Brilliant Friends,
I felt light of heart in the company of a good friend yesterday. Good energy like this inspires experimentation! So I dared blend two additional ingredients into our butter coffee.
Cinnamon:
- Just a bunch of dashes
- To reduce inflammation and increase brain function
- Good with or without cocoa powder. A bit more intense with the cocoa
Olive oil:
- A couple of ounces
- Another excellent source of fat in the morning
- Great flavor. Fruity and rich – typical good olive oil stuff
- Would this cause inflammation, heated at less than 180F? Looking at oxidation research, I found the following.
- Health Impact News says no, it can be used repeatedly for cooking and frying. Even at 356F over 36 hours retains ‘most’ qualities
- PubMed says no after this testing. But it’s not clear on what the standards are of being oxidized.
- Mercola says yes oxidation occurs if used for cooking, due to high unsaturated fat content. These fats are less stable than saturated fats like coconut oil, and heating them brings the risk of oxidation.
- Most of the concern seems to come from cooking with the oil at high temperatures. The studies I saw used 356F at an hour to three hours to test. This seems to be way out of the zone of using it in butter coffee at or below 180C.
Plus all the usual:
- Unsalted butter from pastured cows
- Concentrated MCT oil
- Vanilla powder
- Cocoa powder
- Creatine
Except for:
- Cacao butter (ran out and need to get more)
- Collagen powder (didn’t need the extra collagen and also ran out of this)
It’s always worth trying new ingredients in butter coffee and other foods if you know they are good for you. For coffee, make sure the food you’re adding won’t be damaged in the slight heat of the liquid. And make sure it’s not sugar or carbs if you’re aiming to hold off the insulin spike!
Regarding olive oil oxidation: I haven’t felt any negative effects from using it twice in a row now. Things like acne, headache, hangoverishness, joint discomfort are common to me when I get inflammation. None of these showed.
Read, ask, study the things you try. After all that, trust your own experience with it.
The goal is focus. Mental clarity. Spurring intense creative discussion with positive people!
Live powerfully,
Steve
The Brilliant Beast Blog 