The Ketogenic Diet and Bulletproof Coffee craze has been making it far easier to achieve healthy weight loss and freedom from inflammatory and metabolic diseases worldwide for several years and is now taking Malaysia and Singapore by storm!
The Coffee with MCT Oil combo success lies in that it functions as a satisfying caffeine rich liquid meal that allows us to skip breakfast if we want that day but have abundant "clean fuel "energy from healthy fat together with a reduced appetite. When we're ready to have lunch, blood sugar is more balanced than if we had taken a high carbohydrate breakfast and appetite is under control, so we can make wiser food choices for the rest of the day.
Will power and exercise is not enough to lose weight
It's important to have a 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. This is the secret why the bulletproof & ketogenic diets have such a strong following and growth, even here in Malaysia; because it's 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 of the ketogenic diet principles allows us to transform our bodies and our health and over time develop a natural aversion to junk and processed foods and sweetened drinks and make much healthier dietary choices.
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 or a scoop of MCT Powder and coconut butter 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 promoted as "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.
At its simplest level, bulletproof coffee allows us to skip breakfast whenever is practical and to make healthier choices 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 researchers and scientists are themselves 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 & 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.
What to Expect when taking MCT Oil?
Consuming MCT Oil or MCT Powder in your bulletproof coffee supports the metabolic process of burning fat for fuel, enhancing ketone production and supporting 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 several days a week also skip your "normal" breakfast or lunch 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 meat / 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.
The Keto Diet basics of switching from storing fat to burning fat:
- BECOMING FAT ADAPTED: The fundamentals of the Keto Diet is in becoming "fat adapted" meaning that we restore our metabolic flexibility to burn fat as a body fuel whenever we want
- BULLETPROOF COFFEE FASTING: Skipping meals occasionally with a bulletproof coffee with healthy fats and avoiding both carbohydrates and proteins for a few hours activates the process of burning fat
- BALANCING BLOOD SUGAR: With stabilized blood sugar we can make healthier choices for lunch and dinner based on a low carbohydrate diet
- FAT AS FUEL: Eating fat does not make you fat and MCT oils are used as immediate fuel and not stored as fat
- SKIP THE SNACKING ROLLERCOASTER: Healthy fats like MCT oils reduce appetite and helps us eat less and avoid snacking
- DON'T COUNT CALORIES, EAT REAL FOODS: Counting calories does not work for weight loss as carbohydrates and fats have very different effects on metabolism and eating the wrong foods, even in small amounts will trigger excess appetite and food craving
- EXERCISE ALONE NEVER WORKS: A poor diet and obesity cannot be offset by exercise alone, especially after age 35
- IMPROVE HEART HEALTH: MCT Oil saturated fats are uniquely different from animal based saturated fats are are a missing link in health and support good HDL cholesterol and cardiovascular health
- LOW FAT JUNK FOODS: Avoid foods labeled "low-fat" as these normally have added refined sugars and triggers blood sugar imbalances and over-eating
- DON'T GUESS IT, TEST IT: There's no need to guess whether you are doing the diet right but test it. Fantastic ketone monitors are easily available with the choice being to test either blood, urine or the most convenient of all, breath ketone monitoring
To support the switch to fat burning you can have your 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 / MCT Powder on an empty stomach right away (or with coffee alone) and it may trigger loose motions in the beginning. If this happens to you then just reduce the quantity or take your MCT Oil with a Keto Fat Bomb or low carb meal instead. This seems to work for pretty much everyone and after some time they can increase to 2 teaspoons. Also, if you have any lactose intolerance then adding grass-fed butter is definitely not suitable. In this case then the best combination is with low allergenic 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. Enjoy!