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Morning Upgraded Coffee

Teemu Arina is the co-author of the Biohacker's Handbook, curator of Biohacker Summit, and chief biohacker of Biohacker Center. He has over a decade of experience in professional biohacking, including some creative recipes for your favorite morning beverages.

"I rarely have breakfast and make this upgraded coffee instead to support my cyclical intermittent fasting practice. Personally I run best on ketones, so that's why I don't mix my coffee with carbohydrates. I have experimented with various creative recipes for over a decade and I hope you will learn something from my suggestions on how to upgrade your morning beverage, including the exotic incorporation of collagen peptides, organ supplements, functional mushrooms, and bone broth." – Teemu Arina

Overview

In this challenge, you will create an upgraded coffee blend with nutritionally dense and functional additives to support energy metabolism and cognitive performance.

It will be prepared and consumed in the morning earliest 30 minutes after waking up in a slow manner. The reason is that then you give enough time for the liver to start functioning, you time it with the reduction of the body's natural cortisol levels, avoid acid reflux, and flow with the natural production of your digestive enzymes.

The objective is to extend the ketogenic state after a good night's sleep, improve insulin sensitivity, deliver nutrients to your body, and boost cognitive performance.

The challenge is based on high-quality quality coffee, MCT oil, and grass-fed butter with optional incorporations of collagen, bone broth, spices, adaptogens, organ supplements, and functional mushrooms.

It is not recommended to consume any sources of carbohydrates with this drink within 3 hours through any other meal. Otherwise, the saturated fats may be stored as fat instead of being readily consumed by the body.

Foundations

  1. MCT Oil & Butter: The base of our concoction starts with MCT oil and butter. The Medium-chain triglycerides (MCT) are rapidly converted into energy, boosting metabolism and mental clarity. Butter is a source of short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) specifically butyric acid supporting intestinal barrier function and sustained release of energy. Butter has a bit of lactose, see ghee if you aim for zero milk sugars.
  2. High-Quality Coffee: Choose a high-quality, organic coffee, rich in antioxidants and devoid of mycotoxins, to serve as the liquid medium for our potent mix. For the best choice choose high-altitude, water-washed, single-origin, volcanic soil, certified organic, and light or medium roast. Dark roast is not recommended due to potential carcinogens including acrylamide, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and heterocyclic amines (HCAs). Use whole beans that you grind just before consumption and make sure the roasting date is fairly recent to avoid degradation due to oxidation.

Other Recommendations of Fats

  1. Extra-Virgin Coconut Oil: Consistency is better than pure MCT oil if no butter is used.
  2. Ghee (Clarified Butter): Fully lactose-free. Can have a greasy consistency, so added protein from collagen will be a good addition.
  3. Cacao Butter: Contains flavonoids to reduce oxidative stress. As a source of saturated fats (palmitic acid & stearic acid) also contains about 3% omega-6 oils, so if you aim to avoid omega-6 in favor of omega-3. Contains oleic acid (monounsaturated fatty acid) also found in olive oil.
  4. Bone Marrow Fat: Rich in essential fatty acids, vitamins, and minerals. Has some collagen as well.

Suggested Additives

You are welcome to experiment with your upgraded coffee by adding other beneficial ingredients:

  1. Collagen: An integral component for skin, hair, and joint health. Adding hydrolyzed collagen peptides can offer anti-aging benefits and promote gut health. Collagen is also rich in the amino acid glycine which has beneficial effects on metabolic health. Grass-fed organic hydrolyzed collagen peptides are the best source.
  2. Adaptogens: Incorporate herbs like ashwagandha or maca root, which are renowned for balancing hormones and reducing stress levels.
  3. Organ Supplements: Great source of valuable minerals such as iron, zinc, and selenium as well as B-vitamins like B12 for overall vitality.
  4. Bone Broth: Additional source of glycine and key minerals.
  5. Functional Mushrooms: A sprinkle of Lion's Mane could enhance neurogenesis, and Chaga or Reishi can boost the immune system and reduce inflammation.
  6. L-theanine: Ingredient in green tea that stabilizes the over-stimulating effect of caffeine.
  7. Spices: A dash of cinnamon can regulate blood sugar levels, and a pinch of cayenne or ginger can ramp up metabolism as a thermogenic vasodilator. Turmeric can help reduce inflammation. Try also licorice, thyme, and rosemary.
  8. Raw chocolate: Powder or bar (make sure it's 90-100% raw chocolate) for added polyphenols, anandamide, and theobromine.
  9. Other suggested ingredients: Fulvic & humic acid, turmeric, berry powders such as sea buckthorn, and bee pollen. Try also emptying your encapsulated supplements into your morning beverage and see what happens :)

Things to Avoid

Be careful with products that will spike your blood sugar and therefore negate the whole idea of the challenge:

  1. Cow Milk or Cream: Milk is insulinergic due to the presence of milk sugars including lactose, that will spike your blood sugar.
  2. Oat Milk: Although promoted as a health product due to the presence of beta-glucans, oat milk will spike your blood sugar as effectively as table sugar. Use functional mushrooms for beta-glucans.
  3. Other barista milks: the barista-branded products including rice, soya, and coconut often contain added carbohydrates and give you no added health benefits.

The Upgraded Coffee Recipe

  1. Brew a cup of high-quality, organic coffee.
  2. Add 1 tablespoon of MCT oil
  3. Add 1 tablespoon of grass-fed butter.
  4. Integrate 1 scoop of hydrolyzed collagen peptides.
  5. Optional: Incorporate 1-2 tsp of adaptogens, functional mushrooms, or other supplements.
  6. Enrich with spices and other supplements - for example, a dash of cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, cayenne, and l-theanine.
  7. Blending: Once all ingredients are in the cup, use a high-powered blender to ensure that all elements are homogenized into a creamy, frothy beverage full of micelles to aid digestion and absorption.
  8. Consumption: Drink this concoction preferably 30 minutes after waking up in small sips throughout the morning.  Microdosing the coffee will help with gradual absorption, lowering the acid reflux, and delivering more stable effects.

Conclusion

The Biohacker's Upgraded Coffee Challenge is a fascinating endeavor to blend science and gastronomy with one of the most used (and abused) substances on the planet. Coffee is in fact one of the highest sources of antioxidants in the Western diet. It has been demonized as unhealthy, but in the Upgraded Coffee challenge we challenge that assumption by taking out all the things that make coffee bad and adding in all the things that will deliver its full synergistic power.

Coffee when prepared properly can support blood sugar regulation and nervous system function.

We can't wait to see your beverages, so get creative and share your discoveries.