Bulletproof Coffee | Hacker News Reader

Bulletproof Coffee

blog.ryanio.com

28 pointsryanio32 comments

The man who "invented" this can be found here: http://www.bulletproofexec.com/

If this doesn't convince you I don't know what will: Can you really lose 100 pounds without using exercise, upgrade your IQ by more than 12 points, and stay healthy by sleeping less than 5 hours? It took more than 15 years and $300,000 to learn how to reach the Bulletproof® state of high performance. And it’s all here on the blog for you.

Notice he thinks he's got a registered trademark on the word Bulletproof.

Do we really need more crapily to none researched dietary fads on HN?

Yeah he uses a lot of marketing speak.

But as you can see my article, I don't recommend any of his products. I don't really believe in his whole mycotoxin kick.

But it doesn't mean you can't learn from other things he's saying!

High fat diets have been heavily researched and are generally regarded as safe and healthy. See here: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/high-fat-diet-healthy-safe/

Do we really need more crapily to none researched dietary fads on HN?

Seconded. Between all the overreactions and slavish devotion that's being thrown around, it's starting to look less like a community of probing, thoughful, inquisitive thinkers and tinkerers, and more like like a religion full of sects.

The founder, Dave Asprey, actually could not be more relevant to this community. He was the first person to sell something through the internet, and made 6 million dollars when he was 26 by selling his company Exodus Communications. Since then he has worked for several tech all-star companies and today leads a publicly traded cloud computing security company as Vice President.

http://www.linkedin.com/in/asprey

That resume doesn't lie.

He is absolutely relevant to this community. That doesn't make him a dietitian or a source for scientific conclusion. Nor does it make everything he puts onto paper relevant to this community.

And he's clearly got something to sell with this whole Bulletproof thing.

Okay, by that standard, we should be posting theological links from Pat Robertson on HN, or any of a dozen other hucksters who pulled themselves up by their bootstraps or pioneered ways to fleece suckers. I mean, obviously they're successful, why shouldn't we listen to their insights?

I'd truly be interested in Asprey's business insights (particularly startups), but IMHO we've had more than enough unscientific dietary claims on HN to last us for a while.

Your argument is ad hominem. The man who wrote this article has posted sources for each claimed benefit.

There's nothing fallacious about using heuristics to judge credibility.

As for the sources given in the article, not a single one is credible.

Care to elaborate, or are you just throwing mud?

Pointing out that sources aren't credible is throwing mud now?

That is a small collection of supporting research in sources neither of us is qualified to verify of individual parts of this dietary suggestion. Not conclusive research into Bulletproof coffee itself. Some pieces being seemingly supportive doesn't mean anything about the whole.

neither of us is qualified

That kind of thinking is how we got the government sanctioned food pyramid. I'd rather think for myself, thanks.

I don't follow.

Well, he does have a registered trademark for Bulletproof.

http://tmsearch.uspto.gov/bin/showfield?f=doc&state=4803:1g9...

Bulletproof coffee is a great breakfast (and snack) for anybody on a high fat diet like keto or Atkins. This is because while on these diets, your body has put itself in a state where it can more easily convert fat to energy. However, people on a regular high carb diet will not be able to make the most of all that fat and will just be hungry and tired after an hour.

Don't get me wrong, I think most people need more good fat in their diet. But if you're on a "regular" diet, the fat needs to be a supplement, not a replacement.

Call me old school, but I love my mediterranean (italian) diet: a balance mix of all the nutrients in normal portions. I think nothing is really bad for you in right in normal quantities. Try to eat a 6oz steak with a nice salad (EVOO, salt, lemon juice for dressing) instead of a 16oz steak with a bunch of sauces. Afraid of carbs? Try eating 60g of pasta next time instead of a salad bowl of it.

>I think nothing is really bad for you in right in normal quantities.

That's either false or tautological. Mercury is bad for you in any quantity. If you say "the normal quantity for mercury is zero", then "nothing is bad for you in normal quantities" is a meaningless statement.

I'm glad to see you grasped my point.

I don't really understand how this is an 'alternative' to soylent.

It's not a perfect 1:1 replacement as you can't just drink Bulletproof Coffee to get all your nutrients. But, start your day with a cup of it to boost nutrition, focus, and satiety. Follow with a normal lunch and dinner.

Umm... well, glad to see the mods changed the title from the ridiculous "The Soylent Alternative" on the blog.

Yes, fat is good, particularly if you want to lose weight, and I mostly agree with the people who say we should get most of our main calories from it, not carbs.

But pouring butter and oil into your coffee is crazy talk. Encouraging over-caffeination is hardly healthy, and this fat is devoid of other nutrients and vitamins.

Just slather butter on your broccoli, have bacon with eggs cooked in butter, eat the fat on your steak, eat nuts and avocados and cheese, and you'll have all the calories you need. If you're eating fat without the accompanying necessary protein or vitamins and other nutrients, then as they say, "you're doing it wrong".

Kiiiinda misleading title. I too am a fan of bulletproof coffee, but don't see it as an alternative to soy lent which is a food replacement.

This would have been more interesting had you added nutrients and protein to your version of bp coffee.

I've read into Dave's stuff a bit, and it sounds like mostly bs to me, but I have heard good things about bulletproof coffee, though it's all been anecdotal.

Do you really feel better drinking it, or is it just a nice way to get quick, easy calories in the morning without any insulin spike from carbs?

I feel less of a caffeine crash from it, and a more even caffeine buzz. I'm not doing it for calories, as I already do 4HB or paleo breakfast WITH the bulletproof coffee.

What the heck is the point of trying to drink butter? Just drink cream or half and half.

In what sense is Bulletproof Coffee remotely an alternative to soylent? I'm not even going to touch the major problems with Dave Asprey's claims, especially regarding mycotoxins.

But this seems like an extremely bait-y headline. There's no new content here - just a restating of Asprey's claims, plus the word "soylent".

I've been on DIY soylent on and off since last June, and had a few weeks of bulletproof while I was doing high-protein low-carb soylent.

Bulletproof is nothing like a soylent replacement, it's just like a crazy energy drink. Basically you just skip breakfast and have your coffee whisked with unsalted butter and MCT oil. My experience is that it accentuates the alertness feeling of drinking a lot of coffee but without the wiredness. However, it tastes like ass - coffee with theanine has very similar effects and tastes much nicer.

Also worth noting that Dave Asprey talks a lot of hype - like many non-scientists trying to interpret the literature he tends to find one or two papers that confirm what he was hoping for, and ignores the counterevidence. Talk to your doctor before you start having a stick of butter every morning.

Completely misleading title. This is at best a "breakfast hack" of sorts. It definitely is a cool concept and introduces interesting ideas, but it surely is not a food replacement or alternative to soylent.

Or, you can make an actual simple Soylent alternative and do what I do:

- 8 oz Silk unsweetened original coconut milk

- 2 scoops (servings) of powdered Slimfast

- 1 Nature's Way Alive! Women's Multivitamin

- 8-10g (about 1 tbsp) of Potassium Gluconate*

Add protein at another meal and some omega-3 capsules and you're set. I hate to reduce my extensive research down to such a simple formula, but that's what I've done for a while now and it works great.

Here's an even simpler alternative: Orange juice and 1% milk.

Soylent and the powdered approach is a bit silly because it's not very hard to get 99% complete nutrition from certain zero-prep foods readily available at truck stops. Bananas and cheese is maybe another one.

Go ahead and punch OJ and milk in a nutrition calculator like cronometer.com.

Another really easy alternative:

- 60g uncooked dry soybeans

- 60g uncooked brown rice

- 7g oil or butter

- Multivitamin

To make it, you soak the soy and rice in water for a few hours, and then boil them. Uncooked soy beans may be carcinogenic, so don't eat them raw. You can boil them into a mush, or for a shorter time, and it will change the consistency and flavor of the final product. The less time, the more planty it will be.

Next, drain the soybeans and rice (unless you boiled them into mush) and blend them together with the oil/butter, water (for however thick you want it) and salt (to taste). You can also add sweetener and vanilla extract or whatever flavoring you want.

Take the multivitamin (only once a day, obviously).

The above is in a single serving. I typically will do the boiling in advance and then blend on a per-serving basis.

Where's the protein? Sure you might loose some weight, but will it actually be fat your loosing or muscle tissue?

While fruit and fish oil are good for you, that amount of cream (4 tbsp all up) probably isn't the best. Cream/Butter is fine in moderation, but I don't think this much on a daily basis.

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