I didn't read this because I wanted to loose weight. Rather, I love reading about food/nutrition, I had heard of Asprey and Bulletproof Coffee, and I had started doing it in the morning and really enjoying it for a week or so. So, I decided to officially read the book. I think it is unfortunate to call this a 'diet' book. It is more a revolutionary nutrition book, with some practicalities about what to do.
As a background, Asprey was a Silicon Valley multimillionaire who was way overweight. He tried many diets and then decided he wanted to 'biohack' his body and see what really works best. He says he spend over $300,000 biohacking and trying new things, and landed on what he calls this Bulletproof Diet (which is famous for the coffee morning drink). He lost hundreds of pounds on it. His whole goal is to produce something that makes people feel less brain fog, have more energy, and also be as health as possible. He claims that many of us simply don't know what it is like to have the energy we were meant to have, because of all we eat in the SAD (standard American diet). He thinks about 80-90% of how we feel is due to what we put in (the other 10-20% is exercise and sleep, but mainly sleep actually; exercise last). I love this idea for sure.
But that being said, so much could be said about this book. For the most part, I loved it. It really was intriguing, and I think he is right about much of what he writes. However, the only reason I give it 4 stars is that it became very impractical in a lot of ways toward the end. That being said, there is a handful of beneficial ideas I received from it that I'll always remember.
First, he is the first person to really introduce me to the idea that fats aren't bad in a diet. In fact, they are the best thing we can eat. He even pushes good (emphasis on the good, not just any) saturated fats. Especially grass-fed butter and MCT oil (refined coconut oil). He backs this up with a lot of evidence, and shows that the connection between saturated fats and high cholesterol/hearth disease isn't well founded at all. Rather, it is carbs. And then I went to Barnes and Noble and saw that many, many other modern nutrition books are saying the exact same thing. In fact, I'd say that is the way most think now. Asprey aims for 60-80% of his diet being good fats--even and mainly saturated fats.
Second, his Bulletproof Coffee is truly great. I love it. It is coffee, 1 tbs of grass-fed butter (or ghee, if one is lactose intolerant), and 1 tbs of MCT oil. Then blended until frothy. It is amazing how it consistently makes me energetic and truly not hungry for exactly 5 hours. People online rave about it being 400 calories, but that is only if you do 2 tbs each. I do 1, which he recommends in the book at some point, and it is around 230. (But, calories aren't as important anyways, which he gets too).
Third, as written above, calories aren't the be all and end all of nutrition. In fact, he shows that they really aren't anywhere near the top. He shows that certain oils--like canola, vegetable--and certain carbs--flour and especially sugar--are so much worse for you in many ways than other foods. Calories really don't matter here. Moreover, it isn't true that 3500 calories is equal to a pound. He shows how we all know this isn't true, and it isn't really supported. And again, it is because calories aren't just calories. Food, nutrition, weight gain/loss, and how our bodies receive food is way more complicated. I loved this aspect because I was always skeptical about the 3500 calorie idea. In an interview is Asprey, I heard him talk about how we know that 1 gram of Fish Oil a day can cause so much benefit. And so this proves how it isn't just calories, but nutirition, correct fats, etc. So if one gram of fish oil can be so good, what does 1 gram (or 300 grams!) of vegetable oil do to our bodies? He says it is hugely detrimental.
Fourth, his bringing it all back to inflammation is something I have heard before and is convincing. On this, his writing on gluten is sadly convincing. I don't intend to become gluten free, but the studies seem to show that gluten (mainly, today's gluten) simply doesn't react well with our bodies.
Fifth, his denouncing of carbs isn't anything new, but it makes sense.
Sixth, his introducing of MCT oil and grass-fed butter is really helpful. It is famous in his coffee, but he recommends eating these things throughout the day. Again, he is unashamed to talk about a high, high fat diet.
Seventh, his logic about cholesterol is intriguing. I heard more about this in an interview between him and a Dr. Moore on his Bulletproof Podcast (which surprisingly was the number 1 health and nutrition podcast in the nation for a while). Basically, they both were arguing that much of our science about cholesterol might be wrong. That high total cholesterol isn't the issue, but rather the amount of LDL in ratio to HDL and especially the amount of triglycerides. I have much to look into here, but once again, if you look this up, it seems many, many nutritionists are agreeing. Both Asprey and Moore had cholesterol over 300, and have very healthy arteries. They think much of it is due to the huge phrama market for cholesterol medicine. Again, I'm not entirely convinced, but it is interesting. They did show that countries with much lower heart attack rate have cholesterol on average of 250, and close to 300 when they get older. Interesting info.
Eighth, I think him talking about eating foods at the right time was interesting. He had a whole chapter about this. He shows that we definitely should have fat in the morning (hence, his coffee) and no carbs, and that the small amount of carbs we eat should be at the evening (as they help one sleep). He says we have this backward, which we might.
Ninth, what he really focuses on throughout the book is mold. Mold on food which leads to us feeling fog and not feeling so good. I think he is on to something here, but it gets extreme.
Which leads to some things I didn't love. I loved the emphasis on fat, less carbs, eating at the right times, etc. But then when he discusses different foods, it is depressing! Now, he is just being honest, and he is a biohacker and he has tested like every food to see what it does to us, its mold and toxin content, etc. But he puts so many foods in a category of not-eat (aka. Kryptonite) that it is almost impossible to follow the diet. And his recipes towards the end are pretty weak.
That all being said, I love the Bulletproof Coffee, and I love a lot of the ideas he introduced. I intend to read more books about some of the ideas he introduces--such as inflammation, fats, and cholesterol-- from other nutritionists to keep digging.
I would wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone. It changed my view on a lot of things, or at least got me thinking.