12 ms·

I'm wondering if there is real strong evidence, other than anecdotal accounts, for the wonderful claims that are made for the quasi-magical properties of that c

by Renaud 12y ago

I'm wondering if there is real strong evidence, other than anecdotal accounts, for the wonderful claims that are made for the quasi-magical properties of that coffee melange. I get it that under extreme physical circumstances (high in the Tibetan mountains) coffee mixed with butter can be a good way to replenish your energy quickly, but I'm not sure how this can be extrapolated to our more sedentary lives. Even if the boost in energy (undeniable since you're ingesting a lot of fats) does make you feel good, it doesn't necessarily translate into long term benefits. I'm wondering if there are any studies showing the effect on cholesterol, insulin levels, fasting sugar levels, over time. And then can't help but getting very skeptical of the whole thing when I read that some of the products on sale on the website are marketed for 'brain detox'. Sounds like snake oil to me.

gxespino 12y ago
I've done a lot of introspection when it comes to things like this and how their marketing affects me. Although I know it is snake oil and can't help but laugh at the concept of putting butter in your coffee, let alone selling it - something in me REALLY wants to buy his products. Great marketing lesson if you ask me.
- joelrunyon 12y ago
  I'm curious as to why butter is perceived to be so "out-there" when compared to something like "half and half."
  - sramsay 12y ago
    I'm a confirmed, life-long coffee fanatic, and pretty adventurous when it comes to food. I just couldn't stand the stuff. To me it tastes like coffee, with butter. I take your point about half and half, but the butter just made it seem wrong, wrong, wrong. As weird as putting ginger ale in a piping hot cup of Earl Grey.
    - joelrunyon 12y ago
      Valid point if you've tried it & don't like it. I just question people who write it off without trying it while seemingly putting equally strange things (half/half, sugar, equal, sucralose, etc) in their coffee. Just because something is "most common" doesn't make it better or make something worse. That seems like a very lazy way of evaluating options.
    - mikedouglas 12y ago
      Did you blend it? I could imagine it being pretty awful if you skipped that step.
      - sramsay 12y ago
        Someone who is really into the whole thing made me a cup, so I assume it was done right. Maybe not?
  - wmeredith 12y ago
    I've done the bullet proof coffee thing as my morning cup on and off, depending on how lazy I am. (I usually take it black from an Aero Press for the sake of convenience.) Anyway, I found it to be similar to a latte since it froths in the blender. You need to get grass fed butter or it is pretty nasty. But when I make it with Kerry Gold butter or similar, it's pretty good, if you like lattes. As far as the, "it will change your life" crowd goes it just seems like different strokes for different folks to me. These are probably the same fad jumpers that were having their life changed by something else last month.
    - joelrunyon 12y ago
      > As far as the, "it will change your life" crowd goes it just seems like different strokes for different folks to me. These are probably the same fad jumpers that were having their life changed by something else last month. Very true :).
  - jrs99 12y ago
    I drink coffee and eat buttered toast and can see the oiliness floating around just from the tiny amount of butter that gets into the coffee. it just doesn't look clean at all.
a8da6b0c91d 12y ago
The whole thing is goofy. Coffee and caffeine without carbohydrate elevate adrenaline and cortisol. The way to take coffee is with sugar or with a meal including starch. Eating butter and coffee alone is an unambiguously bad idea.
- joelrunyon 12y ago
  The goal of the drink is to stunt hunger and prolong the morning fat burning process. The sugar will spike your insulin levels and put a stop to that immediately.
  - kyllo 12y ago
    Exactly. Fat has a lot of calories but it doesn't produce an insulin response and isn't digested nearly as quickly as carbohydrates, so it keeps you satiated. A dose of fat early in the morning will help keep you from feeling hunger pangs for a while.
    - TylerJay 12y ago
      Yup. It's the same idea as Seth Roberts' "Shangri-la Diet" where you drink a tbsp of olive oil or something first thing in the morning which supposedly reduces hunger the rest of the day.
      - abecedarius 12y ago
        In Roberts' theory it's crucial to avoid taste or smell at the same time, while the time of day you take it doesn't matter -- so this wouldn't be the same, unless you drank your coffee with a noseclip on. I wonder if anyone does that.
        TylerJay 12y ago
        I don't know why this made me laugh so hard. Just the idea of all these bulletproofers chugging their coffee with bag-clips on their noses. Thanks for that.
joelrunyon 12y ago
The science behind controlling your insulin levels is pretty solid. As far as the coffee goes, it's pretty good coffee, but Dave uses the "no mycotoxins" as the selling point for his brand. For me, the whole mycotoxins thing is where things start to get a bit muddled as there's a debate on whether or not they actually matter (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwY4H3cNTH0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwY4H3cNTH0). I wouldn't go so far as to call it snake oil, but I don't think all of his stuff is 1000% necessary.
failrate 12y ago
I really want to see one serious double blind study where someone extracts oil out of snakes and tests its effectiveness on various common ailments. Not for scientific rigor. At this point, I just really want to know what would happen.
- zafka 12y ago
  I am betting you could get kick starter funding.
- jefftk 12y ago
  See: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/snake-oil-salesmen-knew-something/ http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/snake-oil-salesmen... They reference Kunin 1989 [1], Shirai 2002 [2], and Shirai 2007 [3]. Chinese snake oil is a reasonable source of omega-3s. [1] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1026931/pdf/westjmed00120-0094a.pdf http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1026931/pdf/west... [2] http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0271-5317(02)00426-8 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0271-5317(02)00426-8 [3] http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1444-2906.2003.00806.x/full http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1444-2906.2003....

by Renaud 12y ago

gxespino 12y ago

I've done a lot of introspection when it comes to things like this and how their marketing affects me. Although I know it is snake oil and can't help but laugh at the concept of putting butter in your coffee, let alone selling it - something in me REALLY wants to buy his products. Great marketing lesson if you ask me.

joelrunyon 12y ago
I'm curious as to why butter is perceived to be so "out-there" when compared to something like "half and half."
- sramsay 12y ago
  I'm a confirmed, life-long coffee fanatic, and pretty adventurous when it comes to food. I just couldn't stand the stuff. To me it tastes like coffee, with butter. I take your point about half and half, but the butter just made it seem wrong, wrong, wrong. As weird as putting ginger ale in a piping hot cup of Earl Grey.
  - joelrunyon 12y ago
    Valid point if you've tried it & don't like it. I just question people who write it off without trying it while seemingly putting equally strange things (half/half, sugar, equal, sucralose, etc) in their coffee. Just because something is "most common" doesn't make it better or make something worse. That seems like a very lazy way of evaluating options.
  - mikedouglas 12y ago
    Did you blend it? I could imagine it being pretty awful if you skipped that step.
    - sramsay 12y ago
      Someone who is really into the whole thing made me a cup, so I assume it was done right. Maybe not?
- wmeredith 12y ago
  I've done the bullet proof coffee thing as my morning cup on and off, depending on how lazy I am. (I usually take it black from an Aero Press for the sake of convenience.) Anyway, I found it to be similar to a latte since it froths in the blender. You need to get grass fed butter or it is pretty nasty. But when I make it with Kerry Gold butter or similar, it's pretty good, if you like lattes. As far as the, "it will change your life" crowd goes it just seems like different strokes for different folks to me. These are probably the same fad jumpers that were having their life changed by something else last month.
  - joelrunyon 12y ago
    > As far as the, "it will change your life" crowd goes it just seems like different strokes for different folks to me. These are probably the same fad jumpers that were having their life changed by something else last month. Very true :).
- jrs99 12y ago
  I drink coffee and eat buttered toast and can see the oiliness floating around just from the tiny amount of butter that gets into the coffee. it just doesn't look clean at all.

a8da6b0c91d 12y ago

The whole thing is goofy. Coffee and caffeine without carbohydrate elevate adrenaline and cortisol. The way to take coffee is with sugar or with a meal including starch. Eating butter and coffee alone is an unambiguously bad idea.

joelrunyon 12y ago
The goal of the drink is to stunt hunger and prolong the morning fat burning process. The sugar will spike your insulin levels and put a stop to that immediately.
- kyllo 12y ago
  Exactly. Fat has a lot of calories but it doesn't produce an insulin response and isn't digested nearly as quickly as carbohydrates, so it keeps you satiated. A dose of fat early in the morning will help keep you from feeling hunger pangs for a while.
  - TylerJay 12y ago
    Yup. It's the same idea as Seth Roberts' "Shangri-la Diet" where you drink a tbsp of olive oil or something first thing in the morning which supposedly reduces hunger the rest of the day.
    - abecedarius 12y ago
      In Roberts' theory it's crucial to avoid taste or smell at the same time, while the time of day you take it doesn't matter -- so this wouldn't be the same, unless you drank your coffee with a noseclip on. I wonder if anyone does that.
      - TylerJay 12y ago
        I don't know why this made me laugh so hard. Just the idea of all these bulletproofers chugging their coffee with bag-clips on their noses. Thanks for that.

joelrunyon 12y ago

The science behind controlling your insulin levels is pretty solid. As far as the coffee goes, it's pretty good coffee, but Dave uses the "no mycotoxins" as the selling point for his brand. For me, the whole mycotoxins thing is where things start to get a bit muddled as there's a debate on whether or not they actually matter (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwY4H3cNTH0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwY4H3cNTH0). I wouldn't go so far as to call it snake oil, but I don't think all of his stuff is 1000% necessary.

failrate 12y ago

I really want to see one serious double blind study where someone extracts oil out of snakes and tests its effectiveness on various common ailments. Not for scientific rigor. At this point, I just really want to know what would happen.

zafka 12y ago
I am betting you could get kick starter funding.
jefftk 12y ago
See: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/snake-oil-salesmen-knew-something/ http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/snake-oil-salesmen... They reference Kunin 1989 [1], Shirai 2002 [2], and Shirai 2007 [3]. Chinese snake oil is a reasonable source of omega-3s. [1] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1026931/pdf/westjmed00120-0094a.pdf http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1026931/pdf/west... [2] http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0271-5317(02)00426-8 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0271-5317(02)00426-8 [3] http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1444-2906.2003.00806.x/full http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1444-2906.2003....