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Bulletproof Coffee Does it Work?
Dave Asprey the founder of Bulletproof coffee has some highly wild claims when it comes to the Bulletproof Diet. I honestly didn’t believe that putting butter in coffee could magically make me have more energy and perform better. That was until about 4 months ago.
My roommate in NYC started talking to me about this diet he was on… After many days of chatting, I figured…what the heck!?. Let’s give it a shot!
I started by adding butter and coconut oil into my morning coffee, and eating a more “Bulletproof” lifestyle. When I say “butter” it’s not just any butter. It’s the good stuff—the grass fed, pasture raised, raw Kerrygold butter.
I have been removing carbs from my diet (not just bread, but rice and potato too) and eating loads more veggies.
- After 4 months of this new lifestyle change I already lost 25 lbs without exercising.
- I stopped getting HANGRY (Angry because you are hungry)
- Blood sugar levels stopped spiking and crashing
- Stopped having huge coffee crashes
- Increased my work output by 200%
- Enjoyed the taste of my coffee more
This was all from coconut oil & butter in my coffee and cutting out carbs from my diet. Not bad results in my opinion.
So before I do this review let me inform you I am biased to the Bulletproof way of life. I have seen great benefits already from the lifestyle adjustment.
That being said I was skeptical of the Brain Octane Oil,and especially the bulletproof coffee as being “better” than normal coffee and coconut oil. Simply because I am a marketer and a business person.
I believe Dave Asprey (like the big pharma companies) recognizes that you can’t patent natural ingredients like coconut oil, and butter.
He had to make something “Unique” to be able to patent, sell, and make a profit off of it.
Simply put, before I tried the products my natural biased was against the products because really, how could you improve upon nature?
I was also hesitant to grab “Bulletproof Coffee” because how can these beans be any better than my favorite coffees?
This skepticism might just be my natural love for Brooklyn-based coffee roaster Toby’s Estate. I can honestly say I don’t want to switch to a different coffee. It has taken me a long time to find the right blend for me! I’m sure you can relate…
How the review will work:
This review is going to be based on regular vs bulletproof products. In essence—is it worth the investment to purchase Brain Octane Oil, Coffee beans and other bulletproof items? We are going to measure these based on 3 categories: overall smell/taste, effectiveness vs claims, and value.
For those who don’t know about bulletproof.
What is a Bulletproof Diet?
Is a new diet similar to paleo (low carb, high in saturated fats) with one major alternative. For your morning coffee routine, you add 2 tablespoons of unsalted grass-fed organic butter and Brain Octane Oil or Coconut oil depending on the way you roll.
Before you say “YUCK!” to adding butter to your coffee, here is a fun fact. Creamer is basically pasteurized butter.
Dave Aspery advises getting 50-70% of your daily calories from saturated fats. That is a ton of calories from fat, but this actually makes a ton of sense to me and let me explain why.
When we eat too many calories and gain weight, what do we create? Fat.
Fat is fuel for the body. Our bodies first burn carbohydrates because when they hit the body they turn into sugar. This creates a huge spike of energy but there is no sustainability.
That is why we know to eat proteins. They take longer to digest and create a longer burning fuel source. Saturated fats take even longer than proteins to digest.
Now, this diet doesn’t involve you sitting on your couch stuffing bacon by the pound into your maw. This isn’t Atkins.
It’s about the healthy fats—mostly from coconut oil and pasture-raised meats to feed your brain, and tons of vegetables.
Claims against the BulletProof Diet:
Lot’s of reviews on the Internet slam The Bulletproof Diet because one of the diet options suggests ONLY having the coffee for breakfast. They claim that it is unhealthy to replace your most important meal of the day with coffee. That you lose lots of vitamins and minerals. And they are right.
But… Skipping breakfast and only having coffee is 1 of 3 different diets possibilities in the Bulletproof system. It is called intermittent fasting and has amazing health benefits.
- Fasting has been known to help clean the body
- Give you more energy
- Give your body a break from digestion
- Increase energy levels
- Many more things, I am sure
Luckily my roommate told me a secret when starting the bulletproof coffee routine.
When you are starting the Bulletproof coffee routine, it is highly advisable to eat breakfast as you body becomes adjusted. This means to make a big bowl of lightly cooked veggies for breakfast. (spinach, onions, garlic, pepper, kale, etc.) This gives you lots of the needed nutrients.
When starting the diet most people’s bodies aren’t accustomed to digesting this much-saturated fat. We don’t have the enzymes built up. What can happen if you start out too strong, is that the coffee/coconut oil literally runs through you.
With all implied context possible to that last statement. (it’s not fun). And it can cause belly-aches.
For more information on doing the full Bulletproof Diet pick up the book on Amazon. For recipes check out the cookbook Dave Asprey just released.
For this review we are going to be testing the Bulletproof Coffee vs regular coffee, and Brain Octane Oil vs Coconut oil.
BulletProof Coffee Vs Regular Coffee Overall Smell & Taste:
As I stated in the video, I have been doing the bulletproof diet thing for about 4 months before I reviewed the products. I had about 4 bags of coffee that I needed to drink up before I went and purchased a new one.
The first thing I notice when I opened the bag of Bulletproof Coffee was the amazing smell.
When you open some bags of coffee you can smell the bitterness. I am going to admit, I am a complete coffee aficionado. Most local coffee roasters end up burning their beans and you can taste and smell it. After spending time in Williamsburg, Brooklyn I can spot a good cup of drip or espresso a mile away.
Bulletproof’s coffee smelled deliciously amazing and I couldn’t wait to brew some up!
I have found it hard to find the PERFECT blend for my taste buds, the only other coffee that I love is Brooklyn Blend by Toby’s Estate. Bulletproof is spot on.
Overall ranking is: 10/10 for smell & taste.
BulletProof Coffee Vs Regular Coffee Effectiveness vs Claims:
This is where it get’s tricky to say the least.
Bulletproof coffee is supposedly free of mycotoxins. Mycotoxins are micro mold spores that cause your coffee to be bitter and induces sluggishness. According to Bulletproof, they have a proprietary processing system to clean the beans of Mycotoxins.
Interestingly enough, coffee roasters and growers have known for a long time the presence of mycotoxins in their beans. They even invented something called “Wet processing” to keep the mycotoxin counts low.
Do I know for a fact if BulletProof Coffee has less mycotoxins? Or somehow their proprietary processing system is “better” or “purer?”
Sadly no. I can’t say for certain one way or another.
The only way to prove this would be to break out some microscopes and check it out—not something I am about to do.
It does taste fresh, so I would bet that it is as clean as or more than the best cup of coffee I’ve had. But this is purely speculative.
What I can determine as scientifically possible is whether or not the Bulletproof coffee + Oil was better than non-bulletproof in my personal performance.
That was a resounding yes!
As a double blind test, I made a second batch of Brain Octane Oil with the coffee but no butter and gave it to my girlfriend. I saw a massive increase in her productivity, even though she had no knowledge that I changed up her normal routine. She was buzzing with focused energy all day—and NO crash.
Normally I would shrug my own increased performance as a placebo effect. But watching it first hand on a subject who had no knowledge of what I was doing made it clear.
I know, bad on me for sneaking it in without telling her but I figured what better way to test it!?
I would mark the effectiveness a 7 out of 10.
Due to not being able to verify the claims of Bulletproof coffee. But I will caveat this with saying I feel it is worth at least a one-time purchase to see for yourself how it reacts.
I think I got as close as I can to being scientific study of the effects without breaking out the lab coats and microscopes.
BulletProof Coffee Vs Regular Coffee Value:
This is very straightforward Evaluation. Bulletproof coffee costs retail $18.95 for 12 oz. My favorite coffee the Brooklyn Roast from Toby’s Estate is $13.25 for 12 oz. clearly Bulletproof is a slightly larger investment.
That being said the high-end coffee at Toby’s Estate in Brooklyn “the Colombia” cost $18.95 also. It could be compared to that of a high-end coffee brew.
It really all depends on what is normal for you and what you purchase. It just so happens I enjoy the chocolate-y notes in the Brooklyn blend more.
This is all relative. It depends on how much that extra $5 really means to you and if the extra boost that might happen is worth it.
What I will say for the money conscious is, try the Bulletproof coffee once. Smell it and taste it. If you can find another type of coffee that fits the bill for cheaper. Go with that.
Overall value 8/10.
Total score 25/30
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Brain Octane Oil Vs Coconut Oil Overall Smell & Taste
One of the main reasons I wanted to try the Brain Octane Oil is because my girlfriend has been wanting to try the bulletproof system with me. She is a vegan and can’t consume dairy so has been stuck to eating massive amounts of coconut oil.
Unlike butter in coffee which taste great, huge gobs of coconut oil can overpower the taste of your coffee. A little coconut oil taste great, to much in coffee taste terrible and oily.
Brain Octane Oil has NO FLAVOR. That is cool because it can be added to anything. I will be trying bulletproof matcha, bulletproof tea, and even adding the oil on top of my food.
Overall smell & taste is a 10/10. Flavorless is great.
Brain Octane Oil vs Coconut Oil Effectiveness vs Claims
Brain Octane Oil claims to be 18x stronger than coconut oil. Lofty claims for sure. The amount of actual scientific evidence backing oil is a little shady. This is easy to explain, companies like pharmaceutical companies don’t make money from natural products like coconut oil.
While I won’t say I saw an 18x increase in my performance. I did feel a noticeable difference.
Side note: As I am writing this, I ran into a bulletproof rep and chatted with him about this claim. The 18x is in reference to a chemical structure in coconut oil. It is a specific medium-chain triglycerides. Coconut oil has about 4% naturally, what they do is extract that medium chain and bottle it in the brain octane oil.
I don’t fully understand the science behind it. What I can say is how it feels.
How I can describe it, is what I imagine taking the pill from the movie “Limitless” must feel like. Everything becomes in focus, your level of attention is extremely high, and you almost feel like you are on a drug.
In comparison, the coconut oil feels like a laser beam shooting through a cloud. While focused and strong, there is a haze on the peripherals of your mind.
Overall Effectiveness vs claims is a 10/10.
Brain Octane Oil Vs Coconut Oil
Brain Octane Oil is quite the investment for sure—16 oz it is $23 bucks. I bought the 32 oz. for $45, but the level of increased performance more than makes up for the initial investment.
Imagine you make $20 bucks an hour and you bill 8 hours a day. That is $160/day. For a total of $800 per week.
If you could double your performance every day without increasing your hours you would make $320/day. For a grand total of $1600 per week. Well worth the investment in my humble opinion.
Overall Value is a 10/10.
Final Score 30/30… Yep I am sold
Final Thoughts:
The BulletProof Coffee + Brain Octane Oil is a great combination that I do highly recommend. After picking it up and trying it, I enjoyed it so much that I signed up to be an affiliate for it. I wasn’t paid to write this article, nor was I comped products. I believe in boosting my own productivity and wellness so I wanted to try the lifestyle.
That being said, I was so blown away that I am now an affiliate. That means that if you decide to click the Bulletproof links in this post, and grab yourself their products, that they send me the equivalent of about a cup of coffee 😉 (We only affiliate products that we 100% believe in so I was more than happy to write this article.)
What I would suggest though for anyone wondering if it is right for them is to try the coconut oil and butter in coffee first, along with a healthy breakfast of cooked veggies.
This way you are not spending a huge initial investment and you get to see how much your body will perform.
If you want to jump in all ahead full, Bulletproof offers a great deal on a starter pack. I highly recommend checking that out to save some hard earned dollars.
I also purchased some other items to try out and review in the next few months. Including the activated charcoal, the choclate fuel bars with himalayan sea salt, and vanilla max collagen bars.
Super pumped to try them out.
