If you’re not yet used to it, butter in coffee is simply what it sounds like butter in coffee!
But when and how did butter find its way into our coffee menu?
Interestingly, butter in coffee is not a new phenomenon. It may only be getting more popular, but people have been buttering their bread and beverages for quite a long time. We’ll see why in a minute.
Butter coffee, also sometimes referred to as bulletproof coffee certainly has benefits, which we’ll also look at, but adding butter to coffee is mainly used as a smart way to achieve a state of metabolism in which the body burns fats as an energy source rather than carbs.
So, by taking a high-fat beverage, the body can then convert the fat into energy for the body.
So, we know that the practice became popular not because it’s just another variety of flavoring coffee- although some people have come to prefer their coffee that way. Still, it’s an easy way of achieving ketosis for those who have embraced a keto diet.
Before we move on, let’s briefly explain what a keto diet is. As you must have guessed, the keto diet is one high in fat but low (zero, in this case) carb diet that allows the body to burn fats for energy rather than turning to carbs as a source of energy. Keto diets do contain protein, although butter coffee doesn’t.
Drinking butter coffee is known to have lots of health benefits. By adding butter to coffee, the body is supplied with enough fats to keep it full and give enough fuel for metabolism.
More recently, coconut oil or other fats derived from coconut are often added to butter coffee to add more nutritional benefits. But does it have downsides too? Let’s find out.
Why Put Butter in Coffee?
And just like you must have wondered when you heard about it for the first time, what is butter doing in a coffee cup? Butter is high in calories. So why risk the potential weight gain to add it to coffee which is already perfect?
Quite a lot!
Because it is high in calories, butter can serve a dual purpose during breakfast if you want to lose weight, and some say a strict keto diet may help you lose as much as 0.45kg per day. So how does butter in coffee help to achieve this?
When you put butter in coffee, it supplies calories to the drink to give you a more filling experience so that your appetite is controlled.
The fat, rather than carbohydrates, provides your body with energy, which is promptly broken down during metabolism. The breakdown of fats for energy supply in the body does the trick.
Whereas, if you have a lot of carbs in your diet, they are broken down for energy in the body, allowing you to retain excess fat. But when you replace the energy source and fat is consistently broken down in your body, you have a better chance of losing weight.
From the very beginning, the main reason for putting butter in coffee is to provide the body with enough energy to control food cravings later in the day while also providing the body with enough energy needed for metabolism. For those on a keto diet or who desire a weight loss program, butter in coffee is ideal.
Does that mean that butter coffee can replace a nutritious diet? No!
Pursuing an aggressive butter coffee diet as a weight-loss program will be counterproductive. You will miss out on the other nutrients supplied by carbs, fruits, and vegetables.
You can’t continue to rely on just butter in coffee to provide the energy you need for the day.
However, from the earliest time when the practice originated, butter has always been added to coffee for health benefits, primarily as it suppresses food cravings and reduces excess fat in the body.
Butter coffee makes drinkers full for longer without taking any other meal. It is also regarded as an excellent food for the brain, making you sharper all day.
Today, the butter coffee menu contains a spoon of medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil, easily found in coconut oil. This is still butter coffee but is also known as bulletproof coffee. Do the two mean the same?
Butter Coffee vs. Bulletproof Coffee
We already know that butter coffee is simply adding butter to coffee. But sometimes, oil is also involved. Popularized by the Bulletproof coffee maker, where its name was derived from, it’s essentially butter coffee but with the addition of MCT oil.
MCT oil, which is medium-chain triglyceride oil, serves as a great supplement, is a smart energy source, and is known to have antibacterial benefits. MCT oil, which is also found in coconut oil, is known to fight certain conditions like Alzheimer’s disease and autism.
Bulletproof has its range of coffee, grass-fed butter, and MCT oil and can be produced by brewing a cup of coffee, after which the coffee, butter, and oil are then blended for about 20 seconds. The creamy product is what bulletproof coffee looks like!
For one serving, only one to two tablespoons of butter and oil should be added to the cup of coffee before blending or mixing.
Dave Asprey was the creator of the bulletproof coffee brand, and the combination is specially prepared with a specific type of coffee beans and grass-fed butter.
Bulletproof also has its own special MCT oil. However, these can be efficiently produced at home, such as butter coffee. Let’s see how.
Butter Coffee Recipe
If you want to make butter coffee, all you need is coffee, butter, and coconut oil. As said earlier, coconut oil contains MCT oil, so it is perfect.
Making butter coffee is a straightforward process. You’ll need a blender to get that creamy, foamy feel many enjoy.
Brew a cup of coffee. Then add one to two tablespoons of coconut oil and one to two tablespoons of butter. You should use unsalted butter.
Add all the ingredients to a blender and blend for about 20 seconds. You’ll have a foamy latte that can serve as a healthy breakfast and weight loss diet.
Butter coffee is an excellent replacement for a high-carb diet, especially for breakfast. It provides enough energy throughout the day and has several health benefits.
What Butter to Use?
Can we use just any kind of butter for our butter coffee production?
There’s no straightforward answer, but it all depends on your preferences. If you’re to follow the bulletproof recipe, then it is recommended that you use ghee or unsalted grass-fed butter.
Heating cow’s milk produces ghee till the solids separate from the liquid. This leads to the removal of proteins, lactose, and casein. Therefore ghee is an ideal alternative for sensitivity to lactose and casein, although it contains more saturated fat than butter.
Grass-fed butter, meanwhile, is encouraged because it comes from cows that feed primarily on grass. The butter produced by cows has more nutrients and vitamins.
It is also anti-inflammatory and a great source of vitamin A. Moreover, since you intend to improve your health with butter coffee, it is essential to go for butter rich in nutrients, and grass-fed butter is the best.
You can as well use standard butter. Standard butter is lower in nutrients compared to grass-fed butter simply because they are made from cows that feed on grains rather than grass.
A little sweetener may balance things. So, you can go for ghee if you don’t eat butter. You may as well use salted butter, but this may alter the taste of the coffee.
In the end, it all depends on your preferences and taste. As long as you have coffee, oil, and butter, you can enjoy your creamy butter coffee.
Butter Coffee Nutrition
Butter coffee contains three primary ingredients, which are:
- Coffee, a cup of which contains two calories and no protein, no fat, and no carbs
- Butter, an unsalted tablespoon containing 102 Calories, 31g of cholesterol, and 12g of fat, saturated is 7g, no carbohydrates, and no protein.
- Oil, a tablespoon (of MCT) which contains 130 Calories, 14 g of saturated fats, no carbs, and no protein
According to bulletproof coffee, butter coffee has lots of health benefits. But the nutrition details of every cup of bulletproof coffee, using bulletproof coffee, 1 tsp of bulletproof MCT oil, and 1 tsp of bulletproof ghee are as follows:
- Calories: 230
- Fat: 25g
- Saturated Fat: 21g
- Carbs: 0g
- Protein: 0g
- Fiber: 0g
- Sugar: 0g
- Salt: 0mg
If you use two tablespoons of regular coconut oil and two tablespoons of unsalted butter, the nutrition details are:
- Calories: 445
- Total fat: 50 grams
- Carbs: 0 grams
- Protein: 0 grams
- Fiber: 0 grams
- Sodium: 9% of RDI*
- Vitamin A: 20% of RDI
(*RDI is reference daily intake)
Pros and Cons
Butter coffee is excellent. It has a creamy taste, but it also provides lots of energy to get you ahead without the fear of gaining weight. Of course, it is also known to improve cognitive abilities and has several health benefits.
Low-carb diets like butter coffee also help fight certain types of diabetes, lose weight, and lower blood sugar levels. It also helps to prevent overeating as the drink can suppress hunger for as long as six hours. This is an excellent choice for people who want to lose weight.
So, what is there not to love about it?
Before you get too excited, it is essential to realize that butter coffee is not and cannot be an ideal replacement for healthy meals. While it may help in weight loss and keto dieting, it has several downsides.
For example, while the recommended unsaturated fat ideal for consumption daily is 13g, one cup of butter coffee provides at least 14g of unsaturated fatty acids, which is risky for the heart if it continues for a long time.
Also, when you replace a meal with a drink, as butter coffee drinkers are fond of doing, your body is short of several nutrients, especially proteins, carbohydrates, and fiber.
However, this may be rectified if fruits, berries, or milk are blended with butter coffee to provide other nutrients.
But, if you’re able to manage how you consume butter coffee, the advantages are worth it.
Myths About Butter Coffee
The idea that butter coffee suppresses hunger helps lose weight, and is excellent for mental alertness is not a settled fact.
While it is expected that the energy from the butter and oil would supply energy for the body, it is not true that drinking a cup of butter coffee would suddenly make the hunger go away for six hours.
Its ability to suppress hunger by keeping drinkers “full” after just one cup is not also a proven fact.
Yes, the energy supplied by the fats in the diet would supply energy, but it certainly won’t be enough to get you through the day without feeling hungry. You’re more likely to get more hungry as the body breaks down the fat.
Butter coffee is also not ideal as a breakfast, as it is recommended that the body gets nourishment from other sources in the morning.
Conclusion
Adding butter to coffee is a way of getting more nourishment from the cup. Blended with coconut oil, the creamy goodness provides energy that can keep the body going.
While the diet is known to have several health benefits, its ability to help the body lose weight while skipping high carb diets is one of the reasons it is growing in popularity.
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Last Updated on May 11, 2022 by Ashok Parmar
