The who, what, and why of MCT oil

The who, what, and why of MCT oil

Published on October 02, 2018

MCT Oil

MCT is an abbreviation that refers to medium chain fatty acids or medium chain triglycerides. MCTs are fat sources that are broken down by the liver to form ketones, which are forms of energy created instantly and that generate strong thermogenic effect.

The term medium means that these fats have 6-10 carbon atoms, which make MCTs rapidly digestible without the help of enzymes. Consequently, MCT oil has a high solubility in biological fluids such as blood and water. These saturated fatty acids appear in four different forms that include Lauric acid (C12), capric acid (C10), caprylic (C8) and caproic (C6).

The MCT oil appears as an odorless and colorless liquid due to the bleaching and deodorizing processes that it goes through during extraction. It also stays in liquid form at room temperature, thus allowing it to be addable to coffee, food and smoothies for brain-boosting and energy benefits.

Where Does MCT Oil Come From?

The MCT oil comes from pure MCTs that specialists extract from whole foods. Despite being a man-made blend, the fats included in the oil are natural. The blend is a combination of the best MCTs, which are capric and caprylic acids found in palm kernel or coconut oil.

The MCT oil does not necessarily have to be a blend of these both; it can be 100% of either as well. However, when they blend 50 to 80% is C8, while 20 to 50% is C10. Caprylic acid is the majority since is seems to be more efficient that capric acid.

Differences Between MCT Oil (C8 And Regular MCT)

The regular MCT is a combination of the caprylic, lauric and caprikc acids. However, the C8 does not have any mixture of other acids. Since the regular MCT chain is longer, the processing of the oil could take longer than C8, which is way shorter. Therefore, C8 converts into ketones faster than regular MCT and also produces more energy.  

Consumption Of MCT Oil

The consumers of the MCT oil rage from both healthy people and patients. In the healthy persons’ category, consumers include gym trainers, athletes and the body building community since they need the energy during their work out and training sessions.

Persons under the ketosis diet also like to consume it, as well as individuals trying to prevent health issues like diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. Since it boosts the brain functioning, MCT oil is also good for students.

Under the patients’ category, consumers include diabetic and heart disease patients, and persons suffering from malnutrition, fatty-acid metabolism disorders and malabsorption. Due to its recognition in the medical community, MCT oil is also appropriate for premature babies and children suffering from epilepsy.

As a starter, consumption of MCT oil should begin with small amounts such as one teaspoon a day. As time goes by, your body will become accustomed to these MCTs and therefore, you can increase your intake. As soon as the metabolism process starts and proceeds in your body, a tablespoon a day is appropriate for you.

Benefits Of The MCT Oil    

1. Maintenance Of Healthy Weight Loss

The MCT fats are healthy and help you stay fuller for longer. Therefore, you are less likely to overeat or consume too much food. It also helps in body weight loss by increasing the metabolic rates of your body functionality.

Due to its lower calories, as compared to LCTs, your weight loss remains moderate. As you continually consume MCT fats, your body weight, total body fat, hip and waist circumference, visceral and total subcutaneous fat decrease.

2. Improves Gut Health

Your gut is very important since it affects your ability to absorb minerals and vitamins and energy expenditure. Unfortunately, it may suffer from harmful bacteria such as Neisseria, streptococcus, and staphylococcus.

Fortunately, MCTs are able to kill such harmful bacteria since they are natural antibiotics. Moreover, they do so without interfering with the good bacteria. Therefore, MCT oil is beneficial since it keeps the gut environment healthy, thus boosts nutrients absorption.

3. Supports Cognitive Health

Quite a big percentage of your brain consists of fatty acids. The ketones produced by the MCT oil penetrate the blood-brain barrier to go fuel your central nervous system. Consequently, the oil supports brain health.

According to various studies, MCTs are effective in repairing parts of the brain. For example, people suffering from memory impairment seem to improve their memory after consuming MCTs.

4. Treatment Of Cardiovascular Diseases And Diabetes

High blood triglyceride levels lead to cardiovascular diseases. The MCT oil is capable of keeping these levels stable or decrease them where they are high. Therefore, it prevents heart disease and helps in heart disease management in hypertriglyceridemic patients.

It also saves overweight women from acquiring heart diseases, while improving the overall lipid profiles among the overweight men. Additionally, the MCT oil improves insulin sensitivity. Therefore, it helps prevent diabetes in non-diabetic people and improves the management of the disease in diabetic patients.

5. Supports Exercising

MCTs have unique characteristics that make them support you as you exercise. They are absorbed into the body rapidly, contain high energy density and convert in sustainable and clean energy very fast. Therefore, MCT oil enables athletes to extend their duration of exercising at high intensity.

Additionally, it reduces the levels of blood lactate in recreational athletes during the moderate intensity exercises. Consequently, both elite and recreational athletes include MCTs in their diets.

MCT Side Effects

MCT oil does not have many side effects. However, you should be cautious if you have a sensitive stomach. Additionally, starters may experience diarrhea. To control this side effect, ensure that you begin consuming MCT oils in small amounts.

 

In conclusion, MCT oil is a component that can be included in anybody’s diet, whether sick or healthy, since it keeps the healthy from acquiring diseases and helps the sick to manage their sicknesses better. It is worth including in your diet because it hardly has any side effects. The one, diarrhea, is manageable by taking small amounts as you begin.

There is nothing to stop you from including MCT oil in your diet since it will benefit you all the way.