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How to Upgrade Your Morning Coffee
These 5 simple additions to your morning coffee could benefit your health.

I like my coffee black, plain and simple. Don’t get me wrong, I like all coffee and espresso, including milk-based drinks like lattes and cappuccinos, but my morning go-to is a black cup of brewed coffee. For the longest time, I was an overall supplement skeptic. I was confident in my balanced diet and didn’t think that I was missing anything nutritionally. In the fall of 2019, this changed.
It began with my gastroenterologist pointing out that I probably wasn’t getting enough fibre. As I started my fibre-related research, I learned that many people, whether they had a balanced diet or not, are deficient in nutrients. I also quickly concluded that fibre alone might not improve my gut health. I learned that even the type of fibre matter.
The more complicated my supplementing and healthy eating became, the less I wanted to do it. I started looking for shortcuts, and the best shortcut I found was adding ingredients to my coffee. It may not be a plain and simple morning pick-me-up anymore, but it’s better than cleaning a blender multiple times a day.
First, I highly recommend getting a handheld frother. The easiest way to mix any powder into your coffee is by putting the powder into your mug with enough coffee to cover the powder and then using a handheld frother to blend it. This method also avoids the hot liquids in blenders accidents you may remember from when bulletproof coffee first became trendy. And it won’t make your drink cold like other mixing methods. I have better luck blending powders into hot liquids, but if you want a cold beverage, just use enough hot water to blend.
Collagen
When I first started taking collagen, I did it inconsistently. I never went beyond reading the container's directions, which advised to just mix one scoop of the powder into your favourite beverage. It was easy enough, and I often blended it into smoothies or stirred it into oats.
Then I saw a segment on my mom’s favourite talk show and had an “oh” moment. The nutritionist on the show drank the collagen before her workout and took it with a high amount of vitamin C. I had always been taking it after…