As a great fan of Virgin Coconut Oil I’ve been adding it to my freshly brewed black coffee for almost 10 years years now but in 2016 I switched to also adding highly concentrated MCT Oil to my morning coffee. The MCT Bulletproof Coffee ritual has been growing in popularity in the US for the past 5 years and has recently reached our shores here in Malaysia. It’s success lies in that it functions as a totally satisfying liquid meal that allows us to skip breakfast if we want that day but have abundant “clean fuel “energy and a reduced appetite so when we’re ready to have lunch then blood sugar is balanced and appetite is under control.
Many health experts now understand we should have a healthy lifestyle that allows us to lose weight naturally and is not dependent on massive amounts of will power or exercise alone, as these will never be enough to prevent rebounding to our pre diet weight. Now I fully understand why the bulletproof & ketogenic diets have such a strong following and growth, even here in Malaysia; because it’s surprisingly easy to follow and the energy boost is amazing! While every modern culture has a carbohydrate addiction, whether it is rice in Asia or bread and potatoes in the West, a few simple tweaks starting with Bulletproof Coffee and a deeper understanding ofthe ketogenic diet principles allows us to transform our health. Very quickly we develop a natural aversion to junk foods, sugars and sweetened drinks and make much healthier dietary choices.
The bulletproof lifestyle recommendations from Dave Asprey’s book, The Bulletproof Diet were discovered after he experiencing first hand the benefits of the daily drink of all the higher regions of the Himalaya’s, Yak butter tea, while hiking in Tibet. His altitude sickness and fatigue disappeared and he felt so great after drinking this fat laden drink that he was inspired to tweak this traditional brew to our love for Coffea arabica and the bulletproof coffee was born.
The bulletproof coffee popularity is not surprising as it takes our regular guilty caffeine fix and transforms it into a pillar of health and weight loss. By adding a teaspoon or two of MCT (medium chain triglyceride) Oil and a tablespoon of coconut butter (coconut cream concentrate) or grass-fed unsalted butter to high quality black coffee, you create a creamy delicious (yet sugar-free) drink that boosts physical energy and brain power. MCT’s create satiation and relieve hunger in a way that carbohydrates never can and make it possible to skip breakfast entirely and use the MCT’s and fats as the sole fuels instead. This comes as a real shock to those new to this information and who have been led to believe that a breakfast based on grains and sugars (often with low fat) is the most important meal of the day. Take a look around you at the global obesity epidemic we are faced with today and see how well that advice has been working. Basically, these recommendations are just to skip a breakfast whenever is practical and to eat normally for lunch and dinner, is that really the end of the world? Great changes to our understanding of what constitutes a healthy diet is underway as many prominent doctors and scientists are researching and ardently practicing the Bulletproof / Ketogenic Diet today. Their evidence based results are leading the way in revealing the positive effects of the bulletproof diet on multiple biomarkers: especially in relation to blood sugar / insulin resistance and sensitivity, cholesterol parameters and cardiovascular function, hormonal and neurological function. This evidence is reversing the saturated fat and heart disease myth that was promoted by the processed food industry as well as nutritionists and dieticians this past 50 years.
How to get the most from your Body Hack MCT Oil Bulletproof Coffee?
Consuming Body Hack MCT Oil bulletproof coffee supports the metabolic process of burning fat for fuel and healthy weight loss. One of the first things to expect is your energy will increase and your hunger cravings from blood sugar fluctuations and appetite will decrease. If you take the opportunity to also skip breakfast and rely on the MCT’s for fuel then you will find a progressive weight loss that is quite effortlessly achieved. Depending on your weight loss goals you can enhance metabolism and fat burning further by reducing sugars and starches from your diet. This means all carbohydrates that quickly convert to sugar, including grains, rice, pasta, bread, cakes, potatoes and all sweetened drinks. These sugars and starches should be replaced by low glycemic high fibre vegetables that break down slowly and form the basis of every healthy diet. Using coconut oil to replace regular processed vegetable oils in your diet is another important addition to a fat burning diet.
Our bodies will always burn carbohydrates first, proteins second and our stored fat last of all. If we keep eating excess grains, sugars and starches (or excess protein) then our fat deposits will never be touched. Our bodies cannot store sugars so we have evolved very efficient mechanisms to convert sugars into fat. Unfortunately, constant bombardment with excess sugars leads to the development of insulin resistance that further slows metabolism and increases the rate of fat storage.
Where does MCT Oil come from? Body Hack MCT Oil is produced exclusively from 100% coconut oil, nature’s highest source of MCT’s. Body Hack MCT Oil consists of 2 medium chain fatty acids: Caprylic (C8) and Capric (C10) Acids in a 60/40 ratio. These 2 MCT’s are most easy to digest and metabolize into energy due to their higher water solubility. As these are only present in minor amounts in coconut oil they must be individually extracted by a high technology process of fractionation.
MCT’s from healthy tropical fats do not make us fat.
The important thing to understand about fats is that there are many kinds and each has a different effect on our body. Some may do us harm while other are essential to healthy metabolic functioning. Unfortunately this past 50 years we have been encouraged to eat the worst kinds of fats and oils and instructed to avoid some of the most important ones. Virgin coconut oil is one of the most important oils to support health
yet it disappeared entirely for more than 40 years from the kitchens of the world. The coconut oil industry here in Malaysia, which until the 1960’s was one of the largest global producers was almost completely gone by the late 1970’s as local palm oil and imported vegetable oils, corn, soya, sunflower etc totally replaced the use of traditional coconut oil because of the saturated fat myth. This also led to the loss of livelihoods of countless rural coconut farmers and oil producers, especially devastating because coconuts grow on coastal sandy soils where almost nothing else will grow. Next came the most damaging of all processed oils due to its trans fats, margarine, which is now a must-have in most Malaysian homes. This change in fat consumption has had devastating effects on the heart health of several generations of Malaysians and has contributed to Malaysia now having one of the highest obesity statistics in Asia. Putting all fats into the same category has created an even darker side, with the “low fat” processed food industry further encouraging global obesity. When fats are removed from foods it became necessary to increase the sugar content and the disastrous consequences of this can be seen in the steady increase in obesity and heart disease globally.
The basics of switching from storing sugar to burning fat = the Ketogenic Diet:
Skipping breakfast occasionally with a bulletproof coffee with healthy fats and avoiding both carbohydrates and proteins for a few hours activates the process of burning fat, as does intermittent fasting- We can make healthier choices for lunch and dinner based on a low carbohydrate diet
- Eating fat does not make you fat and MCT Oils are used as immediate fuel and not stored as fat
- Healthy fats like MCT oils reduce appetite and helps us eat less and avoid snacking
- Counting calories does not work for weight loss as carbohydrates and fats have very different effects on metabolism
- A poor diet and obesity cannot be offset by exercise alone
- Saturated fat is essential to health and does not cause heart disease
- Avoid foods labeled “low-fat” as these normally have added refined sugars and triggers blood sugar imbalances and over-eating
In summary, to support the switch to fat burning you can have your Body Hack MCT Oil Bulletproof Coffee first thing in the morning, skipping breakfast whenever practical, and then maximize these fat burning effects with a healthy low carbohydrate lunch and dinner. Thousands of great recipes and shopping lists are available online. Some words of advice, not everyone can handle MCT Oil or Coconut Oil on an empty stomach right away (or with coffee alone) and it may trigger loose bowels in some people. If this happens to you then just reduce the quantity to only 1 teaspoon and take your MCT Oil with meals instead. This seems to work for pretty much everyone and after some time they can increase to 2 teaspoons. Also, if you’re like me with a dairy / butter intolerance then adding grass-fed butter is definitely not suitable, then I recommend the low allergenic replacement with cold-pressed YumYum Organic Coconut Butter which contains both its own MCT’s as well as prebiotic fiber and coconut proteins. One or 2 tablespoons of Coconut Butter may be added to make your own Bulletproof Coffee Coconut Latte!
