespoons of grass-fed butter contain 14g, already over one’s daily allotment. And while not all saturated fats are created equal (saturated fats like coconut and MCT oils may be more healthful than long-chain saturated fats, like those found in olive oil), saturated fats have been linked with higher cholesterol levels in the bloods and increased risk of heart disease or a stroke.
Will Adding Butter to Your Coffee Really Help You Lose Weight?
If you have friends who are serious about their Paleo diet, chances are, you’ve heard all about the benefits that come from drinking one drink: Bulletproof coffee. Thousands of people credit this high-fat, calorie-dense breakfast replacement with increased mental clarity, sustainable energy levels, and major weight-loss results.
Bulletproof coffee creator Dave Asprey spent years tinkering around for the perfect combination of ingredients that would offer similar benefits to the yak-butter tea he drank while in Tibet. “I had so much more energy, and I didn’t feel sick at the altitude at all. I realized: there’s something going on here. I just felt so good,” Dave told Fast Company about the benefits he felt from drinking the Tibetan tea. In 2009, he perfected his blended breakfast; the official Bulletproof coffee recipe contains two cups of high-quality, single-origin coffee, at least two tablespoons of unsalted grass-fed butter, and one to two tablespoons of MCT (medium-chain triglycerides) oil, a concentrated extract of a type of fat found in palm and coconut oils.
If it sounds like a lot of calories, that’s because it is. While a grande latte with whole milk from Starbucks clocks in at 220 calories, this recipe is anywhere from 310 to 810 calories, depending on just how much grass-fed butter and MCT oil you use — Dave says he likes to add up to six tablespoons of butter! All those calories might seem shocking, but once he started drinking his coffee concoction instead of eating breakfast, Dave says he lost 100 pounds.
So, how does it work? According to naturopath Dr. Weil, MCTs are beneficial for weight loss since they are metabolized very quickly in the liver, where they are burned as fuel rather than stored as body fat. Some studies, like this one, have found that MCT consumption can lead to modest weight loss or weight maintenance. In addition, the high omega-3 count in grass-fed butter has anti-inflammatory properties, which may improve gut health; the fat content in the drink is also said to improve brain function and energy levels.
If you’re concerned with what health experts think, New York nutritionist Amy Shapiro, RD, told Well + Good NYC that Bulletproof coffee “can be a satisfying, energy-producing breakfast that provides many nutrients, satisfies hunger, and may cause your body to increase fat-burning, resulting in weight loss.” And Dr. Weil calls the butter-filled beverage “a worthwhile experiment for the sake of both taste and health if you are inclined to try it.” With that said, there is a possibility for weight gain. According to Amy, Bulletproof coffee “can add a lot of high-fat calories, if the rest of your day doesn’t consist of clean eating,” so it’s best to introduce a Bulletproof coffee habit to a Paleo or low-carb diet for optimal results.
If you’d like to try your own blend of Bulletproof coffee, you’ll need a high-quality, single-origin coffee free of mycotoxins (a type of chemical produced from mold that grows on coffee beans); unsalted, grass-fed butter (such as Kerrygold); and pure MCT oil. Dave also recommends steering clear of adding cow’s milk, nut milk, honey, or sugar in your cup. Instead, stick with recommended additions such as cinnamon, coconut cream, or Stevia to make sure you don’t “wreck the effects” of your cup.
A Simple Butter Coffee Recipe
If you are curious to make this drink yourself, it’s incredibly easy to make. Just follow the directions below and you’ll have yourself a delicious cup of butter coffee in no time flat.
- Brew up 8–12 ounces of black coffee using your favorite coffee bean.
- Add 1–2 tablespoons of coconut oil or MCT oil
- Add 1–2 tablespoons of grass-fed, unsalted butter
- Combine the above three ingredients into a blender and pulse till combined well
- Serve hot
Some Tips to Be Mindful Of
Depending on how much you enjoy your butter coffee, you may want to “elevate” your simple butter coffee to something a bit more decadent. If this is something that interests you, we have the following tips for you.
- While you can use unsalted butter, to get the best bang for your buck, we suggest using the highest quality butter you can find – Kerrygold being the gold standard (pun intended). You could also use ghee or even coconut milk as a butter substitute if you’re lactose intolerant or simply avoid dairy out of other dietary concerns.
- It’s better to be conservative when adding coconut or MCT oil. You can always add more after blending, but you can’t remove it.
- Honestly, blending butter coffee achieves the proper consistency whereas shaking the ingredients doesn’t achieve the frothy consistency that butter coffee should have.
- Given the butter and coconut flavors that dominate the cup, we suggest brewing the drink with either the Ethiopian Misty Valley Yirgacheffe or the Longberry Blue Harrar. Both beans have chocolate, fruity, and spicy clove notes that help differentiate the coffee from being overpowered by the richness of the coconut oil and butter and help complement these flavors to make a well-rounded drink.
Conclusion
Hopefully, we’ve dispelled the notion that butter coffee is just a coffee trend or diet fad, but rather an integral part of coffee cultures across the world for time immemorial. It also has some additional benefits for those who are looking for a boost in the mornings alongside some added health benefits. Even if you had heard of butter coffee through keto, but never had it, we suggest you try it out just once. Happy brewing!