Health Trends: Would You or Wouldn't You is a monthly series in which we here at YBC will test out some crazy healthy trends and report back. We're up for almost anything (but we have our limits), so if you've heard of something a little nuts in the name of health, let us know in the comments below or over on the Yoga Forum.
On December 31st, I share YBC's year in review and mentioned that the YBC team got a little bigger with the help of our Marketing and Events Director. Her name is Lauren, and she's pretty amazing. So amazing, in fact, that when I asked her to try the Great Coffee Experiment of 2015, she actually responded with, "Are you kidding? Coffee runs through my veins! I'm in!"
I was hugely grateful since I don't actually drink coffee (don't like how it makes me feel), and figured the experiment would be better from the point of view from someone who drinks it often. Lauren's mostly a behind-the-scenes kinda girl, but you may see a guest post here and there from her in the future while I'm traveling this spring. Hope you enjoy!
Lauren, braving the coffee with butter
Wearing: hudson jeans, h&m sweater (similar)
Health Trend
Putting butter in coffee
The Claim
This trend is derived from Bulletproof Coffee, a small business founded by Dave Asprey, a tech-inventor that credits a high-fat diet to his 80 pound weight loss. The idea is that the high fat butter will slow down the time it takes your body to metabolize the caffeine, thereby giving you more energy and less of a post-coffee crash.
We tried it!
When Candace asked me to give this whole ‘butter in your coffee’ thing a try, I jumped right on board. To say I’m addicted to black coffee is an understatement so naturally I was realllly interested to see what the craze was all about.
I didn’t go into this with too many expectations or thoughts about how it was going to taste, what it might look like or how I was going to feel afterwards– although I was a bit worried it was going to ruin the idea of enjoying coffee again if it turned out disastrous.
The first time I tried this, I didn’t have any butter on hand so I decided to take a walk to my local organic store, which conveniently happens to be next to a Starbucks! I decided to kill two birds with one stone and do this experiment in public, so you can just image the looks I was getting as I tried to discreetly take the butter out of my bag, cut a chunk off and plop it into my coffee. (I also managed to cover my notepad, pens and keyboard in butter, I have no clue how I managed this – but it also doesn’t surprise me haha!)
Butter iceberg
At first, the hunk of butter just sat there floating around and I was a little worried that it wasn’t going to melt, leaving me with a mini butter iceberg hanging out in my cup. So I gave it a few stirs, sat back for a few minutes and tried to occupy myself with other things like people watching (because let's be honest, cafes are the BEST places to do so, in my opinion).
After a few minutes, I peered into my cup. What I saw was terrifying, in all honesty. My beloved black coffee now resembled what looked to be a greenish/yellowish oil spill in a murky pond – not a good look especially when I knew I had to drink it! After staring at it for a while, I took a sip and to my surprise it was really good!
I mean really, really good! It still had that distinct black coffee taste and was a bit thicker than I’m used to but if you drink your coffee with milk or cream, the consistency probably won't change much. There was also a hint of something more delicious – it kind of reminded me of pancakes or waffles, or at least the way they smell when they’re made fresh – something I definitely was not expecting! I’m not a big fan of sweets (weird, I know) and I didn’t think this was sweet by any means.
If you’re worried about that weird, oily film sticking around after you’ve taken a few sips, no need to worry, you can throw those thoughts right out the window! I wasn't left with an oily feeling whatsoever – although my lips felt softer and more hydrated than usual (but hey! Its winter, so I’m not complaining!)
I felt more alert and focused almost immediately. I tend to believe I have a pretty high caffeine tolerance, so I was pretty impressed! I also noticed a decrease in that jittery feeling you get after drinking a coffee, which was fantastic and I also noticed that I was hungry for my next meal A LOT sooner then usual.
I suggest trying this at your own risk because I can see myself getting seriously addicted to preparing my coffee this way all of the time!
Consensus
Yes, I'll definitely do it again! Would you, or you wouldn't you put butter in your coffee?
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