Black, Creamy or Bulletproof

Whereas Lisa and I were previously Folger’s drinkers, now we buy the roasted beans and grind them just before brewing our morning cup(s). We usually each have a 20-ounce Contigo container per day, although we sometimes brew a second pot and have a refill.

I drink coffee one of three ways, depending on what I’m trying to accomplish with my eating patterns.

Black. If I’m in a fasting or time-restricted eating mode, I take it straight. It doesn’t break my fast, and it actually has an appetite suppressant effect. Sometimes I’ll add a half-teaspoon of cinnamon, which also isn’t a fast-breaker.

Creamy. When I’m not concerned with extending a fast, I treat myself to a creamy concoction. And by creamy I don’t mean with Half-and-Half: we’re talking full-fat, organic heavy whipping cream. I also usually add MCT oil and cinnamon. I use a hand frother to break up the fat so it’s dispersed and doesn’t float on top of the coffee. Any blood sugar or insulin spike is minimal, and hunger stays away.

Bulletproof. On special occasions, I melt a chunk of grass-fed Kerrygold butter in the microwave and pour into my Contigo, or else just let the hot coffee do the melting. Using the same hand frother keeps the butter fat from floating to the top. I typically add a pinch of salt and a half-teaspoon of cinnamon to the mix as well. With bulletproof I don’t add the MCT oil.

What we never add to coffee is any kind of sweetener. Lisa formerly used monk fruit, but as we have learned that even calorie-free sweeteners can trick your brain into triggering insulin release, she’s decided it’s not worth it.

The common thread with all of these ways of drinking coffee is that they promote satiety and don’t spike blood sugar.

If we haven’t eaten since 6 p.m. the previous evening, our bodies are already in or approaching fat-burning mode. Creamy and Bulletproof coffee just cause us to toggle between burning the fat in our bodies and the fat in the coffee.

Once that’s gone, we’re back to burning what we already have stored. It makes it easy to skip breakfast, and sometimes even lunch.

That’s why this post is part of #BodyBabyStep Two: Seek Satiety.

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How NOT to enjoy coffee

In our first three decades of marriage, Lisa and I didn’t exactly have sophisticated tastes when it came to coffee.

We drank Folger’s, typically flavoring it with manufactured creamers like what you see at right. As its ad copy says today:

Coffee mate Italian Sweet Creme flavor coffee creamer will transport you to a land of rich taste – right in your kitchen! Indulgently creamy and remarkably rich, the incredible flavor of Italian Sweet Creme is a silky smooth sip that’s lactose-free and cholesterol free. 

Cholesterol free! That’s got to be healthy, right?

Check out the ingredients:

Water, Sugar and Vegetable Oil make up most of it.

With apologies to Meat Loaf, “Two out of three ain’t good!”

Stopping Sugar is #BodyBabyStep One, so on that basis alone you should get rid of these non-dairy creamers. Vegetable oil isn’t much better, as we’ll address in future posts.

But tomorrow I’ll show three wonderful ways you can enjoy coffee without spiking your insulin.

If you think your friends might find this post and this series helpful, I hope you’ll share by email or on your social networks using the buttons below.

You can subscribe by email, and I’ll also post links on FacebookTwitter and LinkedIn.