The magic of butter coffee has spread worldwide. The potential bulletproof coffee benefits are pretty impressive. Fat loss, brain power, and energy boost all from a butter coffee? Who wouldn’t want that? Discover the fatty nature of this ketogenic beverage which aims to induce a state of ketosis. Let’s get into it.

What is Bulletproof Coffee

Bulletproof Coffee is a very popular ketogenic coffee made by mixing coffee, butter, and MCT oil. In other words, the holy grail of Keto. It is known to help with weight loss, inflammation, brain function, and even increase energy levels.

The main superpower lies in its ability to enhance metabolic flexibility, as it can put one in a state of ketosis faster.

How was Bulletproof Coffee Invented?

The founder of Bulletproof coffee is Dave Asprey, also known as the father of biohacking. He found that drinking yak butter tea helped him with his performance, while he was hiking in Tibet. Also inspired by many energetic older folks there drinking butter tea, he decided to experiment with different kinds of butter, coffees, and oils which lead him to develop this amazing keto coffee.

Before you throw butter in your coffee, wait a second. This isn’t just any butter, this isn’t just any oil, as this isn’t just any coffee. The bulletproof coffee has specific ingredients and ways of making it. So specific it might even change your diet (a breeze for you keto-eaters).

Bulletproof Coffee Ingredients

This keto coffee is made with special ingredients. As Dave experimented with different kinds of butter, he found that unsalted worked best, and grass-fed was the healthiest and most nutrient-dense. For the oil, coconut oil was good, MCT even better, C8 brain octane oil? You know where I’m going with this, the best.

• Bulletproof coffee – it is about getting the most antioxidant-rich, mycotoxin free, and 100% Arabica beans coffee. It is believed these kinds of beans are healthier for you than usual coffee cheap coffee beans

• Grass-fed butter – this is an absolute essential. Grass-fed and unsalted butter can provide creaminess to your coffee and give you those healthy fats. We are talking CLA, omega-3, and vitamin A.

• MCT Oil or medium chain triglycerides is the berry on top. The main reason for adding MCT oil is that these types of fats will get you in a state of ketosis faster, making the transition to ketosis smoother, better, faster, and more time-efficient.

The Ketogenic Coffee

It is pretty obvious, but if you didn’t realize it yet, this is a keto coffee. The main idea is stimulating ketosis, hence why the benefits of drinking it will be pretty similar to the benefits of the keto diet.

1. Induces a state of ketosis

The goal of the ketogenic diet is to put you in a state of ketosis. Why? To burn fats for fuel, which aids in fat loss, sustainable energy production, increased alertness, and improved cognitive function.

As we’ve mentioned, keto coffee goes in combination with MCT or C8 Octane oil. The combination of coffee and MCT is known to enhance and speed up your transition to ketosis. (1) (2)

2. Effectiveness of ketone bodies

Ketones or ketone bodies are water-soluble molecules that the liver produces from fatty acids. This happens in a state of ketosis when glucose runs low. The main ketone bodies are acetone, acetoacetate, and Beta-hydroxybutyrate. Getting in a state of ketosis is when ketone levels rise over 0.5 mmol/L. The bulletproof coffee aims to do just that, get you in ketosis faster, with the help of MCT and caffeine.

Using ketones or fats to produce energy may have numerous benefits from neuroprotection and improvement in cognitive function, (3) to weight loss or fat loss. (4)

3. Best Keto diet breakfast

Does replacing your breakfast with coffee sound good? The Bulletproof coffee aims at that. Providing a good amount of nutrients, it is supposed to replace your breakfast. It’s not to say it is a caloric bomb, but it may keep you full until lunchtime.

Considering the addition of grass-fed butter, bulletproof coffee can prove to be relatively nutritious. It contains fat-soluble vitamins and antioxidants like vitamin A, vitamin K2, CLA, conjugated linoleic acid, and beta-carotene.

Top 7 Bulletproof Coffee Benefits

Finally, we arrived. Bulletproof coffee works to induce ketosis. This may have numerous potential benefits from elevating cognitive function and increasing alertness, to assisting fat loss and energy production.

1. Accelerate Fat Loss

There is not a shortage of studies that show how keto or LCHF diets enhance weight loss, many times being superior to conventional or high-carbohydrate diets. The Keto diet leads to belly fat loss, weight loss, and potentially some positive effects on glycemic control. (5) (6) (7) 

The bulletproof coffee, as a rich source of fats and zero-carbs, is pretty suitable for a Keto drink. Think of it, coffee with butter and MCT. Coffee can stimulate ketosis, MCT’s can speed up the transition, butter supports it.

Bulletproof coffee has the potential to aid in fat loss due to the presence of MCT. Research shows that medium-chain triglycerides consumption can reduce total fat mass, trunk fat, and intraabdominal adipose tissue. (8)

So, the mechanism by which bulletproof coffee could theoretically work is if you limit your carbohydrate intake for a considerable period before ingesting it. Although this will depend on many factors like insulin secretion, metabolic flexibility, and fat levels, it is fair to say that a bowl of oatmeal with your coffee won’t lead to weight loss.

Keto is stimulated with a low-carb eating regime, which increases ketones in your blood. Now your body is more efficient at using fats, which can promote the breakdown of fats and fat stores while improving insulin sensitivity. (9)

2. Sustainable Energy Boost

Creating energy is a complex process that requires calories, water, and oxygen. We always take care of the latter too, so let’s check our calories. Fats provide 9 kcal per gram, while proteins and carbs only 4 kcal per gram. This means for the same grams of fat you get more calories.

The good news is our body creates more energy from burning fat, than from burning glucose. While the chemical process might be a bit complex, just remember that we create more ATP molecules using fats for fuel, than glucose. This energy is created slower, as we need more time to oxidize fats, and the energy is more sustainable.

In a state of ketosis, your body produces higher amounts of ketones like BHB, which reduces oxidative stress and improves mitochondrial function. Mitochondria are the power cells that help us create energy, see the logic? (10)

Research done on an isocaloric ketogenic diet in obese men showed that the keto diet was able to energy expenditure. (11) This means a faster metabolism, higher energy production, and more calories burnt.

It is worth noting that a ketogenic or high-fat diet will increase energy in a different way. You probably won’t experience the sugar high and sugar crash that follows in high-carb diets. It’s rather a more stable, calm, and longer-lasting energy boost.

3. Improve Brain Function

You’ve heard about the Keto Brain ye, haven’t you? It’s a term describing the brain fueled on ketones. You achieve this by cutting off carbs, which reduces insulin secretion and increases ketones in your blood.

But how can your brain function on fats? It looks like keto eaters report numerous benefits like improved awareness, increased alertness, mental performance and even sharper focus.

Before we take a look at how fats can fuel the brain, let’s not forget the main ingredient. Not butter, coffee. Caffeine is known to improve concentration, elevate mood, improve reaction time, and increase alertness and logical reasoning. Some of the research is done in sleep-restricted conditions, some measured acute effects some in people with neurodegenerative diseases. (12) (13)

• Some of the underlying mechanisms involve better control and conversion of excess glutamate to glutamine. This may help our brains fight stress, prevent overstimulation and improve focus. (14)
• In people with mild cognitive impairment, ketosis had positive effects on verbal memory performance. It reportedly improved glucose metabolism too, and higher ketone levels were correlated to memory performance. (15)

4. Nutrient Dense

Bulletproof coffee is meant to replace your breakfast. Now if you’re on a keto diet and eat pretty nutrient-dense foods, this may be beneficial. However, many people love their breakfast and it represents a healthy meal full of nutrients. In this case, skipping it for coffee may be detrimental, in terms of getting all the nutrients you need.

Now why did we say BC is nutrient-dense, if it can’t replace a meal. Well, it starts with its ingredients. Bulletproof coffee is superior to most coffees, in terms of nutrients. Where is the magic stored? In the grass-fed butter, yap.

• Grass-fed butter is superior to regular butter, both are high in saturated fat though. Grass-fed butter contains numerous vitamins like vitamin A, vitamin K2, CLA or conjugated linoleic acid, omega 3 fatty acids, and minerals (Ca, K, Ph). (16) (17) (18)
• These fat-soluble vitamins, besides being essential for general development, immunity, growth, healthy tissues, and calcium absorption, also act as potent antioxidants protecting cell walls and reducing oxidative stress. (19)

As shown in Bulletproof, their bulletproof coffee comes from 100% Arabica beans, reported to be toxin-tested and antioxidant-rich coffee.

5. Blood Sugar Control

When you eat sugars or carbohydrates, insulin is secreted to transport glucose to other cells and tissues. Consistent consumption of sugar leads to chronically elevated insulin levels and can increase the risk of reduced insulin sensitivity or increased insulin resistance.

Fat-enriched coffee with zero sugar which assists ketosis can help with glycemic control and insulin secretion. Why?

• Research shows that a ketogenic, or high-fat diet was effective in improving glycemic control and improved lipid profile, and increased HDL “the good cholesterol” as well. While one coffee won’t do the trick, you can see keto’s potential in controlling sugar. (20)
• Low-carb and keto diets also showed potential for use in people with diabetes and obesity, again aiming at blood sugar control. (21)

The bulletproof coffee is superior to other coffees in this regard because the MCT + butter combination can induce a state of ketosis faster. This helps with weight loss and glycemic control.

MCTs or medium-chain triglycerides have also been shown to reduce insulin resistance, reduce cholesterol and increase C-peptide concentration in overweight people. (22)

6. Alertness, Focus & Neuroprotection

You already know about caffeine, it masks fatigue and acutely improves focus and reactive time, but what about fats? Well, you’d be impressed.

When your brain is active, alert, and focused, the excitatory neurotransmitter Glutamate does its magic. Overstimulation of glutamate builds up and hinders GABA function. Keto brains can remove excess glutamate more effectively, which can help with focus and stress management. (23)

With aging, glucose utilization ability in the brain reduces, hence why fueling on fats may be a good idea. In rats, the keto diet increases MCT1 and MCT4, important ketone transporter and reduces GLUT 1 (glucose transporter). This can aid in enhancing large-scale network brain function for behavior, memory, and planning. (24)

On top of that, coffee contains many antioxidants and bioactive compounds, known to aid in brain protection. Certain compounds in coffee like polyphenols, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, and alkaloids can exert potent neuroprotective effects. (25)

Coffee may also reduce neurodegeneration and age-related neurocognitive decline. (26)

7. Anti-Inflammatory

Coffee is an antioxidant-rich superfood. Antioxidants fight oxidative stress, consequentially reducing inflammation. Why is this good? Chronic inflammation slows you down, speeds up aging, and is the origin of many diseases.

During the roasting process, the antioxidant status of coffee beans changes. Research shows that with increasing roasting levels from light, medium up to French roast, the antioxidant activity, or coffee increased, in arabica beans. Inflammatory markers like TNF-alpha and IL-6 are reduced when treated with coffee extracts. (27)

It seems that caffeine isn’t so important in this, but coffee is. This means even decaf coffee might exert a profound anti-inflammatory effect. (28)

And if you forgot, the magic butter. As we’ve mentioned, grass-fed butter is rich in many antioxidants and fat-soluble vitamins like CLA, omega 3, and vitamin A, known to exert potent antioxidative effects. (29) (30) (31)

The Magic of Butter Coffee

If you scrolled through the whole article, that’s okay. Here are the most important bullet points for bulletproof coffee.

• Bulletproof coffee is a ketogenic beverage made by blending antioxidant-rich coffee with grass-fed butter and MCT oil.
• Bulletproof coffee works by inducing a state of ketosis which aims at burning fat for fuel, which gives you sustainable energy, increased alertness, and accelerates fat loss.
• The butter makes this coffee more nutritious than other coffees. Grass-fed butter is rich in CLA, omega 3 FA, Vitamin A, K, and Calcium.
• MCTs or medium chain triglycerides is the key ingredient that helps you to transition to ketosis faster, enhancing fat loss, reducing brain fog, and improving energy.