The easiest approach is to simply drink it. The suggested amount of MCT oil a person should consume daily is 1-2 tablespoons. It does initially cause stomach issues for some people, though, so it’s best to start slowly with a teaspoon on a full stomach and increase gradually. More than four tablespoons a day may cause side effects like stomach pain, gas and cramps, diarrhea and vomiting.

MCT oil can also be added to food or beverages. It’s commonly added to keto smoothies, mixed into salad dressings or sauces, or used to make keto-friendly low-carb, high-fat snacks known as “fat bombs.” However, it’s a bad idea to substitute it for your usual cooking oil, because MCT oil has a low smoke point.

And then, there’s the most popular way to use MCT oil.

When you start reading about the keto diet, one of the first terms you’re likely to run across is “Bulletproof Coffee.” Also known as keto coffee or butter coffee, it’s a way to make black coffee taste better and richer – and support a ketogenic lifestyle at the same time.

Let’s start with the name Bulletproof Coffee. It’s commonly used whenever keto coffee is discussed, but it’s actually a trademarked name for the recipe.

A tech guy named Dave Asprey says he came up with the idea to combine black coffee, MCT oil and healthy fat while he was hiking in Tibet. He formed a company to sell products associated with his Bulletproof coffee recipe in 2013, and it became a sensation. He now sells cookbooks, ground coffee and coffee beans, coffee ingredients, supplements like collagen powder, and several versions of MCT oil including the one called Brain Octane.

Bulletproof coffee is undoubtedly popular. But what’s the reasoning behind butter coffee?

One of the goals is to get MCT oil into keto diets, of course, both for the ketones and the additional health benefits – and coffee is an ideal transport mechanism. However, the other ingredient mixed into keto coffee is just as important: either unsalted grass-fed butter, or grass-fed ghee.

Why grass-fed dairy? It contains more omega-3 fatty acids, and more vitamins A and K, than dairy products from cows that have been fed conventionally. And what is ghee, anyway? It’s a form of strong, clarified butter that has had the milk solids removed, so it has less lactose than regular butter.

One more question: MCT oil makes sense, but why would you put butter or ghee into coffee as well? The primary motivation is to add fat. Keto isn’t just a low-carb diet; the carbs are replaced by fats. That means it’s crucial to consume lots of high-quality fat when you’re on a ketogenic eating plan. Putting butter or ghee into coffee is an easy way to do just that, since they each contain around 12 grams of fat.

The beverage is also very filling, which is why many on keto simply have a cup of coffee – bulletproof coffee – for breakfast each morning. We’ll have more to say about that shortly.

There’s one more thing to keep in mind when making keto coffee. Coffee is basically flavored water, and as you might recall from high school science, water and oil don’t mix. That means that a proper cup of butter coffee has to go into the blender. Blending the ingredients will “force” them to combine into a drinkable cup of coffee, and it will create a final product that looks something like a latte.

Having said all of that, there’s no reason you can’t simply add MCT oil to coffee, without worrying about butter (or ghee) and blenders. Many people do just that, since it still lets them enjoy the benefits of MCTs. And as we’ll explain next, there are very good arguments for skipping the butter.

We’ll skip the clichés about getting too much of a good thing, and simply say that drinking too much bulletproof coffee can be bad for you.

You already know that butter adds lots of fat to keto coffee. So does MCT oil. In fact, a cup of butter coffee contains at least 20 grams of saturated fat, and as many as 50 grams if you use the Bulletproof recipe calling for two tablespoons of butter and two tablespoons of MCT oil. To put that in perspective, USDA Dietary Guidelines recommend no more than 22 grams of fat per day for most adults.

Then, there are calories. Asprey’s recipe, if followed religiously, creates a cup of coffee that contains nearly 500 calories. (By contrast, black coffee by itself has zero calories.) That’s between one-fifth and one-quarter of the amount of daily calories recommended by the government.

Those numbers wouldn’t be horrendous, if a dieter had just one cup of keto coffee in the morning and was careful for the rest of the day. Many people, however, grow accustomed to the taste, and substitute butter coffee for the 3, 4 or more cups of regular coffee they’d normally have each day. That much fat and calories simply isn’t healthy, even though keto guidelines encourage lots of fat consumption. It will also sabotage attempts to lose weight on the keto diet.

There’s a second problem lurking as well. We mentioned that many give into the temptation to substitute bulletproof coffee for a regular cup of morning coffee – and skip breakfast, since the coffee is so filling. However, the keto diet is based on carbs, fat, and good nutrition, and the nutrients in a healthy breakfast are essential to good health and effective weight loss. Keto coffee shouldn’t be “breakfast” by itself.

Finally, there’s some evidence (not conclusive just yet, though) that the high levels of saturated fat in keto coffee can result in increased cholesterol levels.

That makes it easier to understand why just adding MCT oil to black coffee can be a smarter approach than filling up on butter coffee.

Simply adding MCT oil to coffee won’t create the same rich taste, though. Can you do anything about that?

Absolutely.

About 35% of American coffee drinkers take their coffee black. The rest of us drink coffee with added sugar or sweeteners, milk or creamers, or both.

Most of those add-ins don’t fit the guidelines for keto or other low-carb diets like paleo, though. Sugar is definitely out, as are the many artificial sweeteners that contain high amounts of carbohydrates. Thankfully, there are good keto alternatives. Natural, non-nutritive sweeteners like monk fruit extract or stevia, or low-carb sugar alcohols like erythritol, can make coffee with MCT oil seem more like the real thing.

What about cream? You probably know that milk is a no-go on keto, because its lactose is really nothing more than “milk sugar.” Fat-laden heavy cream is fine and often encouraged on keto, but it does contain carbs that can add up quickly if you’re one of the people who “survives” on coffee each day.

Most commercial creamers aren’t good choices either, since they contain lots of net carbs. The much better choices are sugar-free, gluten-free non-dairy milk substitutes like almond milk or coconut milk. Just as good: more and more companies are now selling keto coffee creamers which are designed to be low-carb. Some even contain MCT oil as a time- and money-saving bonus; one to check out is SuperCreamer from Super Coffee, which contains both MCT oil and grass-fed butter.

Many people also mix health supplement powders into their hot coffee-and-MCT oil as part of their morning routine; protein powders and the collagen powder we’ve already mentioned are two popular choices. Some also make a DIY keto-friendly latte, by using a milk frother to create delicious almond milk foam to top their coffee.

There are many keto coffee recipes floating around online. Here’s the granddaddy of them all, the original Bulletproof Coffee recipe. Total time for preparation is less than five minutes.

1. Brew a cup (8-12 ounces) of coffee. Using fresh coffee beans is best.
2. Add the coffee, 1 tsp. to 2 tbsp. of MCT oil, and 1-2 tbsp. of grass-fed butter (or 1-2 tsp. of grass-fed ghee) to a blender.
3. Blend for 20-30 seconds until the coffee is fully mixed and thick.
4. Enjoy!