So, like me, you may have seen some recent hype about how adding grass fed, organic butter in your coffee, or coconut oil, can really add an extra boost of energy and brain power in the morning. Initially of course I was a bit skeptical, I thought that the butter theory sounded particularly strange, but then I read about it and it did seem to make sense.
This approach to boosting your morning cup o’ joe is logical, because you’re essentially combining beneficial fatty acids with caffeine. These two together can really provide an extra boost to your brainpower.
Omega 3 fatty acids (or medium chain fats, both are the same) are known for helping to increase concentration and are a known “brain food” on their own. Caffeine in its various forms is also known as a sort of brain food, albeit a temporary one that should be limited in consumption since excessive caffeine is not healthy.
If you put these two together, logic would dictate that you’d get a sort of double shot (no pun intended) energy and brain power boost. This is because one of them specifically targets short bursts of energy (the caffeine in the coffee) and also contains antioxidants.
The other, the fat in the butter or the coconut oil, gives more of a long term effect with its brain boosting power as well as its longer term energy boost. Combining the two could be the perfect approach to making your morning coffee into a longer term, performance enhancing drink that is not only effective, but also healthier.
Of course, you’re adding fat and calories by adding the butter or coconut oil, however as long as you make up for the small extra bit of calorie consumption in other ways you should be fine as far as weight maintenance. Plus, it may actually deter your appetite from morning until lunch since both can have a small side effect of appetite suppression which may be intensified when they are combined.
Here is my experience with it
I chose to use organic coconut oil instead of butter. I just couldn’t see myself “drinking butter”. I have to say I enjoyed the coconutty, smooth and somewhat “creamy” flavor that the naturally rich and thick oil added to my coffee. While I can’t say I experienced a decrease in my appetite, I do think it made a difference in my energy boost. It also definitely had an impact on my focus and ability to concentrate for a longer period of time.
I also didn’t seem to experience the inevitable energy crash that I experience around 3:00 or 4:00 in the afternoon that I typically experience when I drink coffee without the added fat. I think this can be attributed to the medium chain fats of the oil. They are notorious for helping to sustain longer term energy levels, and I think that they definitely helped in this respect for me.
Also, a nice little side benefit is that while I didn’t notice a decrease in my appetite from breakfast to lunch time, the coconut oil in my coffee seemed to make my breakfast more satisfying. I may not have eaten as much as I would have without the oil in the coffee.
So while it didn’t decrease my appetite afterwards, it did somewhat help to make me feel more satiated by my breakfast than usual, which I suppose could be considered a variation of appetite suppression in that it caused me to eat a bit less of the meal that I took it with.
All in all, I’ll continue this practice. I think it’s a great way to get my daily dose of coconut oil in my diet since I normally wouldn’t get it every single day. I scaled down from the recommended two tablespoons to about 1-2 teaspoons of coconut oil however as I didn’t want to add a few hundred calories to a simple cup of coffee in the morning.
The scaling down does not seem to inhibit the positive effects it’s had on my focus, concentration and energy levels so there doesn’t seem to be a tradeoff, at least for me.