Morning cup of clarity and focus. How to get the most out of your morning cup of coffee!

My best work is done in the morning hours & I attribute part of this to my morning cup of coffee. I have used some form of this concoction going on 4 years. Below is a quick rundown of how I make my coffee and some of the benefits that it gives me (a few google searches can tell you more about it)

How to make it

Brew coffee like you normally would (it's good to use a medium or darker roast coffee) I brew mine with a Keurig directly into a blender cup (if you have bullet style blender) Then add one normal spoonful of each of the following: Coconut Palm Sugar (you can also use other natural sweeteners like Stevia), MCT Oil, Coconut Oil (organic virgin kind), and Unsalted Grass-fed butter (Kerrygold). Blend for 10 seconds and enjoy. It ends up like a latte with a little foam on top. You can play with the ratios but start small with the fats. All this stuff can be found at normal grocery stores now a days in the health food isle or cooking isle for the palm sugar. (Giant, Safeway, Trader Joes, etc...)

Ingredient Links

• MCT Oil

• Coconut Oil

• Grass-fed butter (unsalted)

• Coconut Palm Sugar

• Bullet Style Blender

Q & A

What does it taste like? Most people hear the words “butter” & “coffee” in the same sentence and it’s over in their minds. They immediately think of salty butter that they have on their food and sweetened coffee and cannot wrap their brains around how it could possibly taste good! The big difference is the “unsalted” grass-fed butter. It adds a slightly sweet satiating taste to the finished product. The blender is another key factor that emulsifies the ingredients and binds the fat to the caffeine. It really does taste like a cappuccino or latte.

How does it make you feel? It makes me feel very focused and clear headed. Especially when I’m writing in the first few hours of waking up. Consuming it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach is best as your body uses the fats as an energy source to get you moving for the day. The healthy fats bind with the caffeine which gives lasting energy and mental clarity without the crash. The crash comes with traditional sugar & artificially sweetened coffee creamers. Sugar spikes our glucose levels and then they drop below resting levels shortly after.

What are the health benefits? Most people are aware now a days that consuming fat doesn’t necessarily make you fat. Especially when it’s healthy fats. Excess sugar and carbs are what raise insulin levels and put our bodies into the “fat storing” state. The MCT (Medium Chain Triglycerides) go straight to the liver to be used as energy instead of stored as fat. Our bodies need fat / cholesterol for hormone regulation and a slew of other functions.

Will it raise cholesterol levels? I have my blood work done every 6 months to make sure the things I’m doing are keeping me healthy. As I stated above I have been doing this going on four years and my cholesterol levels are better now than they have ever been (see below). Keep in mind this is just my personal anecdotal experience but there is a lot of science based evidence backing these claims now a days. I also eat fairly clean / healthy most of the time and exercise regularly (which has a great impact on your blood lipid levels / cholesterol).