Hey hey!  I hope you’ve been enjoying the Madcap Diet for Narcolepsy Diet Basics series.  As the first step in the Madcap Diet for Narcolepsy, I recommended MCT oil in the post MCT Oil: The PWN’s High Octane Fuel Source.  Directly following that, I posted a quick guide on how to get started using MCT oils in your daily routine.  Today, I’d like to share with you a way to get the MAX benefit from MCT oil.  I mean, it’s already great stuff but why not get more out of it if you can, right?!

If you will recall in the Orexin post in the Science-y Series, when we wake up in the morning we wake in a fasted state since it’s been many hours since we last ate.   Breakfast = break your fast… get it?  Since you’ve not eaten through the night your blood glucose levels are low.  Now remember that orexin is glucose sensitive (see the Carbs post in the Science-y Series) and will turn OFF when we eat so we then get sleepy.  If we don’t eat breakfast we can extend the fasted state, keep blood glucose levels low, keep orexin ON, and be more wakeful.  That’s all great in theory.  Well I don’t know about you but I get hungry a little while after I wake up and I get downright HANGRY if I don’t eat before lunch.  We want to extend that fasted state, without the HANGRY feeling, as long as we can so…

Enter the wondrous Bulletproof Coffee/Tea aka BPC (named Bulletproof for the creator).  The original Bulletproof recipe contains grass fed butter, 100% C8 MCT oil, and a cup of coffee all blended together.  Other adaptations have been to do this with tea and can be either caffeinated or caffeine free.  There is a reason behind each component:

• Grass fed butter is less inflamatory than regular butter and because it is a fat it will help you feel full even if you haven’t eaten (thereby making this extended fast much easier).
• 100% C8 MCT oil is a version of highly refined coconut oil that turns directly to ketones.  Remember that it is the wondrous ketone that in a ketogenic diet helps give us energy, greater wakefulness, less brain fog, AND mimics some of what our medications do for us.  But we aren’t changing our diet yet so we are cheating by ingesting MCT that turns directly into ketones.
• Ketones also suppress hunger so pair MCT oil with the satisfying butter and you won’t be HANGRY come lunch time.
• There are ZERO carbs in this concoction meaning there won’t be a spike in glucose and we can keep orexin ON longer.
• An added benefit to taking in the MCT oil on an empty stomach is that the body doesn’t have to separate out the ketones from the MCT while it is also trying to digest a meal like it would if you just did a shot of it with breakfast, in a shake, or in a smoothie.
• NOTE:  You may add a sweetener but stick to sugar substitutes as they do NOT have any appreciable carbohydrates and thereby allow you to continue in the fasted state we are trying to extend.

Beginning to see why a Bulletproof Coffee/Tea is a great way to get these MCTs in and max out their benefit!  Awesome.  Here’s what other PWN have to say about their results:

JS says “MCT helps allow me to fast during the day and not feel like I’m starving or lacking energy. I have 1tbs in my BPC and I try to add another tablespoon during dinner.”

KG says “I use Bulletproof Brain Octane. I put 2 tbsp of MCT in my coffee in the morning and slowly sip on it throughout the day. I’ve noticed my mental clarity is better on the days I take it vs. when I forget.”

BC says “I think it’s important to note that it’s unlikely you’ll feel the same ‘jolt’ as you do with a stimulant. It’s more of an overall alertness in our brains. If you’re unsure if you notice anything, go without it and see. I notice a huge difference when I go without!”

RR says “I notice a change in the way my energy is consistent throughout the day with the MCT, rather than a burst of energy.”

Go.  Now.  Give it a try!  I can’t wait for you to have a more wakeful and clear headed morning like so many other PWN have. 

Your Madcap Miss (a.k.a. Gina Dennis)

Here are some tips on making this wondrous brew as a breakfast replacement:

• Try to stay in this fasted state as long as you can and don’t break your fast till lunch (remember that means NO breakfast or snacking!)
  
• Blend togehter 1T grass fed butter, 1T MCT oil, coffee or tea
• Blend well!
  • Blender
  • Nutribullet (open slowly so hot coffee/tea doesn’t splatter on you)
  • Electric whisk (this one is my favorite), be sure your cup is only 2/3 full when you use this.  You can top it off with coffee/tea once you’ve blended in the fats.
  • In a pinch, you can place all the ingredients in a jar, seal the lid tight, and vigorously shake (open slowly so the hot coffee/tea doesn’t splatter on you)

REMEMBER that quality counts when choosing an MCT oil.  Most of the MCT products on the market will be a blend of other parts of the coconut oil and though they are cheaper we as PWN need something stronger to break through the narco-fog and that means using a high quality MCT oil with 100% C8’s.  The approved versions are:

• Bulletproof Brain Octane
• Kiss My Keto MCT Oil Brain Fuel C8 version
• Clean MCT Oil
• Perfect KETO Pure C8 MCT Oil

AND remember to BUILD UP SLOWLY or suffer Disaster Pants!  Eeeeek!  Here is the build up schedule:

• 1 teaspoon total a day for 2 days
• 1 teaspoon twice a day for 2 days
• 2 teaspoons in the AM and 1 teaspoon in the PM for 2 days
• 2 teaspoons in the AM and 2 teaspoons in the PM for 2 days
• 3 teaspoons (equals 1 tablespoon) in the AM and 2 teaspoons in the PM for 2 days
• 3 teaspoons (equals 1 tablespoon) in the AM and 3 teaspoons (equals 1 tablespoon) in the PM for 2 days
• If you step up to the next level and get digestive upset, step back and do each step for a week instead of 2 days.
• Your goal is to have 2 tablespoons a day, preferably one in the morning and one in the afternoon.
• This step up process will take you approximately 2 weeks.
• Then give me an additional 2 weeks at the full dose.

ENJOY and feel free to share your results in the comments!

Your Madcap Miss (a.k.a. Gina Dennis)

BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE NEXT POST IN THIS SERIES:  The Heart of the Madcap Diet for Narcolepsy: The 3 R’s

Let me be totally up front here…I AM NOT A DOCTOR, nor am I a nutritionist, I only have a tiny amount of formal training in such things as a Health Coach.  But I am a person with narcolepsy who uses dietary and lifestyle changes to mitigate my narcolepsy symptoms.  I’ve been experimenting with these changes since July 2011 and have successfully maintained a high level of narcolepsy symptom management since that date.  And so has my family with narcolepsy.   This website contains our personal stories, failures, and experiments.  In this website I will share with you the information that I have found most credible and some practical ideas for mitigating narcolepsy symptoms.  I beg you to check with your doctor before initiating any of the dietary changes I speak of, especially if you are taking any medications.

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