Why Is Everyone Putting Butter In Their Coffee?

Health. It's weird sometimes. Put butter on your waffles in the morning and you're banned from the muscle club, but put it in your coffee? Welcome to the land of the lean. Lately our habit of following way too many #FitChicks on Instagram (in the hopes of one day looking like them through double-tap osmosis), has led us to believe that everyone else on the subway has been hiding something in their inconspicuous coffee mugs this whole time: butter. 

It's called "Bulletproof Coffee," and apparently it's not really new. Back in 2014, noted hippie health queen Shailene Woodley declared her love for the greasy, caffeinated concoction on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, saying "It will change your life!" We don't know about you, but our black brews are life-changing enough. Still, we're curious.

The concept comes from entrepreneur and "biohacker" Dave Asprey, a Silicon Valley nutrition nut and founder of the Bulletproof diet and lifestyle brand. According to Dave, you should wake up with butter in your cup, not Folgers. More specifically, low-mold coffee beans, two tablespoons of unsalted, grass-fed butter, and two tablespoons of medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil, an easily digestible fat. He markets it on his website as "Brain Octane Oil," but that sounds too silly to write about. In any case, he claims that the 450-calorie breakfast improves brain functionality, supports weight loss, suppresses hunger, and increases overall performance. His cult of followers seem to agree with him. Hey, he wouldn't have a Los Angeles coffee chain if they didn't.

If you're not on the West Coast and want to try something that sounds Superman-approved, you can find the official recipe below. It just might be crazy enough to work.

Bulletproof Coffee

-Brew 1 cup (8-12 oz.) of coffee using filtered water, just off the boil, with 2 1/2 heaping tablespoons freshly ground Bulletproof Coffee Beans. (French Press is easiest.)

-Add in 1-2 tablespoons of Brain Octane™ to the hot coffee (It’s STRONG – start with 1 tsp. and work up over several days).

-Add 1-2 tablespoons grass-fed, unsalted butter or grass-fed ghee

-Mix it all in a blender for 20-30 seconds until it is frothy like a foamy latte

[Photo via @gypsytan, @bulletproof]