3 Types of Coffee Drinker…Or 4?

#1 “Purist” – This drinker likes it strong. Pure and strong. No messing around, just serve it straight up as it comes and keep it coming…Will always go for a double shot and is annoyed when a double doesn’t come as standard.

Some like it short (Espresso style) and some like it long (Americano). However you have it, black is best.

#2 “Classic” – Likes the classics and originals of everything. This non-experimental drinker likes their coffee a little lighter, with a splash of milk for added flavour and, well, just because there is milk in the fridge so it should be used, right?

The modern classic version of this drinker switches regular milk to almond, soy or rice milk. Very East London…

#3 “Sweet Tooth” – The sweet tooth likes to live on the edge, secretly adding a couple of spoons of sugar to their brew. No one even knows and that’s just how they like it. And when they’re finished they can’t wait for that next coffee flavoured sugar high waiting just inside the kitchen.

Which type of drinker are you? None, you might say. Especially if you are a bit more health conscious and have read all the hype around coconut oil over the past few years. You might be the new kind of coffee drinker…

Type #4: “The Coconut King”

The Coconut King likes to add coconut oil to everything. I know because I am a coconut king in training but not dedicated enough that I bath in the stuff (yet) so I can’t proclaim myself to be worthy of the crown.

The observant among you might say: “But wait, isn’t the calorie count higher for the black coffee with coconut oil in it?”

And I would say “Yes, you are right”.

The dialogue would continue but I don’t want to write all those quotation marks so just imagine it happening or make up your own conversation.

Whatever works for you. Which leads me nicely into the next point which is…

A Calorie is Not a Calorie

Imagine that you needed to eat 2,500 calories a day to get enough energy to support your bodily functions and remain the weight you are.

You have an infinite number of ways to get those calories, but let’s take two examples:

1. All your calories come from sugar
2. Your calories come from a range of meat, fruit, vegetables, nuts, etc

Which one do you think is better? Each person is getting their daily intake of calories met but in very different ways.

I won’t go into the details here because it would take a long time and I’m not a nutritionist or a scientist.

But what I do know is that some foods will affect your body in different ways. So, I’m going to trust the numerous scientists and nutritionists out there who say:

“Although coconut oil contains a lot of saturated fat and has a lot of calories, the effect it has on the body far outweighs the calorific content of it and even helps promote fat burning.”

Back to the coconut oil story

There are many great reasons why you should use coconut oil which you can read about in an article from Authority Nutrition (great website and their posts are always really helpful). In short they say that:

1. Coconut oil increases your metabolism just by eating it
2. It is thermogenic meaning that your body burns calories just processing it
3. It helps to reduce appetite

There are many other health benefits to using coconut oil, too, which you can easily find if you Google search it. It’s safe to say that I am sold on its benefits.

I read a great article recently about how to use coconut oil for weight loss and I would highly recommend checking that out if you are interested.

When and how to use coconut oil

As I’ve said before, you can have too much of a good thing so don’t go eating bowlfuls of the stuff because it does still contain a decent amount of calories. Here are two ways I use it and find it very effective:

1. Cooking – switch all your cooking to use coconut oil instead of other oils. The benefits are that you get a little of the good stuff but also coconut oil has a higher smoke point which means that it won’t break down as easily. When oils break down at their smoke point they can release carcinogenic toxins which are not good for you.
2. Coffee – Replace your milk and sugar with coconut oil. It will make the black coffee taste sweeter and is much better for you. It might even help to boost brain function and concentration. Bonus.

“Use 1 teaspoon for each cup of coffee you have and 1-3 teaspoons when you cook, depending on how large of a meal you are making.”

Is Coffee Good for you?

There actually seems to be a lot of evidence being collected to show that coffee is good for you.

According to CoffeeUrban it helps prevent diabetes, reduces the risk of cancer and helps brain function.

In addition, Health Line have a great article which presents 13 scientific reasons why coffee is good for you. As with everything ‘good’ you can always have too much of a good thing so drinking 10 cups a day is probably too much.

It’s also important to note that coffee usually contains high levels of caffeine. Although not all coffee will contain the same levels. Coffee beans grown at higher altitudes have less caffeine.

The reason for this is because the plants produce caffeine as a way to deter bugs and insects from eating them. The higher up you go, the fewer bugs there are so they don’t need to produce as much caffeine. Clever, eh?

Also, depending how you make your coffee will determine how much or how little caffeine you have in it. Shop bought from a proper machine has a lot more than an instant coffee, for example.

My recommendation would be to try things out and see what works for you. But anything over 3 cups a day of double shot coffees is probably too much.

OK, then is Coffee Bad for you?

You can find evidence both for and against coffee. Even if coffee is good for you, you can always have too much of a good thing. I always like to say that extremes are bad. Extreme levels of coffee is no exception to that rule.

Here are some of the negatives associated with coffee:

• It may cause anxiety and unease in some people, especially those who have pre-existing anxiety issues
• You may have feelings of depression after drinking too much of it
• Women who are trying for a baby might be advised to stop caffeine intake
• Too much coffee before bed may disrupt your sleep

With all this being said, however, there are numerous studies that report on the many positive benefits of drinking a cup of the black stuff. I say black stuff because adding milk and sugar to your coffee is definitely bad in my opinion, as written about above.

Why Remove Milk and Sugar?

Looking at the table above you can see that a black coffee contains only 2 calories and a white with 2 sugars contains 46. Let’s say that you have 5 cups a day. If you switched to just having black coffee you’d be reducing your calorie intake by 220 calories a day!

220 calories a day = 2 weeks to lose 1lb of fat

You don’t even have to change anything else in your diet, just removing sugar and milk from your coffee. Adding coconut oil does take the calorie content back up again but as I pointed out before there are other factors at play here so your body will thank you for it and it’s way better than using sugar and milk.

Which coconut oil to buy

I always like to go organic, raw and cold pressed wherever possible. You can find some good deals online on Amazon. I personally buy this one at the moment. Another one that gets a lot of attention is Lucy Bee. The very well known Body Coach uses Lucy Bee.

So, that’s the end of that post for now. Go ahead and start making this small change to your diet and see the results. Small changes combined make a big difference over time. This is a small change you can start making today.

With all the extra energy…

If you’ve made the switch to coconut oil and want to burn off some of that extra energy you have, here is a great home workout you can do in just 15 minutes (It’s actually only 8 mins working out). Winner!