Coconut oil is sometimes brushed off as the latest health fad, and the idea of putting coconut oil in coffee seems like an even bigger fad at first glance. You may have noticed that nearly everyone is extolling the benefits of it online, on social media, and everywhere you look.

You’d be surprised, though, that putting coconut oil in coffee has many benefits, and once you start, you may wonder why you ever had coffee any other way.

Why should you put coconut oil in coffee?

Coconut oil is incredibly versatile and has tons of health benefits, and it’s a super-oil, so to speak. You can put it in your food, use it on your skin, heck, you could even use it as a lubricant! You can also add butter to coffee. Eggs work too! So does heavy cream 

Since you’re going to be mixing it into your morning coffee, some of the coffee’s health benefits are multiplied:

• Coconut oil has a good kind of fat, which helps weight loss and reduces cholesterol
• Coconut oil keeps you feeling full for a longer time
• Coconut oil tastes great in coffee
• It can help charge your immune system
• It can help improve your memory
• It’s very easy to digest

Benefits of adding coconut oil to coffee

1. Coconut oil in coffee can help you lose weight(it’s the MCTs)

The magic of coconut oil for weight loss comes from the good fats present in coconut oil. So by mixing some coconut oil into your morning coffee, you’ll get a nice dose of all the goodness of coconut oil first thing in the morning.

At this point, you may be thinking: “Wait, what? Fats for weight loss? You must be joking, right? Everyone knows that fat is bad for you!”

Not exactly.

For the longest time, we’ve been led to believe that all fats are bad, and while food manufacturers cut down fats from their food products, they gleefully add gobs of sugar – sugar which we’ve been gobbling for the past 30+ years.

Apparently, there is a huge conspiracy that the sugar industry actually paid off researchers to point the blame at fat. Anyhow, the point is, not all fats are bad – in fact, some fats are absolutely necessary for survival and actually enhance your body’s functioning.

That’s where coconut oil comes in.

Coconut oil contains high levels of medium-chain triglycerides, or MCTs. Unlike normal saturated fats that have longer chains(and are bigger molecules), MCTs have smaller chains, as the “medium” in the name suggests.

MCTs are used up nearly immediately by your body, so they don’t get stored away for future use.Upon hearing saturated fat, you may be wondering: “isn’t this the bad fat that causes cholesterol levels to go up?”

Cholesterol is actually of two types: the “good cholesterol”, known has HDL, and the “bad cholesterol”, known as LDL. The MCTs in coconut oil(and indeed all forms of MCTs) help raise levels of the good HDL cholesterol.

When you eat foods high in MCTs, they go straight to your liver where they are turned into ketones and used up for energy immediately. In case you were wondering, the word ketones is where the keto diet got its name from.

Additionally, MCTs actually increase the number of calories your body is burning – studies have found that having 15-30 grams of MCTs increased your overall calorie burn for the day. One study also found that consuming coconut oil helped reduce fat from the abdominal region in women.

Before you go ordering a tub of coconut oil, please note that the key to good health and maintaining your weight is moderation above all else. Coconut oil is certainly good for you, but you should have it – like everything else – in moderation. A few tablespoons per day is an ideal amount.

2. Coconut oil can help you feel full for longer

Much like keto coffee, in which the butter helps you feel full for longer, coconut oil in your coffee can help you feel full for longer, too. Studies have shown that men who had MCTs – the good saturated fats in coconut oil – ended up eating less calories throughout the day than those who did not.

Additionally, one huge drawback of cutting down fats in your diet is feeling hungry and moody throughout the day, and as a result you end up eating a lot more carbs than necessary. By having MCTs in your diet, studies have shown that you’ll feel less hunger and more fullness throughout the day, especially during the afternoon slump.

Another study showed that men who ate MCTs in the morning ate less for lunch, further highlighting the benefit of having coconut oil in the morning(your coffee is just a convenient medium to consume it in). All in all, this furthers the idea of coconut oil helping you lose weight. By helping you burn more calories and keeping you feeling full for longer(and thus eating less), you’re packing a one-two punch with coconut oil coffee.

3. Coconut oil can help charge your immune system

Coconut oil contains a fatty acid called lauric acid. This fatty acid actually makes up nearly half of all fatty acids found in the oil. When your body digests lauric acid, the result is a compound called monolaurin.

Monolaurin and lauric acid are both deadly to bacteria, viruses, and fungi.

Additionally, the MCTs in coconut oil mess up the fatty coating on bacteria, disrupting their normal functioning and causing them to die.

Coconut oil can also help your skin as it is a very effective moisturizer and provides defense against bacteria and fungi. This works both when coconut oil is ingested and when applied directly to the skin.

Coconut oil is definitely not a replacement for regular medicine, but it is certainly a good booster to have alongside it.

Remember, always consult your doctor – this is not medical advice.

4. Coconut oil is easy to digest

The MCTs in coconut oil are very easy to digest. Normally, your pancreas has to come into play to break down larger fats, but MCTs can be broken down directly by the liver into ketones.

This reduces strain on your pancreas, while still giving you the enjoyment of fat in your diet. 

MCTs have also been shown to improve gallbladder function. If you replace a large part of the fats in your diet with coconut oil, you may actually be able to feel improved overall health.

Please note that you’re not adding coconut oil on top of existing fats, you’re replacing existing fats with coconut oil. There is a distinct taste in coconut oil, but it’s nothing that you can’t get used to. If you’re fond of Thai food, you probably like the distinct coconut flavor already!

In fact, studies have shown that certain populations for whom 60% of their diet is coconut had an overall lower risk for heart disease and improved general health.

5. Coconut oil aids in digestion

Not only is coconut oil easy to digest, it also helps move things along your digestive system. It is a natural lubricant for your gut and can help soften stool and get it moving along the large intestine.

The best part is that you don’t need to have an excessive amount of coconut oil to feel these effects, either. Simply having a serving coconut oil coffee per day(which has 1 to 2 tablespoons of the stuff) will help. As we’ve already stressed, moderation is the key here. We can’t say this enough times!

So in case you decide to incorporate this into your diet or coffee, you may find that your morning events are much quicker and more efficient!

6. It can help increase brain function

CO is a superfood that helps promote brain health. It’s not that you can have a tablespoon of the stuff and solve Fermat’s last theorem, but the ketones produced by your body from consuming coconut oil and other healthy fats has been anecdotally shown to have a positive effect in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease patients.

Pure coconut oil can also have anti-stress and antioxidant properties that help you feel calmer and reduce anxiety. The studies for this are not very conclusive, so the evidence is best considered anecdotal. Still, though, if you can feel fuller, healthier, possibly lose weight, and be in a good mood, what’s the downside, right?

Coconut oil side effects

According to WebMD.com, coconut oil has no known side effects, though not enough conclusive studies have been done. As of now, they state that it is likely safe to consume and apply topically. Since it does contain saturated fats, it should be eaten with moderation, as an excess of it can raise your cholesterol levels. Please consult your doctor before making any significant dietary or lifestyle changes.

How many calories in coconut oil coffee?

It should be worth noting that coconut oil coffee is not a magic pill – it goes really well when combined the ketogenic diet. Just having coconut oil coffee and then piling on the sugar and calories won’t really work as you’ll be swimming against the tide, so to speak.

That said, if you’re counting calories, then:

• one tablespoon of coconut oil has 117 calories
• two tablespoons of coconut oil has 234 calories

One cup of black coffee has about 2-5 calories, so by adding one to two tablespoons of coconut oil you’re massively boosting the calorie count of your morning coffee.

Again, this is not a bad thing – you need calories for energy, but eating smart for the rest of the day and staying active plays a just as important role. It will definitely help that the bulletproof coffee in the morning will help keep you fuller for longer and help reduce your overall calorie intake since you will be eating less.

Coconut oil coffee recipe

The most basic coconut oil coffee can be made with three simple components:

1. hot coffee, brewed your preferred way
2. one to two tablespoons of coconut oil
3. (optional) butter
4. (optional) natural sweetener like honey or maple syrup
5. (optional) milk

Just brew your coffee – using a french press, an aeropress, a moka pot, a drip coffee maker, or a pour over coffee maker, and blend it together with coconut oil until the coffee becomes a slightly lighter brown color.

If you add butter, it will become even lighter in color. This should only take a few seconds. Ideally, you want to use a powerful blender like a Blendtech or NutriBullet. Check out our favorite blenders for bulletproof coffee here.

When blending, be careful when opening the lid. Blending hot liquids at high speeds generates a lot of steam and pressure, so you may be hit in the face with a puff of steam if you pull off a sealed lid.

Once you’re done blending, drink up quickly, as the oils will only remain emulsified for so long. Once the oils disperse and clump together again, the creamy, thick drink will turn into a really weird tasting mouthful alternating between oils and coffee. In case you do forget to drink it for a while and the mixture separates, just blend it again and the oil droplets will disperse.

How to mix coconut oil in coffee without a blender

Coconut oil actually mixes in very easily with hot coffee, so you can even do it without a blender.

You don’t want to try it with cold coffee, though, as it can clump up and not separate correctly.

To have coffee with coconut oil, just spoon one or two tablespoons of the stuff into your mug and pour your brewed coffee into it. Give it a good stir, and the hot coffee should separate the oil enough to distribute it evenly throughout the beverage.

Add sugar/milk/creamer to taste, and enjoy.

Don’t wait for the coffee to get cold, or wait too long before drinking it, as the smaller droplets will only stay suspended for so long before they clump together again.

The only way you could enjoy this mixture cold is if you pour it over ice and have it right away.

Conclusion

As you can see, coconut oil in coffee can have many health benefits in addition to making your coffee taste creamier and naturally sweeter. Even though the idea seems strange at first sight, once you try it, you may find it hard to go back to any other coffee recipe for your morning fix.