Thursday, October 19, 2017

About that bulletproof coffee life...

Keto, week 3. Plugging along, seeing results, happy with it for the most part except for one or two things.  (Those two things: 1) Parmesan cheese loses its appeal when it starts to harden and taste like woodchips, and 2) I'm spending a lot more time reading nutrition labels and finding non-keto ingredients everywhere. Guess that's not a bad thing?)


I'm enjoying trying out new recipes, and I'm finding it much more sustainable as a way of eating, as opposed to a "diet", which really just reeks of denial and resisting of temptation, which keto is not. So today, I focus on my new breakfast of choice: "bulletproof" coffee. Putting "bulletproof" in quotations because I'm not actually using the Bulletproof brand of coffee, and my recipe has deviations from the original, although not by much. 



The ingredients are pretty simple. I prefer French press coffee, with a darker roast - if you look in the back you can see my burr grinder, and then of course my French press pot in the photo. Here's what you're looking at: Kerrygold butter, MCT oil, heavy whipping cream, Torani sugar free salted caramel syrup, and an Ethiopian roast pot of coffee.



In the blender I put:
- The entire pot of coffee (stop judging, it's only 28-30 oz of pure coffee bean goodness, and it takes me about 2 hours to finish 😉)
- 1 tablespoon of Kerrygold butter
- 3/4 tablespoon of MCT oil
- 1 tablespoon of heavy whipping cream
- 4 pumps of sugar free salted caramel syrup

Nutritional info: 254 calories, 27.2 g fat, 0.4 g carbs, 1.3 g protein

Blend all ingredients at a high speed to ensure the emulsification process takes place - my number one concern was that this would be a cup of coffee with a bunch of oil sitting on top. Gross.


Watch, though - you end up with this lovely foam on top that makes it latte-like. Absolutely no taste of oil - or butter, for that matter. Just a very delicious cup of coffee that tastes like you've added a dollop of rich cream to. 




Some readers, at this point, may be gagging. That's completely acceptable. I, too, blanched at the thought of this concoction and it's taken me two years to actually try it.  What tipped me over the edge?

- My keto way of eating has me at 58% fat, 35% protein, and 7% carbs - fat has 9 calories per gram, so while it's slightly easier to hit this target than it sounds, I struggled with it prior to making this coffee.  This is opposed to carbs and protein, which have 4 calories per gram each. I can only eat so much cheese and bacon.

- I have recently learned about MCT oil. Medium chain triglycerides - which coconut oil is a great source of - are digested easily, sent directly to your liver, where they generate a thermogenic effect that can positively affect your metabolism.  Additionally, your body uses these fats as a source of fuel, versus storing them as fats.  Coconut oil also has antioxidants. This just gets better and better, right? Thanks to Dr. Axe for the great information on MCTs.

- Fat actually keeps you full. Amazing, right? All this time I thought it just made you fat. I've got 7 pounds down that say otherwise, though - rather than fat making you fat, fat actually works really well incorporated the way it is in the keto way of eating. After finishing my bulletproof coffee, I don't need anything until lunch - and honestly, I only eat when I'm hungry while doing keto...so sometimes I don't want something until later in the afternoon. 

- I cannot emphasize enough that this coffee does not taste like anything like you may be imagining when you look at the ingredients separately. 

So, that's my breakfast on the daily, and a little more knowledge thrown down about something I refused to try for the better part of two years. 

Happy coffee drinking, friends. 

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