This guest post is written by Zach Parkes. Zach is a Keto dieter and coffee enthusiast. You can check out his coffee website, Try New Coffee, where he discusses a variety of coffee related topics.
Beginning and maintaining the Ketogenic diet is by no means an easy task. It helps to find little
tips and tricks to help you along your way. My secret? You guessed it, coffee! If you’re not acoffee drinker or are skeptical about upping your coffee intake, I’d refer you to all of the health benefits that coffee has to offer! If you’re interested in how to consume coffee strategically, check out these 5 ways coffee can
be used to help you with your Keto diet!
1. Metabolism
The primary objective of the Keto diet is to burn fat as an energy source instead of
carbohydrates. The caffeine in coffee helps to stimulate this process! By consuming coffee, you
can help your body make the transition to fat burning before your carb stores are depleted.
The quicker you can get yourself into ketosis, the quicker you can adjust to your new diet and
everything that goes with it!
2. Appetite Suppression
When you first start the Keto diet, you may find yourself to be quite hungry. This is especially
true if your previous diet included a high amount of carbs. Coffee is a great way to suppress
your hunger.
Starting the Keto diet is NOT easy. Coffee may not be enough! If you’re struggling with the
beginning phase, check out this 7 step method to successfully starting a Keto diet.
Using coffee to suppress your appetite can help not only by reducing your intake of carbs, but also by narrowing the window in which you eat. This brings us to our next use for coffee!
3. Intermittent Fasting
If you’re on the Keto diet, chances are that you’ve heard about intermittent fasting. The Keto diet
and intermittent fasting often go hand in hand. If you’re unsure about intermittent fasting and the benefits it can offer, you can check out Dr. Rob Raponi’s article on the subject.
Coffee is hands down, the most useful tool for intermittent fasting that I’ve come across. You
can drink as much coffee as you want while fasting, as long as don’t add any sugar or dairy! Not a fan of black coffee? Check out these naturally sweet coffees!
When I get up in the morning, the first thing I do is put on a pot of coffee. It is quite common to skip breakfast while fasting intermittently. Having coffee instead of breakfast is a great option, as it can help you avoid eating until your designated window.
4. Building a Routine
Building a routine is key in maintaining a Ketogenic diet and helps a lot with intermittent fasting too. Everyone has their own daily rituals that provide structure to their daily lives. As a coffee lover, I use coffee to anchor my daily schedule. Keeping your routine constant makes it a lot easier to stick to your diet.
I’ve managed to get myself in the routine putting on a pot of coffee and then preparing my low-carb meals. It’s become automatic now! Coffee brewing? Meal prep time! You’d be surprised at how much an established routine can help you stick to your diet. Give it a try with coffee or something else that you enjoy doing daily!
5. Bulletproof Coffee & MCTs
You may or may not have heard of Bulletproof Coffee. The official Bulletproof Coffee recipe
uses very specific ingredients and brands. Basically, Bulletproof Coffee is a cup of coffee with added medium-chain triglycerides and grass-fed butter.
This is, however, just one option. The underlying idea is to make your coffee into a tasty treat
with the help of healthy fats! If you’d prefer, you can simply add some coconut oil to your coffee to give it that buttery taste and texture.
If you’re going to be using coffee as a tool to stick to your Keto diet, it helps to have a bit of
variety! Coffee with added healthy fats makes for a great change of pace, and is an ideal way to reach your daily healthy fats quota!
It is important to note that you should NOT be adding any fat to your coffee while you are
fasting. While these fats are healthy and an essential part of your diet, they are high in calories and defeat the purpose of fasting! Save this for an afternoon treat!
Conclusion
And there you have it! Coffee can do more for you than just keeping you energized in the morning. Coffee can be used as a key tool to help start and maintain the Keto diet. Whether you’re a coffee lover or just a cup-per-morning type of person, it’s well worth investigating what coffee can do for you in the context of your Keto diet!
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