What you need to know about bulletproof coffee

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You may have heard the words “bulletproof” coffee flying around your local health food stores and coffee shops recently. What is this stuff? Is it a bag of beans that can survive being hit by some ammunition? Does it make you, the drinker, bulletproof? It certainly sounds pretty full of itself based on its name, but maybe it should be…There are a few reasons this perky beverage is picking up steam. If you’ve been looking for a way to make your mornings just better, if you’ve been feeling foggy even after a regular cup of joe, or if you just think you don’t treat yourself to enough healthy items, you might be interested in this caffeinated prodigy that’s taking over the shelves of shops and blogs of health nuts. Here is what you need to know about bulletproof coffee.

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It’s not a brand

First off, bulletproof coffee isn’t a brand—it’s a recipe. It’s the name of a type of coffee that you will make at home. It consists of low-mold coffee, grass-fed butter, and medium-chain triglyceride or MCT oil.

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How do you make it?

You put all of the ingredients in a blender to blend them up until you get about the consistency of a latte. It is important to thoroughly blend them until they’re entirely smooth, or else the consistency might bother you.

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Why grass-fed butter?

The milk produced by grass-fed cows is thought to be higher in omegas than that produced by grain-fed cows.

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What is low-mold coffee?

Bulletproof coffee calls for low-mold or Mycotoxin-free beans. Mycotoxin is a mold that naturally occurs on most crops. They can be harmful if consumed in excess, but the FDA doesn’t really have guidelines for them so you want a certified low-mold coffee.

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What if I’m a vegan?

You can put ghee in your bulletproof coffee if you don’t consume animal products. Ghee is also rich in those essentially omegas that this diet and coffee focuses on.

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In fact, it’s part of a diet

Bulletproof coffee is a part of a diet called the bulletproof diet. It’s essentially a high protein, low carbohydrate diet with an emphasis on healthy fats. That being said, the whole diet isn’t quite as popular as it once was—with nutritionists encouraging more plant-based diets now—but many people still enjoy the coffee.

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What are MCTs?

MCTs are essentially healthy fatty acids. MCT oil is typically derived from a combination of coconut and palm oil. MCTs are easily digested and praised as a lean source of fuel. They’re a quick-digesting fat that your body metabolizes and uses up as energy.

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Can I just add coconut oil?

Unfortunately, you can’t just use palm oil or coconut oil in place of MCT oil. It’s the specific combination of the two oils that produce the perfect length of triglycerides. But you can find MCT oil at most health food stores.

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Isn’t this high in calories?

Yes, it’s true that bulletproof coffee is high in calories (around 440 calories per serving) but most individuals are just replacing their breakfast with this coffee. Bulletproof coffee isn’t about cutting calories but rather maximizing your calorie intake, consuming items that have the highest nutrients per calorie. In other words, it will keep you full for so long it may help you eat less.

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It balances hormones

The fats and cholesterol in bulletproof coffee actually help balance hormones—specifically steroid and sex hormones such as testosterone. You might want to add it to your PMS-fighting regiment, and should definitely add it to your pre-workout breakfast.

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It turns hunger off

Bulletproof coffee actually turns into ketones, which is a special type of glucose, different than the kind your body typically uses for fuel. It actually influences two important hormones linked to hunger and can turn off hunger signals for a long time.

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It may improve your mood

Some studies have found that bulletproof coffee can improve mood, fight depression, and boost cognitive abilities. Regular coffee alone does this, but when you add the healthy fats, bulletproof coffee does this tenfold.

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It’s low in sugar

People often focus on the fat content of bulletproof coffee, but they should be focusing on the sugar content, which is very low. You don’t need to add sugar to this drink to make it tasty. Meanwhile, people often add plenty of sugar to regular coffee to enhance the flavor, which turns directly into fat (and not the good kind) in the body.

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It boosts metabolism

The MCT oil in bulletproof coffee promotes thermogenesis (the production of heat) in your body and boosts your metabolism. It’s actually much better than a restricted calorie breakfast—your body actually slows its own metabolism to match your limited calorie intake. But the healthy fats in this coffee encourage your metabolism to speed up.