Originally published 8 May 2015 | ||
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Weight loss books The Primal Blueprint, Why We Get Fat, The Virgin Diet, 10‑Day Green Smoothie, The Paleo Solution: The Origi | ||
Dave asprey secrets of the bulletproof diet and coffee on the travel like a boss podcast
The Bulletproof diet is a fad diet developed and marketed by Dave Asprey that recommends eating foods high in fat, moderate in protein, and low in carbohydrates, the foundation of which is a coffee drink with butter and medium-chain triglyceride derived from coconut oil.
Contents
How to look at food the bulletproof diet
Approach
The diet emphasizes an eating plan with "healthy" fats, such as monounsaturated fats, and restricting consumption of carbohydrates. The Bulletproof diet also recommends incorporating intermittent fasting and "Bulletproof Coffee", a coffee beverage made from low-mold coffee beans, grass-fed, unsalted butter and either coconut oil or medium-chain triglycerides.
Health claims
Vox contributor Julia Belluz criticized The Bulletproof diet referring to it as "like a caricature of a bad fad-diet book." Belluz wrote particularly against claims that changing diet can reduce inflammation and lead to weight loss, saying Asprey ignored contradictory studies about the health benefits of certain foods, and inappropriately extrapolated studies on animals, very small groups of people, and people with specific diseases to the general human population. Dietitian Lynn Weaver criticized the diet as being hard to follow and supported by only small studies not typically used by medical and nutritional professionals.
Asprey has claimed that when used in combination with other "health hacks," the coffee helped to boost his IQ score by more than 20 points. His company claims that Bulletproof Coffee can aid cognition and trigger weight loss through ketosis.
Dietitians point out there is no scientific basis for these claims, and that any sense of alertness from Bulletproof Coffee is "just a caffeine buzz." Some physicians like Dr. Frank Lipman and Dr. Andrew Weil believe that, when combined with a balanced diet, drinking buttered coffee could be healthy and "might give you a bit more energy than your everyday cup."
Asprey claims that most coffee beans contain high levels of mycotoxins and that this "steals your mental edge and actually makes you weak." He sells a brand of "upgraded" beans which are advertised as having undergone a secret, proprietary process to reduce mycotoxin levels. However, Physician David Bach has observed that coffee producers are already good at removing mycotoxins from their product, and that there is no evidence to support Asprey's claim that mycotoxins make people "sluggish".
Celebrity followers
As of 2014, Bulletproof diet followers included actors Shailene Woodley and Brandon Routh. Music producer Rick Rubin introduced the diet to Ed Sheeran, who spoke about it in an interview on the red carpet for the 2014 Grammy Awards. Other proponents of the diet include Amanda Allen, CrossFit Games champion, and Ree Drummond, author and Food Network show host.