Weight-loss diets such as intermittent fasting, Paleo, and Keto are popular among dieters. People are tired of diets that promote hunger as a way to lose weight. Keeping to a continuous fast is not the best way to maintain a healthy weight. A better alternative is the Ketogenic diet.
The Ketogenic or Keto diet involves giving up several foods such as starchy veggies, fruits with high sugar content, and carbohydrates. People on the Keto diet are also restricted on the kind of additives they can add to coffee or tea. But that doesn’t mean they have to forgo drinking these beverages altogether. That’s where keto coffee comes in handy.
When observing a keto diet, Keto coffee is the most recommended type of coffee or beverage. It benefits the body in a different way than regular coffee, and is used as a weight-loss solution by some people. In this article, you’ll learn everything about keto coffee, but first, let’s look at a few facts about the Keto diet.
What is Keto?
Keto is the way our ancestors ate when they had no or little access to sugar. They lived on meats and fats not only due to lack of sugar but also to strengthen their bodies against the cold. Their only sources of sugar were foods found in the wild, such as wild fruits and honey.
Although our ancestors ate food high in fats, they were also very active when hunting and gathering their food. Therefore, they rarely gained weight. Scientists have discovered today that the release of substances known as Ketones by their bodies is one reason for this.
Ketones are released by our bodies as they try to find alternative sources of energy through a process called Ketosis. If you take less than 20 – 50 g a day of net carbs (which is the amount of carbohydrates you eat without fiber), your body will experience Ketosis. During ketosis, the body uses stored fats as energy sources.
A keto diet is a high fat- low carb diet that depends on the Ketosis process to keep fat deposits in the body low. To succeed on the Keto diet, at least 60 – 80 percent of your diet must be fats and the rest carbs and proteins. The fats you eat are your primary source of energy, which is why you minimize carbohydrates and proteins.
You may wonder, why reduce proteins? Well, too much protein is sometimes converted into carbohydrates by the body. That’s why protein intake is minimized in the Keto diet. Any carbs you take must come from low-starch vegetables and very little fruit, specifically those low in sugar.
While on a keto diet, the fats you take must be healthy fats from foods such as Avocados, nuts, seeds, and oily fish. You may also use products such as grass-fed butter and oils like coconut oil, olive oil, and MCT oil.
Keto prevents dieters from eating high-carb snacks such as cakes, muffins, cookies, and other high-calorie carbs and forces them to shift to better energy sources such as fats and protein. The primary reason for this is that fats and protein satiate the body for a long time.
Therefore, when on a Keto diet, you should stick to fats, proteins, and healthy soups made from low-starch veggies. Snacking on nuts, a few low-sugar fruits, and side dishes such as salads is also a good idea. Whenever you want a beverage, take a mug of coffee or tea without sugar. A better alternative is keto coffee, a healthy, low-carb coffee for people on the keto diet.
Facts About Keto Coffee?
People on the Keto diet can only take water, unsweetened tea, low-calorie wine, and coffee. Because there are very few interesting beverages you can take on the Keto diet, some people have come up with Keto-specific beverages for keto dieters.
Keto coffee, a coffee that contains ingredients such as butter and healthy oils, is one such beverage. It is supposed to help keto dieters lose weight faster because it encourages fat burning and speeds up the body’s metabolism. It is quite popular among health and fitness enthusiasts and receives great feedback on Facebook and Instagram.
You may also have seen a video or read an article about keto coffee and its weight-loss effects in a health site or magazine. However, though you see the words keto coffee ketocoffee everywhere, it is important to understand it.
Coffee keto is regular, or decaf coffee with coconut oil, MCT oil, ghee, or butter added to it. It is taken by people on the keto diet who want to avoid high sugar beverages such as sodas, beer, sugary teas, and fruit juices. Milky drinks are also prohibited because milk contains a lot of carbs.
The idea behind drinking Keto coffee is to avoid additives like creamer, milk, and sugar that are high in carbs and will not allow you to maintain net carbs, an essential part of the Keto diet.
By adding oils such as C8 MCT oil, coconut oil, grass-fed butter, and ghee to your coffee, you give the body a great source of fuel. It will also minimize your carb craving and help you to lose weight by speeding up your metabolism.
And because black coffee does not taste pleasant without sweetener or milk, adding oils or fats gives it some flavor and neutralizes its bitterness by making it creamy.
Other options you can use to increase the creaminess of your coffee are heavy cream and whipping cream in low quantities. You may also use almond milk, oat milk, or coconut milk in your keto coffee, although these milk alternatives do not contain a lot of fats.
If you are a coffee lover, you’ll find lots of keto coffee recipes for beginners online. Just follow the instructions until you can make keto coffee without a guide. You can also buy Keto coffee products from a website or health store.
Oils and fats you use in Keto coffee
However, not all oils or butters are used in making Keto coffee. Most of the time, Keto coffee is made with grass-fed butter. This is a form of butter obtained from cows fed on grass rather than grain.
Grass-fed butter is raw fat without sugars, proteins, and carbohydrates. It has a higher amount of vitamins and Omega-3 fatty acids compared to regular butter. Grass-fed butter also contains conjugated linoleic acid, an antioxidant that prevents cancer, obesity, and health conditions such as atherosclerosis.
You can also use either coconut oil or medium-chain triglyceride oil (MCT oil) as a substitute for creamers when making keto coffee. However, MCT oil is a better choice than coconut oil for Keto coffee. Its molecules are absorbed quickly by the body without undergoing the entire digestion process. Thus, using them in your coffee or Keto recipes such as smoothies and soups will immediately raise your energy levels.
Medium-chain triglycerides also contain healthy fatty acids such as Caprylic acid and Caproic acid that are easily broken down by the body into ketones. They also offer our bodies other health benefits, such as reversing metabolic syndrome and improving gut health.
MCTs can also enhance performance when working out and act as an anti-inflammatory. Therefore, Medium – chain triglyceride oil is a perfect addition to Keto coffee, soup, snacks, salads, and food for anyone on the Keto diet.
Does Keto Coffee Help You Lose Weight?
You may wonder if Keto can help you lose weight when you consider it requires the intake of a lot of fat. The main reason for losing weight while on this diet is the reduction of carbohydrates and sugar.
Carbohydrates are broken down into glucose, which is used by the brain and body as a source of energy. Although carbohydrates are a source of energy, they are easily transformed into fats when you are inactive. These fats are often the cause of weight gain in overweight individuals.
People have found a better source of energy that can help them maintain their ideal weight, and these are ketones. These ketones are released when fat is used as energy instead of glucose. Keto coffee is popular with people on the Ketogenic diet because healthy fats and oils are used to make it.
If it’s your first time trying the Keto diet, you may experience keto flu. It is a temporary side effect of the keto diet characterized by symptoms such as nausea, constipation, and headaches, among other side effects. Most of these problems result from the dehydrating effects of the keto diet.
Therefore, stay hydrated by drinking plenty of beverages such as Keto Coffee, water, and drinks high in electrolytes but low in calories to keep yourself energized and avoid craving carbs.
What Happens When You Stop Taking Keto?
Once you start maintaining a Keto diet and drinking beverages such as keto coffee, the body will turn to any stored glucose in your body first to get energy and deplete your glucose reserves within 3 -4 days.
After that, the body goes into panic, looking for an energy source, a process experienced by many fasters known as Ketosis. During Ketosis, the liver produces ketones by burning fats from your diet or any stored fat deposits in your body.
These ketones become the primary source of energy for the body in place of glucose. If you maintain your high-fat diet, you will maintain your ideal weight as your body remains in a state of Ketosis.
What if you stop taking keto coffee and get off the Keto diet? Once you start taking carbs, the body will turn to them as a source of energy. The fast weight loss characterized by the Keto diet will stop, and your body will slowly begin to regain any weight you’ve lost.
Maybe you are afraid of the negative factors associated with getting off the Keto diet such as gaining weight. Why don’t you maintain it? As long as you keep drinking beverages and eating foods high in fats, it will be easy to stay on the diet.
You can also find lots of exciting recipes that include foods allowed on the keto diet to aid in fat loss. That means including healthy ingredients such as nut butter, cocoa powder, vanilla/cinnamon extract, coconut oil, protein powders, etc.
How to Make Keto Coffee
Now that you know what keto coffee is and how it works, you should learn how to make it at home. However, an easier option is to purchase ready-made Keto coffee.
One of the most common names used to describe Keto coffee is Bulletproof Coffee. So, what is bulletproof coffee? It is a popular Keto coffee brand on the market.
Bulletproof coffee is a company that was founded by David Asprey, the dietitian responsible for revolutionary discoveries such as the effect of mycotoxins on our bodies.
David founded the company after making his own Keto coffee. The inspiration to make Keto coffee originated from a trip to Tibet where Asprey witnessed the natives drinking yak butter tea.
David decided to use the approach to make keto coffee using grass-fed butter or ghee. He later established his own coffee brand known as Bulletproof coffee.
Keto dieters and coffee lovers often use the term Bulletproof Coffee to refer to any low-carb Keto coffee drink. Others refer to Keto coffee as butter coffee due to its butter ingredient.
Other Keto coffee brands on the market are Ritual Italian Creme Keto coffee and Keto Indian Chai Coffee. So, as you can see, there are many Keto coffee brands to try if you are on the Keto diet. However, you can also make your own Keto coffee at home.
Simple Keto butter coffee recipe
Equipment and ingredients required:
Blender
Milk Frother/ immersion blender
Coffee maker
Black coffee (1 cup)
Grass-fed butter or ghee (1 tablespoon)
MCT oil or coconut oil (1 tablespoon)
Procedure:
Step 1- Brew 1 cup of black coffee using your favorite brewing method. You may use a coffee maker, French press, or coffee pot.
Step 2- Add the MCT oil, butter, and coffee into a blender.
Step 3- Press the pulse button on your blender to mix the ingredients until they form a frothy and smooth mixture.
Step 4- Your Keto coffee is ready for serving. Pour it into a coffee mug and enjoy it.
Why Blend Your Keto Coffee?
There’s a reason why you should blend the ingredients you use to make Keto Coffee. Black coffee contains water, and making Keto coffee requires adding butter and MCT oil. Since water and oil don’t mix, you’ll need a blender to combine these ingredients when making Keto coffee.
If you love your coffee with some froth on top, use a milk frother or immersion blender to combine them. You can also make fat bombs to ease your process of brewing keto coffee and for use in different keto coffee recipes. Fat bombs are also a great low-energy snack you can take whenever you need something sweet or a quick energy source.
Use coconut oil, grass-fed butter, or MCT oil as the fatty base for your bombs. Other ingredients that you can add are cocoa butter, almond milk, and sweeteners like Stevia, erythritol, and Monk fruit.
How to Enhance the Taste of Keto Coffee and Manage Fat Intake
Keto coffee is a low-sugar beverage. Therefore, it may not always taste great. You can enhance the flavor of Keto coffee by using additives such as cinnamon and a healthy oil such as MCT oil.
And if you are wondering about flavor, vanilla extract can make your keto coffee taste better. Adding a bit of protein or collagen powder may also aid in your weight-loss process. Collagen peptides are often used as a breakfast replacement by weight-loss enthusiasts because they positively affect their weight-loss journey.
Avoid focusing too much on taking fats and oils in your keto coffee. You should also add them to your meals, such as salads in the form of avocado, olive oil, chia seeds, and flax seeds. You may also use nut butters in low amounts because they contain some carbs.
If you manage your fat intake on a Keto diet, you will avoid health problems such as high blood pressure and diabetes. Keto coffee benefits such as its rich antioxidant content may also help you to keep chronic conditions such as cancer at bay.
Dietitians and nutritionists will also inform you that you need more than Keto coffee to stay healthy. Although drinking Keto coffee can give you energy in the morning, you may not get the nutrients your body needs to start the day. Therefore, take it as part of a healthy breakfast with a small quantity of fiber-rich carbs and some protein.
Note that you cannot survive on Keto coffee alone because it will dehydrate you. Therefore, remember to take other liquids, especially water and low-calorie electrolyte-rich beverages.
You should also take certain supplements when on the Keto diet to reduce the side effects of cutting off carbs from your diet, such as probiotics for your gut health.
And, if you are on a plant-based keto diet, your body may require vitamins you can only get from animal sources. Fill this gap by taking vitamin A and vitamin K2 supplements.
Is Keto Coffee Bad For You?
Keto coffee is not bad for you unless you take it in excess. Although the butter and oil in Keto coffee give it a creamy consistency, they may have some nutritional downsides because they contain high amounts of saturated fats.
Studies show that saturated fats contribute to heart ailments, high blood pressure, and excessive weight gain. Therefore, use low amounts of fats and oils in your Keto coffee to avoid such side effects. You can also use alternatives such as brain octane oil to reduce your fat intake in Keto coffee.
People who cannot take caffeine because it harms their health, such as those suffering from high blood pressure, can also make Keto coffee using decaf. The same case applies to diabetics.
While Keto coffee is a healthy beverage to take for anyone on the Keto diet, it is not for everyone. If you’re not on the keto diet, you don’t have to drink Keto coffee. If you have any questions regarding the safety of Keto coffee for your health, consult your doctor before drinking it.
Instead of making Keto coffee yourself, you may prefer to use a Keto coffee brand for your homebrew. Bulletproof coffee by Dave Asprey is not the only brand of Keto coffee beans on the market.
There are other low-carb coffee brands. Review a few of them by looking at their nutrition information, properties, and comments from other coffee lovers before purchasing the best option.
