Does Bulletproof Coffee Break Your Intermittent Fast?

According to the latest animal research, intermittent fasting may support healthy cognition,^[1], promote a healthy inflammatory response ^[2] and support healthy aging.^[3].

When you intermittent fast, you alternate between periods of eating and not eating. But how does Bulletproof Coffee fit into this cycle? This creamy, delicious beverage curbs cravings, boosts energy levels and supports ketone production, so you feel energized and focused. Here’s how Bulletproof Coffee and intermittent fasting can be used together as part of your healthy living routine.

Does Bulletproof Coffee break an intermittent fast?

“Fasting” means not consuming any calories. When your body is able to divert energy and attention away from metabolic processes related to digestion for a period of time, it can shift focus to natural detoxification and repair processes. in turn, these processes support other aspects of overall health.

This cleanup and repair process is called autophagy. In addition, when you follow a certain type of diet, staying in a fasted state can also trigger the fat-burning process called ketosis^[4].

However, you can experience some of the health benefits of intermittent fasting even if you’re not completely abstaining from food and caloric beverages. Consuming dietary fat during a fasting period interrupts autophagy^[5] less than if you were to consume other macronutrients (protein and/or carbohydrates).^[6]

Bulletproof Coffee, also known as butter coffee, is a beverage made with quality fats from grass-fed butter or ghee and Brain Octane C8 MCT Oil. Increasing medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs), like those in Bulletproof Coffee, have been found to support autophagy in mice^[7].

Drinking Bulletproof Coffee also keeps you in the fat-burning state of ketosis. (That’s why some people call it keto coffee!) One of the ways fasting works is because insulin levels remain low enough to keep your body in a fat-burning state, as they are during ketosis. Carbohydrates and protein require insulin in order to be metabolized. However, fats like butter, coconut oil and MCT oil don’t cause insulin levels to rise because they don’t require it to be metabolized.

To review:

• During your fasting window, your body undergoes a natural cleaning process called autophagy. Intermittent fasting may also put your body in ketosis.^[8]
• Bulletproof Coffee keeps you satisfied and full without triggering the process of digestion.
• Following a high-fat, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet during your eating window can help you reap more of the brain-supporting, fat-burning benefits of ketosis.

Bulletproof Coffee makes managing your hunger easier

Bulletproof Coffee differs from a regular morning coffee with cream and/or sugar. Combining black coffee with quality fats makes managing your hunger easier in two ways:

1. This satisfying, creamy cup of coffee (that drinks like a latte) helps curb hunger.
2. Bulletproof Coffee contains high-quality fats that keep you in the fat-burning state of ketosis and boost ketone production (more details below).

Benefits of Bulletproof Coffee

Besides helping fill you up and maintain ketosis, Bulletproof Coffee delivers these benefits:

1. Suppresses your hunger hormones: When you’re in ketosis, your body burns fat for fuel and produces ketones. Ketones suppress ghrelin, your hunger hormone, and increase cholecystokinin (CCK), which can promote satiety.^[9]
2. Stabilizes blood sugar: Carbs and protein require insulin to be metabolized. When you drink coffee with milk and/or sweeteners first thing in the morning, it will cause your insulin to spike due to the carbohydrates (and, to a lesser extent, the protein). After the spike, your blood sugar will drop, which can impact energy levels. Eating mostly fats, like those you get in Bulletproof Coffee, helps maintain low, stable insulin levels.^[10]
3. Helps you produce more ketones, faster: Bulletproof Coffee also contains Brain Octane C8 MCT Oil. This high-quality MCT oil helps control cravings and improves cognitive performance to keep you sharp. It also helps your body produce four times more ketones than coconut oil alone.^[11]
4. Boosts your workout results: Research shows^[12] that when your mTOR (Mammalian Target of Rapamycin) levels are suppressed, they rebound, which triggers muscle-building activity. Intermittent fasting, exercise and coffee all suppress mTOR. Combining all three may promote the process of building muscle.^[13]
5. Increases your metabolism: The caffeine in coffee creates a thermogenic effect^[14], or more heat in your body. Coffee speeds up your metabolism, and a faster metabolism helps you burn more calories and sustain more energy throughout the day.

The bottom line: The quality fats in Bulletproof Coffee curbs cravings, boosts energy levels and supports ketone production. Coffee itself can speed up your metabolism and may help you build more muscle from your workouts. And clean coffee beans, like what you get from Bulletproof, brew up a cup of coffee that tastes as good as it makes you feel.

Get the official Bulletproof Coffee recipe. Want to make Bulletproof Coffee even easier with a scoop of Bulletproof Original Creamer. Just froth, sip and go.

This article was originally published September 24, 2020 and has been updated with new content.