Bulletproof Coffee - a Breakfast Alternative?

Bulletproof coffee first came to our attention several years ago, and we seem to have come full circle as it’s a point of conversation on many people’s lips at the moment. So what is Bulletproof coffee exactly, as it surely doesn’t actually protect us from metal pellets?

The brainchild of American entrepreneur Dave Asprey, Bulletproof coffee is a suggested meal replacement, whereby for breakfast you have a cup of coffee with an added dollop of butter and oil. Anything that proffers to be an alternative to breakfast immediately raises alarm bells for us. Alleged benefits of incorporating Bulletproof coffee to your diet are bold to say the least, including weight loss, improved effectiveness of coffee (eliminating spikes and crashes) and even an increased IQ.

While we’re not going to investigate the validity of each claim made for the case of Bulletproof coffee, what we can say is that incorporating this into your diet is not a beneficial long term lifestyle change and it does not promote a nutritious, balanced diet.

Nutritionist and co-author of our cookbook The Detox Kitchen Bible, Rob Hobson, advises that ‘Whilst it may be that foods naturally high in saturated fat, such as butter, are not as bad as previously thought, I would still advise caution with high-fat foods. Better to focus on the diet as a whole, balancing it with wholegrains, fruit, vegetables, lean proteins and healthy fats (such as olive oil and oily fish).’

And in terms of breakfast, we cannot stress enough the importance of having a balanced, nutritious breakfast. Not a pumped up mug of coffee. It really is the most important meal of the day. So important in fact we recently wrote a whole article about it. The key is to eat a breakfast that contains slow-release carbohydrates, coupled with a little protein and healthy fats. This will leave you full until lunchtime, meaning no sugar-filled elevenses, and provide a steady release of energy setting you up for the day ahead.