Buttered Coffee: Can "Bulletproof Coffee" Help with Weight Loss? What Are the Harms to Women?

In 2004, cloud computing pioneer Dave Asprey traveled to Tibet to study meditation. The butter tea he drank there, however, changed his life.

"I felt refreshed, full of energy, and no longer suffered from altitude sickness. I realized there must be some kind of magical power. I felt great," he recalled. After returning home he spent several years experimenting with ingredients and formulas, hoping to create "a sugar-free and dairy-free hot version of a Frappuccino." He used coffee instead of tea as the base because he was a coffee enthusiast. He says he earned only one "A" in his entire undergraduate career, during the semester he discovered espresso, and that avoiding sugar and dairy had been his habit for the past 15 years (he also spent $300,000 on doctors and brain-metabolism 3D radioactive scans), all to cure his brain fog and lose 100 pounds of excess weight.

After years of devoted research into a coffee formula to match butter tea, he developed a low-toxin coffee with creamy foam, adding one to two tablespoons of unsalted plant-based butter (though he personally uses 6 tablespoons) and replacing coconut oil with one to two teaspoons of medium-chain triglyceride oil, "because I don't want my coffee to taste like a tropical drink," Asprey said.

He called the concoction "Bulletproof Coffee" and posted it on his blog in 2009, recommending that people replace breakfast with this fat-rich, over-460-calorie beverage, promising it would satisfy food cravings, achieve weight loss through ketosis, and "greatly promote cognitive function."

Asprey claimed that drinking his coffee while maintaining other healthy habits increased his IQ by 20 points - though American Society for Nutrition spokesperson Marjorie Nolan Cohn said there is no scientific proof that mental clarity improves, "although" fat does benefit brain function.

Unexpected Popularity

So this stuff must taste disgusting, right? Actually, this formula - which fans say tastes like a smooth latte - has hit the market. Actress Shailene Woodley tweeted about the coffee ("one of the greatest human inventions"), Jimmy Fallon enthusiastically discussed it with Maya Rudolph on his show, and Silicon Valley executives including Dan Scholnick, partner at Trinity Ventures, have even become addicted to it.

Whenever he travels, Scholnick brings the complete coffee setup (beans, grinder, AeroPress coffee maker and electric milk frother), plus butter (which he refrigerates the night before) and medium-chain triglyceride oil. "I've made bulletproof coffee at 30,000 feet," Scholnick said, noting that a small tube of medium-chain triglyceride oil should "be less than three ounces." Scholnick even invited Asprey to speak to 50 CEOs from Trinity's portfolio companies. "He's been the most influential person in my life over the past five years," Scholnick said.

Building a Business Empire

Meanwhile, about 7 million people have downloaded Asprey's "Bulletproof Executive" podcast, in which he shares inspirational quotes from Arianna Huffington, Tim Ferriss and the Los Angeles Lakers' nutrition director about living a good life, while promoting his own designed diet rich in healthy fats, with zero grains and zero dairy (similar to the paleo diet, but with more emphasis on what he calls brain-boosting fats).

The coffee formula is free, but Asprey is building a business empire on it. The company now has 20 employees and offers a range of Bulletproof brand products sold through its online store, called "Upgraded Self," including low-toxin coffee (Asprey believes mycotoxins, or mold toxins, cause obesity), medium-chain triglyceride oil (which Asprey calls "brain octane oil"), sleep-sensing pads, heart rate variability sensors, and an $895 "brain focus training" sensor headband.

"I have an MBA from Wharton and I know how to operate products," Asprey said. "Do I just throw a bunch of products at the refrigerator to see which ones stick? Impossible. Any product that develops human potential and improves human performance is fair game."

Asprey declined to disclose sales figures, but he noted that the company's first product in 2011 was coffee beans, and total revenue grew by 700% last year. Today, Bulletproof Coffee products are available in more than a dozen restaurants and cafes, including Picnik Austin. "In the first three months, we mainly served black coffee because no one wanted to try the butter version," said restaurant owner Naomi Seifter, who discovered this coffee through a link sent by her mother. "Now, Bulletproof Coffee is undoubtedly our flagship product and has even become what made us famous."

Marketing and Brand Impact

Savvy marketing clearly plays a role in brand development, but fans believe that regardless of what this coffee is called, it would inevitably have become popular. "The brand is indeed well-executed, but consumers won't keep drinking something just because of a brand," said Omid Ashtari, Twitter's Head of Sports and Entertainment Partnerships. He praised the coffee effusively: "The first time I tried it, I was overwhelmed because it had such a strong impact on my brain, like an out-of-body experience." (Ashtari is currently persuading Twitter's executive chef to purchase "Bulletproof" brand products.) Asprey himself downplayed the role of the brand name in winning fans. "I'm a pretty reliable person. My career has been good, and obviously I'm not crazy," he commented on the public's reaction when the formula was first released.

The Origin of the Name

But he also admitted that he did get lucky a few years ago. At that time he was flying from London to San Francisco on a Virgin Atlantic flight and was upgraded to first class, sitting opposite Herb Kim, founder of the Thinking Digital Conference. Asprey told Kim he planned to write a book about energy supplementation, intending to call it "Total Human Performance."

"No, no, you need a name like 'Bulletproof'," Kim told Asprey. Asprey wrote down the name and eventually used it for his coffee. Today, Asprey's coffee has become Kim's daily morning beverage.

Future Expansion

Next, "Bulletproof" will also launch mitochondrial energy optimization supplements called "Unfair Advantage," with a one-month supply priced at $60. Another "Bulletproof" ready-to-drink beverage is also in preparation. "If selling coffee, oils and nutritional supplements can fund platform development and promote the sharing of useful information about human health and wellness, that's a good business model, although completely different from what I learned at Wharton," Asprey said.

In the first quarter of 2015, Asprey will open an independent Bulletproof Cafe in Los Angeles, as that city sends the most visitors to his website. He originally wanted to open in Silicon Valley, but "San Francisco's real estate prices are sky-high, and even paying minimum wage there is very difficult," he said. "Los Angeles has stronger health and fitness awareness. Plus, it's like San Francisco 20 years ago, with a very strong atmosphere for young entrepreneurs."

Asprey can finally find the time to start writing the book he discussed with Kim, which will include personal weight-loss experiences from Jeremy Piven (who drank a Bulletproof team coffee made specially for him in the movie "Entourage") and Brandon Routh from "Superman Returns." As for the book title, of course it's "The Bulletproof Diet."

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Butter coffees blend their base with fat, so the underlying cup needs real body and crema to hold its own. FrontStreet's Classic Blend is built for exactly that: designed for espresso and moka pot brewing, it delivers an outstanding, dense crema and a rich, rounded body from the traditional Mamba recipe, giving a butter coffee the structure it needs whether you pull a shot or brew it strong.

If you prefer a gentler, sweeter base, the FrontStreet Brazil Queen Estate SOE is a low-acidity, smooth single origin grown from the distinctive Yellow Bourbon variety. Medium-dark roasted and extracted as espresso, it shows the creamy, nutty warmth of butter cookie, macadamia and toasted bread - a mellow foundation that blends naturally with butter or MCT oil. Whichever you choose, using freshly roasted beans and a full-bodied extraction keeps the coffee itself, not just the fat, at the center of the cup.