Coffee is awesome.
Butter is awesome.
Saturated fat is awesome.
There is no doubt about it… they have been unfairly demonized.
They’ve been blamed for health problems that they really didn’t have anything to do with.
Fortunately, the world is slowly but surely abandoning the old diet myths and embracing these foods once again.
However… it’s important to keep in mind that everything in nutrition depends on dosage and context.
Just because a little bit of something is healthy, it doesn’t mean that a whole ton of it is healthier, or even safe.
This brings us to the topic at hand… a huge trend called Bulletproof coffee.
If you don’t know what this is, then it is a recipe for a coffee drink that replaces breakfast:
- 2 cups of coffee.
- 2 tablespoons (at least) of grass-fed, unsalted butter.
- 1-2 tablespoons of MCT oil.
- All mixed in a blender.
This is promoted by Dave Asprey, the man behind the website Bulletproof Executive.
Bulletproof coffee has become so popular that people all over the world have either heard about it or tried it.
This includes several people I know in real life, people that are not in any way involved in the paleo or low-carb communities.
For the record, I’m a big fan of grass-fed butter, saturated fat and coffee… separately… in “normal” amounts.
I’ve written about all of them before and include them in my diet, every day.
However… I do not think it is a good idea to consume unnaturally large doses of them.
Some is good, even downright healthy, but too much could very well be a problem.
Although I’m sure bulletproof coffee is tasty and can boost energy levels (especially for someone on a ketogenic diet), I do think there are some genuine concerns that should be noted.
For the sake of clarity, what this article is about is the act of replacing your breakfast with coffee, butter and MCT oil.
This article is NOT about the “toxin-free” upgraded coffee beans, a product sold by Dave and recommended with the bulletproof coffee recipe.
I’m sure it’s decent coffee, although I do not believe the whole mycotoxin thing is supported by science (maybe I'll cover that in another post).
But I digress… here are 3 reasons why I think bulletproof coffee is a bad idea.
1. You Are Displacing a Highly Nutritious Meal With Something That is Low in Essential Nutrients
It is generally recommended to consume bulletproof coffee in the morning instead of breakfast.
I’m not at all surprised that this can work…
Large amounts of fat should effectively kill the appetite for many hours, especially for people who are “ketoadapted” and used to eating a low-carb, high fat diet.
This could also provide plenty of energy by elevating ketone levels in the blood, which then become available as fuel for the brain.
These benefits are impressive… but there is a pretty obvious downside here, which is rarely mentioned.
Let’s assume that you’re used to eating 3 meals per day (very common). Breakfast, lunch and dinner.
By drinking bulletproof coffee, you are effectively replacing 1 of 3 nutritious meals with something that is low in essential nutrients.
Yes, grass-fed butter contains some fat-soluble vitamins (A and K2), CLA and butyrate. It’s good stuff.
But MCT oil is 100% empty calories. It is a refined and processed fat with no essential nutrients. It is also as far from “paleo” as a food can get.
Even though bulletproof coffee may contain small amounts of nutrients, this completely pales in comparison to what you would get from a nutritious breakfast.
Let’s try putting these meals into Cron-O-Meter (my favorite food tracker) and see what happens…
My 4 Omega-3 enriched egg (fried in 5-10 grams of coconut oil) and 1 apple breakfast supplies me with large amounts of nutrients (screenshot):
- 25 grams of protein.
- 5 grams of fiber.
- Over 50% of the RDA for Selenium, Phosphorus, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B2 and Vitamin B5.
- Over 10% of the RDA for every nutrient except magnesium, manganese and Vitamin B3 (Niacin).
This breakfast contains 429 calories, with 27 grams of net carbs.
Now let’s take a look at bulletproof coffee – 2 cups of coffee, 2 tablespoons of MCT oil, 2 tablespoons of butter (screenshot):
- 1 gram of protein.
- 0 grams of fiber.
- Under 10% of the RDA for every nutrient except Vitamin A, Vitamin B2 and Vitamin B5 (which range from 22-28% of the RDA).
Bulletproof coffee supplies 441 calories with 0 grams of carbs and and 51 grams of fat (80% of which are saturated).
To be fair, I used regular unsalted butter for the comparison. Cron-O-Meter does not have grass-fed butter listed, which should be higher in some nutrients.
If you’re used to eating 3 meals per day, then replacing breakfast with bulletproof coffee will reduce the total nutrient load of your diet by a third.
This can’t be healthy… really. And it certainly isn’t “paleo” – paleolithic humans went for nutrient density (that’s why they were crazy about organ meats).
If you think a multivitamin can solve this problem, think again… NO multivitamin can replace the thousands of trace nutrients, both known and unknown, that are present in real food.
Bottom Line: If you replace one of your daily meals with a mix of coffee and fat, then you will significantly reduce the total nutrient load of your diet.
2. Saturated Fat is Good… But Humans Did NOT Evolve Eating Such Massive Amounts
Saturated fat was unfairly demonized.
Recent high quality studies have shown that it doesn’t cause heart disease.
However… keep in mind that all of the studies were done on people using “normal” amounts.
These people weren’t pouring massive amounts of saturated fat into their coffee, they were eating it along with other foods.
These fats belong in recipes and should be used to cook with or to add flavor to dishes. They should be eaten with a meal, not as the meal.
Humans did NOT evolve eating (or drinking) such massive amounts of saturated fat.
There are plenty of nutrients that are healthy when consumed in reasonable amounts, but when people start megadosing them it can cause serious problems.
One example is fructose… it’s “good” when found in nutritious, fibrous whole fruit, but a disaster when consumed in massive amounts from refined sugars.
Another example is linoleic acid (the main Omega-6 fat)… it’s healthy when found in whole, nutritious nuts, but a disaster when consumed in massive amounts from veggie oils.
It is entirely possible that saturated fat is the same. Healthy in reasonable amounts, but harmful when we start eating massive, unnaturally large doses that are way outside of evolutionary norms.
Of course, all of this is just speculation. Maybe such massive doses of saturated fat are perfectly safe, but it hasn’t been tested… ever… so you are treading in uncharted territory.
Bottom Line: Saturated fat seems to be perfectly safe in “normal” amounts, but the doses contained in bulletproof coffee are much higher than we were ever exposed to throughout evolution. This may be a problem.
3. There Have Been Some Case Reports of Dramatically Elevated Cholesterol Due to Bulletproof Coffee
Since the year 2002, many studies have been conducted on low-carb and ketogenic diets.
Most of them confirm that levels of Total and LDL (the “bad”) cholesterol don’t increase… at least not on average.
Triglycerides go down, HDL goes up, weight goes down (especially the dangerous abdominal fat), along with various other beneficial effects on metabolic health.
(Although there appears to be a subset of individual that sees dramatic increases in Total and LDL cholesterol, as well as “advanced” markers like LDL-p/ApoB).
However… keep in mind that the studies showing safety and health benefits of low-carb and ketogenic diets did NOT have the participants drink bulletproof coffee, which is a new phenomenon.
There is no study on bulletproof coffee, whether on a low-carb diet or not, showing that it is safe.
I’ve heard reports from low-carb friendly doctors that had patients with drastically elevated cholesterol levels on a low-carb and/or paleo diet… who happened to also be drinking bulletproof coffee.
You can read about one such case report by endocrinology fellow Dr. Karl Nadolsky here in a story on Med Page Today.
Keep in mind that this goes way beyond Total and LDL cholesterol, which we now know are not that accurate as risk factors. These are increases in ApoB and LDL particle number, which are much stronger and more accurate risk factors.
Although these numbers are still just risk factors… given how strong their predictive value is, I think this is a legitimate concern.
For the subset of people who have cholesterol problems on a low-carb and/or paleo diet, the first thing they should do is ditch the bulletproof coffee. This alone may be sufficient to fix the problem.
There are also plenty of anecdotal reports online of people having cholesterol problems due to bulletproof coffee. Try searching for “bulletproof coffee high cholesterol” (without the quotes) on Google and see for yourself.
Bottom Line: There have been numerous reports of people having massive increases in cholesterol levels when drinking bulletproof coffee. This includes advanced risk factors like ApoB and LDL particle number.
Should Anyone be Drinking Bulletproof Coffee?
All of this being said, I do believe that bulletproof coffee can work for some people… especially for people who are on a ketogenic diet.
There are a lot of testimonials online about it helping people lose weight and increasing their energy levels.
If you find that bulletproof coffee improves your health, wellbeing and quality of life, then perhaps it is worth the downside of dramatically decreased nutrient load.
However, this is probably a terrible idea for people who eat a lot of carbs. High-carb and high-fat at the same time is a recipe for disaster.
I think that just to be on the safe side, anyone who drinks bulletproof coffee regularly should have their blood markers measured. Perhaps you are one of those who respond badly… the only way to know is to get tested.
At the end of the day, bulletproof coffee may work for some people, but may be a complete disaster for others. Only you can figure out which group you fall into.
I personally think it is best to proceed with caution when adopting a drastic dietary change that has never been tested and is way outside of evolutionary norms.
It is better to be safe than sorry.
This article was originally published on authoritynutrition.com
*Image of “man“ via Shutterstock
Friends Read Free