# Anyone here into Bulletproof Coffee? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** coffee\ **Created:** [January 2, 2017, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-into-bulletproof-coffee/776118 "2017-01-02T01:35:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-into-bulletproof-coffee/776118/1 "2017-01-02T01:35:12Z")
I’ve been reading about Bulletproof Coffee, a blended concoction of brewed coffee, butter, and coconut oil-- no sweetener. There are slight variations from recipe to recipe. You can read about the possible benefits [here](https://wanderlust.com/journal/whats-the-story-behind-bulletproof-coffee/). It seems to fit in as a sub for breakfast in a low-carb or intermittent fasting way of eating. Does anyone have first-hand accounts of the effects? Do you like the taste? I like strong, sweet coffee, and I can’t imagine butter in it. :dubious: But I’m game and like trying different things. ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-into-bulletproof-coffee/776118/2 "2017-01-02T02:06:12Z")
Yeah, it’s awesome. It froths up when you blend it and tastes really rich, and does seem more energizing than regular coffee. I add cocoa powder and stevia. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-into-bulletproof-coffee/776118/3 "2017-01-02T02:14:32Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > Yeah, it’s awesome. It froths up when you blend it and tastes really rich, and does seem more energizing than regular coffee. I add cocoa powder and stevia. What’s your recipe? Do you use grass-fed butter? And do you use regular coconut oil or medium-chain-triglyceride oil. Why do you drink it? Can you say anything about effects on your health, for example, enables you to skip breakfast? \ ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2017, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-into-bulletproof-coffee/776118/4 "2017-01-02T03:36:22Z")
Get ready to shit like an infant. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![Renee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/renee/32/287_2.png) [@Renee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renee)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-into-bulletproof-coffee/776118/5 "2017-01-04T02:16:44Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > What’s your recipe? Do you use grass-fed butter? And do you use regular coconut oil or medium-chain-triglyceride oil. > > Why do you drink it? Can you say anything about effects on your health, for example, enables you to skip breakfast? > > \ Sorry, just saw this. I do use grass-fed butter, Kerrygold, which the only butter I buy, and I use it for everything. I just use the coconut oil they carry at Aldi. I don’t really have a recipe per se, I just fill up my blender with coffee, add about 1-2 tsp each of butter and coconut oil, shake in some coco powder, and a few drops of liquid stevia. Blend for a few seconds. I don’t know that I can pinpoint this as necessarily having any specific effect on my health. I switched to a primarily “Primal/Paleo” diet a few years ago, and that did have dramatic effects on my health, and this is just kind of a weird thing Paleo people do.😃 (For me, Paleo looks like this: no processed food, no wheat, almost no sugar. Ideally no corn, but I’ve been slacking on that lately, and it’s showing. Lots of meat and vegetables. I do fine with dairy, so I don’t avoid it. I don’t count calories, and I eat a lot of fat.) It does seem to give me a lot of energy, as I said above. In theory, it’s not really different than just having heavy cream with your coffee, but I do think there’s something to the coconut oil suppressing appetite thing. I find that it helps, but it could be all in my head. My husband also loves it. Just try it. There’s this weird thing about putting solid fats in coffee that you’ll get over as soon as it comes out of the blender, all rich and delicious. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-into-bulletproof-coffee/776118/6 "2017-01-04T04:43:09Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > Does anyone have first-hand accounts of the effects? Do you like the taste? I like strong, sweet coffee, and I can’t imagine butter in it. :dubious: But I’m game and like trying different things. I was going to mention a thread from 2012 on the subject, but that was also started by you and it didn’t have many relevant responses, so never mind. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-into-bulletproof-coffee/776118/7 "2017-01-04T04:48:07Z")
Not quite that, but I make a coffee with coconut oil, ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, black pepper, stevia, and coconut milk that I think is quite delicious. It’s like coffee chai, and full of salutary yumminess. ETA: I drink it because I get sick of green tea with ginger, cinnamon, turmeric, black pepper, stevia, and lemon. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-into-bulletproof-coffee/776118/8 "2017-01-04T12:47:23Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > Get ready to shit like an infant. > > Stranger I’m going to add this to my “inappropriate mealtime banter” file. Last week we had dinner guests. We were all sitting around with full bellys and empty plates, so I said, “If that stays down, there’s plenty more”. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-into-bulletproof-coffee/776118/9 "2017-01-04T14:44:00Z")
I had it once. Tasted like coffee. Mildly greasy. Granted, I’m not a regular coffee drinker with a refined palette for different beans and roasts, etc. But I suspect that most of that is nonsense anyways so… ---
**Author:** ![madsircool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madsircool/32/3432_2.png) [@madsircool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madsircool)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2017, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-into-bulletproof-coffee/776118/10 "2017-01-04T15:03:13Z")
Here is a counter viewpoint > **[Bulletproof Coffee: Debunking the Hot Buttered Hype](https://gizmodo.com/bulletproof-coffee-debunking-the-hot-buttered-hype-1681321467)** > > People are putting butter in their coffee. And hey, if you're just craving a new flavor experience, more power to you. The problem is that Bulletproof Coffee, the company behind the trend, is claiming that drinking a mug of fatty joe every morning... ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2017, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-into-bulletproof-coffee/776118/11 "2017-01-06T15:43:46Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I was going to mention a thread from 2012 on the subject, but that was also started by you and it didn’t have many relevant responses, so never mind. 🙂 Gosh, I don’t remember that at all. I just searched for it, but couldn’t find it. I’m thinking I only heard about Bulletproof coffee very recently. Can you post a link to that thread? ETA: NM, I found it. Weird. Good catch. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-into-bulletproof-coffee/776118/12 "2017-01-07T02:43:41Z")
The theory behind bulletproof coffee is that it gives you sustenance (calories from fat) in the morning in place of a carb-y breakfast. YMMV. I’ve been making it with ghee and MCT coconut oil (a lot of hits if you google it), but I have to add about 3/4 tsp of sugar-free coffee syrup. Not kosher, but I just can’t do black coffee. I’m drinking it in the morning in conjunction with a program of intermittent fasting, which (for me) means eating only between noon and 7 PM and virtually nothing outside of those hours. This has been working out great-- basically eating nothing in the morning at all, except this high-calorie, low carb coffee. If I eat pretty much anything, my blood sugar rises, then falls. Eating nothing at all works really well. (I breeze through Yom Kippur every year.) The most amazing effect has been on my fasting blood sugar, which in recent years has been ~135-175, which is not off the charts, by any means, but not good either. The last four mornings it’s been 109-111. QUITE remarkable. I’m see my doc in about a month and I’ll be very curious to see what my a1c is (the average of blood sugar over the past three months). I’m not doing extreme low carbing when I \*\*am \*\*eating, but I was amazed when my post-prandial (2 hours after eating) blood sugar today after lunch was 134. I had a homemade hamburger with both buns and even had a cherry turnover, and wouldn’t have been surprised it my blood sugar had been close to 200. Anyhoo, the bulletproof coffee gives you something that supplies energy to put in your stomach in the morning and after some adjustment, I’ve found a palatable recipe. All of this info is found in a book called [The Obesity Code](https://smile.amazon.com/Obesity-Code-Unlocking-Secrets-Weight-ebook/dp/B01C6D0LCK/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1483756791&sr=1-1&keywords=the+obesity+code), and I think type II diabetics will find it very interesting (also people who struggle to lose weight and keep it off). ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-into-bulletproof-coffee/776118/13 "2017-01-07T21:48:12Z")
> [@](#): > > The most amazing effect has been on my fasting blood sugar Very cool. I’m drinking my concoction as a way to get the constituents into me in a tasty way, but it is satisfying. I’m doing 13 hour fasting and my A1c is steady despite tamoxifen-induced creeping weight gain. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2017, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-into-bulletproof-coffee/776118/14 "2017-01-07T21:59:12Z")
> [@susan](#): > > Very cool. I’m drinking my concoction as a way to get the constituents into me in a tasty way, but it is satisfying. I’m doing 13 hour fasting and my A1c is steady despite tamoxifen-induced creeping weight gain. Tamoxifen, eh? I’m on Arimidex myself. 🙂 [Holds up coffee cup to Susan’s for a _clink_-toast] ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-into-bulletproof-coffee/776118/15 "2017-01-08T01:46:10Z")
_toasting you right back_ ---
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-into-bulletproof-coffee/776118/16 "2017-01-08T02:10:40Z")
My version is simply a cup of black coffee with a tablespoon of butter stirred in. I think it’s just as tasty and energizing as the other fancy recipes. With a cup of this, along with a breakfast of avocado and some smoked salmon, I’m a happy ball of energy for the whole morning. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-into-bulletproof-coffee/776118/17 "2017-01-08T04:30:10Z")
This sounds gawdawful beyond all imagination. Can someone who’s tried it described the taste of it? ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-into-bulletproof-coffee/776118/18 "2017-01-08T04:33:51Z")
I drink the version I described, and it’s delicious. I wouldn’t subject myself to it if it tasted bad. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-into-bulletproof-coffee/776118/19 "2017-01-08T15:59:49Z")
> [@Fenris](#): > > This sounds gawdawful beyond all imagination. Can someone who’s tried it described the taste of it? It’s kind of like a very rich, buttery latté. It doesn’t taste bad, but if you have problems with consuming high fat foods it’ll kind of run through you like a road runner through a cartoon. If not, it is filling and does contain a lot of saturated fats that provide a lote of saiety and is rich in various vitamins. However, depsite pretensions by some advocates, it is not remotely ‘paleo’ or natural, but then, if you aren’t digging roots out of the ground and feasting off of carrion, really nothing that you eat is like a paleolithic diet. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2017, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-into-bulletproof-coffee/776118/20 "2017-01-08T17:00:11Z")
When I first read about it (back in 2012 apparently) it likewise sounded utterly disgusting, but it’s really not. Ghee doesn’t have much of a buttery taste because the milk solids have been removed. And the coconut oil has no taste at all. After my short time of experimentation, I’d say the most important thing is that the coffee needs to be really good-tasting itself. I generally doctor my coffee with milk and plenty of sugar, and that makes bad coffee taste good. In this version, there’s no disguising the taste of sub-par coffee. ETA. Smoked salmon… yum. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-here-into-bulletproof-coffee/776118.md?page=2)