Table of Contents[Hide][Show]
- Skipping Breakfast a Big No-No for Sustainable Weight Loss
- Healthy Fats Added to Coffee Do Not Make it Breakfast!
- Skipping Breakfast in favor of Bulletproof Coffee
- Serotonin Deficiency Harms Sleep Quality
- Must Have Your BulletProof Coffee?
- BulletProof Coffee Already Wrecked Your Sleep?
- Once You’ve Got Your Serotonin Deficiency Under Control, Now What?
- References and More Information
Bulletproof coffee has become quite the fad with fans touting its use as a way to lose weight, shrink that spare tire, and have more energy. The basic recipe calls for 2 cups of coffee, a minimum of 2 tablespoons grass-fed butter, and 1-2 tablespoons MCT oil (some people substitute virgin coconut oil) all mixed together in a blender.
This coffee drink is promoted as a replacement for breakfast by Dave Asprey of the Bulletproof Executive as a way to feel “lean, focused and energized” and helps you “transform your diet without chewing on sticks of butter”.
While I have no doubt that this choice of morning beverage will indeed produce a high level of focus and intensity due to the quick injection of caffeine and medium-chain triglycerides (used by the body for energy rather than fat storage) to the bloodstream, any weight loss benefits to a bulletproof coffee habit over the long term are completely ludicrous.
At the very least, bulletproof coffee certainly won’t be helping you lose weight and keep it off. Yes, it’s just another yo-yo scenario and here’s why.
Skipping Breakfast a Big No-No for Sustainable Weight Loss
According to Julia Ross, bestselling author of The Diet Cure, skipping breakfast and replacing it with coffee or a drink like bulletproof coffee is a big no-no and not just because it increases your chances of overeating starches and sugars later in the day.
Skipping a nutritious morning meal particularly one with a quality source of protein does a number on your body’s ability to produce the neurotransmitter serotonin which is derived from the amino acid tryptophan.
Tryptophan, like all the amino acids, is contained in protein. Meat is the best source of tryptophan but only from animals roaming on pasture.
Healthy Fats Added to Coffee Do Not Make it Breakfast!
Adding a bunch of healthy fats to coffee in no way redeems the situation and bulletproof coffee does not qualify as a meal replacement!
Protein (food) —–> Tryptophan (amino acid) —–> Serotonin (neurotransmitter) —–> Melatonin (hormone for restful sleep)
Serotonin is what helps you feel happy, calm, and self-confident even in the face of stress. Moreover, ample serotonin is important for a restful night’s sleep as the body converts serotonin into melatonin at dusk.
Inadequate melatonin results in insomnia problems.
What about adding collagen, gelatin or protein powder to bulletproof coffee? Does this make it better?
Please note that adding collagen hydrolysate or gelatin to your bulletproof coffee does not solve the problem as these protein sources are completely devoid of tryptophan-containing primarily the amino acids glycine and proline in large amounts.
Protein powder would be the worst choice, however, as all brands are highly processed (don’t be fooled!) with the delicate protein molecules denatured even if processed at low temperatures due to the powdering process.
Skipping Breakfast in favor of Bulletproof Coffee
Skipping breakfast in the morning short circuits the body’s ability to produce adequate serotonin throughout the day. While eating protein later in the day definitely helps, because none was consumed at breakfast, your body ends up playing serotonin catch up all day every day.
Ms. Ross says that we all need about 20-30 grams of protein 3 times per day to fulfill the body’s requirement for amino acids in order to produce adequate neurotransmitters like serotonin.
Drinking coffee even if it’s bulletproof coffee first thing in the morning instead of breakfast has the double whammy effect of suppressing appetite as well. It’s the caffeine that reduces appetite so not only aren’t you getting the protein you need in the morning, but you likely won’t eat enough throughout the rest of the day either which further impacts serotonin and melatonin production in a negative way.
What good is feeling “energized and focused” from bulletproof coffee during the day if it also leaves you irritable, stressed, emotionally unstable and unable to get a quality night’s sleep when you get home?
Serotonin Deficiency Harms Sleep Quality
The research is ominous regarding serotonin deficiency causing insufficient melatonin production with the resulting effect of unwanted weight gain – even obesity over the long term.
According to Dr. Mercola, “it’s also well proven that lack of sleep is linked to obesity, while if you’re not getting enough sleep, there’s a good chance your melatonin production is not up to par either. The disturbance to your melatonin levels caused by lack of sleep may be one more reason why it leads to weight gain, and this could have far-reaching impacts on your health.”
In addition, Science Daily reported that scientists found that proper melatonin levels stimulate the production of beige fat, a heat-generating type of fat (also known as “good” or “thinning” fat) that helps your body to burn calories rather than store them.
Must Have Your BulletProof Coffee?
Long story short, if you must drink bulletproof coffee, at the very least, wait until after a protein-rich breakfast to do it!
This way, the impact on your serotonin and melatonin levels will not be as severe as drinking it as a replacement for breakfast with its appetite-suppressing effects affecting the rest of the day’s protein consumption as well.
You may find that this one simple change alone will leave you feeling happier, more emotionally flexible, less stressed, and with increased ability to tackle whatever challenges you face each day with improved self-confidence.
BulletProof Coffee Already Wrecked Your Sleep?
If you suspect that your serotonin levels are in the tank and you need neurotransmitter supplementation to help you with worry, anxiety, OCD thoughts or actions, depression, panic attacks, and/or chronic insomnia, Julia Ross recommends this dosage with the amino acid tryptophan:
- 5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP – sources): 50 mg in the mid-afternoon and before bedtime.
OR
- L-tryptophan (sources): 500 mg in the mid-afternoon and again before bed especially if insomnia is a problem.
Note that 5-HTP is cheaper than L-tryptophan but some people get nausea from it, so switch to L-tryptophan if 5-HTP doesn’t work for you.
Raise the dosage as needed to eliminate low serotonin symptoms.
Once You’ve Got Your Serotonin Deficiency Under Control, Now What?
Once you’ve started eating breakfast again and eliminated or at least delayed your cup of bulletproof coffee until after you eat in the morning, you might perhaps feel motivated to try and wean yourself off coffee completely.
According to Julia Ross:
People who crave chocolate, coffee, alcohol, and even exercise are typically low in the neurotransmitter endorphin.
Using supplementation of the amino acids that are precursors to endorphin may really help in trying to shake the bulletproof coffee habit.
- Amino acid d-phenylalanine (DPA): 500 mg, 2-4X/day (sources). Use DPA if you are addicted to coffee and also an anxious person.
OR
- Amino acid d-phenylalanine (DPA) bound to the amino acid I-phenylalanine (LPA) – known in combination as DLPA: 500 mg, 2-3X/day (sources). Use DLPA if you crave the energizing effects of coffee and are not typically an anxious person.
Do you think a deficiency of neurotransmitters might be the reason some folks love their bulletproof coffee so much?
References and More Information
Why You Need to Change WHEN You Drink Coffee
Melatonin Regulates our Mood, Weight, Reproduction and May Fight Cancer
BC Recipe
Melatonin helps control weight gain
Why You Need to Change WHEN You Drink Coffee
Healthy Coffee Substitutes
Coconut Oil for Weight Loss
Coconut Oil Capsules: As Beneficial as Straight Up?
The Truth About Your Morning Coffee Fix
Hi Sylvie, How much is a good amount of gelatin to consume on a daily basis? I have 2 T Great Lakes Collagen every morning in my coffee, but I noticed that the label says to take twice a day. So, for help with weight loss, how much a day would you suggest?
The whole point behind BPC is not as a meal replacement, you are tricking your body into a fast like state for intermittent fasting. Nothing to do with meal replacement whatsoever!
Hi Sarah! I just wanted to let you know that I’ve been in Ketosis for 20 years. I had actually lived in an Inuit community (Kugluktuk, Nunavut, Canada) and learned from their no-heart-disease diet. I have never felt better in my life from this and I am Caucasian. I also happen to consume BPC and have no issues whatsoever with my sleep and I am 49 years old. I think what we need to do is be open to the benefits of all ways of living, knowing as you’ve said, that our ancestors needed to live this way and thrived without a trace of excess body fat and matoblic syndrome. This is not to malign or harm your own opinions but merely to add to the conversation regarding someone who has lived a ketogenic lifestyle for 20 years (including my childbearing years with 4 healthy, robust children). TY! :))
I don’t know about BPC but long term borderline ketosis is a very beneficial practice for mental clarity, uniform energy, and for sport endurance activities. If you consume 50 grams or less of glucose producing carb sources per day (processed carbs like candy, cookies, breads, pasta, cakes and other boxed and labelled foods) and add in lots of healthy fats and moderate protein then over a period of 3 to 6 weeks a transformation takes place that allows you to skip meals, work with a sharper focus, and engage in endurance sports without carb supplementation. If you push the sports endurance without carbs your muscles will use ketones and your brain will decrease the glucose in needs in favor of ketones. If you keep minimizing carb sources your liver will generate all of the glucose endogenously by converting acetone which is one of the three ketone sources (I think one of them is not actually a ketone). So after you are fully adapted you could just eat a fat rich paleo diet with various leafy greens.
I did this over a two month period and now I can switch into carbs or ketogenic mode without thinking about it. In other words I can skip 1 or 2 meals and my body automatically starts producing enough ketones quickly that I do not feel any hunger. This makes intermittent fasting painless because you forget about food. You can also do endurance sports like distance running and cycling on an empty gastric system, literally water fast the day before and free up a liter of blood for aerobic work. I am not hungry at breakfast so I do not eat breakfast. Keeps my thinking more clear before lunch.
Regards,
Bill
@ Sarah I love your articles but this one didn’t resonate as strongly with me. To your comment “Even the name “ketosis” sounds like a disease to me. Too extreme people! Beware!” That made me laugh because I thought the same thing initially. But I was associating the word ‘ketosis’ with ‘ketoacidosis’ which I’m sure you are well aware are two completely different things. I have found great success with intermittent fasting and bullet coffee but I am aware that later down the road one (especially women) might encounter hormonal disruption. A ketogenic diet isn’t for everyone and maybe blood type or body type play a role in it. I am blood type O and since limiting/eliminating carbs I have never felt better in my life. Perhaps a blood type A might do more harm than good on a ketogenic diet or with bullet proof coffee. I guess the key to everything is finding what works for you. Thank you for your wonderful articles that spark discussion and reflection.
Glad it’s working for you! I seriously doubt it will be good for you long term though. Remember .. the folks who ate few carbs and were in almost constant ketosis were those ancestral societies at the tail of the bell curve. The vast majority of healthy ancestral societies ate carbs. If you aren’t of Inuit origin genetically, I would be very cautious thinking Ketosis is a good idea long term. Every single person I know who did this (women), had to resume normal levels of carbs within a few years due to constant fatigue and totally messed up sleep.
BPC is amazing for people in ketosis. It absolutely, 100% does NOT induce cravings for sugar or starches later (since it does not contain sugars or starches, this is not a part of the keto way of eating, keto adapted folks are not addicted to sugar anymore, and your body will take advantage of the fats in BPC just like it would an avocado or from your thigh reserves). BPC has been an incredible gamechanger for me – and I can tell when I skip it and do eat breakfast, how much more lethargic I am, and how much more I tend to eat later in the day. Not so when I kick off my day with BPC.
Also – there are many adaptations of BPC. Including adding grass fed collagen – a great source of protein, or hemp hearts (Rocket Fuel Latte) – a good balancing source of fiber.
I have seen what keto and BPC have done for me. The results and the labs don’t lie. The “traditional’ way of “healthy” eating has failed the American people – in particular to obesity and heart disease – and it all dates back to bad science that was established in the 1950’s – which still, unfortuantely, permeates our culture today. No wonder people are taking their health into their own hands, finding alternative and “unpopular” methods, and actually teaching their doctors something!
The people I know who’ve done it for any extended period of time (2+ years) all have ended up with whacked out hormones or worse and had to go back to eating a reasonable amount of carbs. Even the name “ketosis” sounds like a disease to me. Too extreme people! Beware!
Bulletproof coffee isn’t intended to be used with a standard diet. Your article is written as though you think it is. Also, there are just as many doctors stating that we should ONLY have 40-60mg protein A DAY, not three times a day as your doctor reference. Seeing as I’ve lost 40pounds so far on this “horrible” diet, have lowered my cholesterol and blood pressure, cleared my skin, and increased my athletic stamina I’d say it isn’t a “dad.”
Does this article understand Intermittent Fasting at all ?! Of course you dont want to drink a bulletproof coffee to replace your meal, you drink it in your fast window so the fast isnt so painful. Protein in the morning BREAKS fast so no you dont want 30g of protein after waking up if you’re fasting. This article is so missplacing and uninformed. The bulletproof diet has many Real weaknesses, why not attacking those instead of the actual real thing that works in it
Bulletproof everything is a total load of rubbish. A healthy, varied diet is all anyone needs. Something most Americans have removed themselves from, so they go looking for miracles. Try growing food out of the ground and eating that. And coffee? Why wreck it with some overpriced ‘miracle’ fat? Rubbish.
Thanks for taking the time to write this article. I find that a bulletproof style coffee is great in the morning with or without breakfast. I do keto / intermittent fasting where most of my calories are consumed within a 6 hour window from about 11am to 5pm, so the bulletproof coffee is a great way to hold me over from the morning until my first meal.
In terms of your article, I think it would be helpful to decouple people who drink BPC as part of an intermittent fasting keto diet and others who are on normal 3 or more meals a day non keto diets. I wouldn’t recommend people on the latter drink it since they are probably on a standard glucose based diet and won’t benefit from all the fat in the coffee.
Keep up the great work!