Instant Coffee and Keto
Coffee and its health benefit have been well-documented, on this site and beyond. One thing that we always find exciting is to see how diet approaches incorporate and leverage coffee’s energy boosting and appetite suppressing qualities.. One of the more interesting ways it is being used currently is with butter coffees popular among those who follow a ketogenic diet.
The keto diet is based around low carbohydrate intake, high protein consumption and eating unsaturated fats, which alone would be enough to make a 1990’s diet guru freak out. However, it’s the combination of low carb with exceptionally high fat intake that sets this approach apart from familiar low-carb diets like Atkins which have come before. It’s also this combination which is meant to help adherents get their bodies into ‘ketosis.’ Ketosis is said to have many benefits, some more well researched than others, but the goal is to have your body primed to use fat as its primary fuel source (instead of carbs). In doing so, practitioners can lose body fat and feel more sustained energy levels throughout the day even while eating less total calories.
Since the keto diet requires such a high intake of fats, adherents have sought out ways of incorporating more in novel ways throughout their day. One of the more delicious creations from the keto diet wave has been butter coffees like Bulletproof and others. By blending grass fed organic butter and coconut oil with coffee, keto diet adherents can have a delicious beverage that helps them achieve their fat consumption goals while simultaneously jump starting their day.
A few aspects of butter coffee make it an especially great choice for the morning. Since fat is the macronutrient fuel source that the body metabolizes the slowest, it helps keep you full for longer, staving off hunger and cravings. With most butter coffee being blended, the fat emulsified with the coffee also helps slow the release of its caffeine, creating a longer lasting energy boost that doesn’t spike or drop off in the same way that drinking coffee on its own without eating in the morning sometimes can.
But you don’t have to leave your house to start your day off this way. With a blender, coconut oil and coffee you can easily make this for yourself at home and dial in the exact right ratio for you. This can be helpful since butter coffee can take some getting used to, and you might want to start with less butter and oil, slowly increasing over a few weeks as your stomach adjusts to it. For added convenience, you can even use instant coffees in your morning drink to get the delicious and health benefits of the coffee addition with even less work.
If you are going to try making it at home, you can also add in some more flavor and health boosting components like cinnamon, cacao, turmeric, protein powders and more. As long as you avoid adding anything that has carbs in it (looking at you, sugar) you’ll be good to go. Also important is to actually use a blender to combine all these ingredients, as they won’t confer the same benefits to your body when combined any other way. So, give it a shot, and happy ketosis!