What does MCT Oil do to your body?

What does MCT Oil do to your body?

MCT oil can do several things to your body including:

Weight Loss
Energy Boosts
Increase Performance
May help Epilepsy and Alzheimer’s Disease
Fights Yeast and Bacterial Growth
Reducing Heart Disease Factors
Control Blood Sugar Levels

In this short article, we explain more about how MCT oil does this to your body and how you can benefit. Also if you want to know the best MCT oil you can see our page linked here.

You can also read our review on Performance Lab MCT.

MCT Oil can do several things to your body that you can benefit from. It’s a great supplement to use if you’re looking to get more health benefits from your supplement stack.

Things that MCT Oil Does to Your Body

Below, we’ll look at the individual benefits listed above and explain why MCT oil does this to your body.

How does MCT oil do Weight Loss to your body?

There are several ways that MCT oil can help your body to lose weight.

The first way is that it can help promote a feeling of fullness across your body by increasing the release of the hormones peptide YY and leptin. [1]

There’s even research that shows that MCT oil may be more effective at keeping you full than Coconut Oil. In a study that looked at two groups of users – one taking coconut oil and one taking MCT oil, they found that the MCT oil group ate less food in the next meal than the coconut oil group. [2]

Some researchers report that MCT oil could even help fight weight problems like obesity by how effective it is on your body. [3]

Not only that, MCT oil is processed differently by your body which makes it burn more calories than it would do with other foods. [3]

Finally, MCT oil can help make a better ecosystem in your gut, which could lead to more effective weight loss. It may do this in your body by supporting the growth of good bacteria in your gut, which may help you lose weight. [4]

How does MCT Oil give your body an energy boost?

MCT oil can be use as fast and efficient brain fuel. This is because your body absorbs medium-chain triglycerides must faster than it does long-chain triglycerides (LCTs). [5]

This means that the MCT oil does not require a break down by your body with bile – it’s easy for it to transfer straight from your gut to the liver.

These fats can be immediately used by your liver as a source of energy, and can also be converted to ketones which can cross your blood-brain barrier and be a good source of energy to your brain and brain cells.

How does MCT oil improve your body’s Physical Performance?

MCT oil can help reduce your body’s lactate buildup when exercising. High levels of lactate can cause your body to feel sore, and it has a negative effect on your overall physical performance.

Studies have shown that cyclists taking 1.5 teaspoons (6 grams) of MCT oil with food may help lower levels of lactate buildup when exercising compared to those who use traditional Long-Chain Triglycerides. [6]

By reducing overall soreness when training you may be able to exercise for longer with higher quality athletic performance.

MCT Oil may help your body manage Alzheimer’s Disease and Epilepsy

Although this is not by any means an actual medicine to combat these conditions, MCT oil can offer some general health benefits which can help manage these conditions slightly better.

Note: We are not medical experts, if you have these conditions – we suggest you talk to your doctor first before using MCT oil to treat your condition, nothing is as effective as actual medicine and medical supervision.

MCT oil and Epilepsy

When in a fasted state or on a ketogenic diet, your body uses more ketones as a source of energy rather than glucose. In subjects with epilepsy using this energy source has been seen to result in less epileptic seizures. [7]

Many use MCT oils as an instant source of energy via being converted to ketones, typically when on a ketogenic diet. This may be an easier fuel source of epileptics following a ketogenic diet.

In another study (albeit a rat study) MCTs were seen to block receptors in the brain which caused seizures. Although this has not been seen in human studies – it’s still promising. [8]

MCT Oil and Alzheimer’s Disease

Again, this comes down to using MCT oil as a ketogenic fuel source. Alzheimer’s disease is a terrible condition that affects your brain’s ability to utilize sugar.

Using MCT oil as a ketogenic fuel source, you’re not making your body use sugar / glucose for energy. In doing so, MCT oil may make the subject’s brain perform better.

One study has seen 20 people with Alzheimer’s Disease APOE ɛ4-negative experience improved short-term cognition. [9]

Being on a ketogenic diet fueled by MCTs has even been seen to block a receptor in the brain that is responsible for memory loss. [10]

More research is needed – but hopefully MCT oil and ketogenic diets may be able to help those suffering with the condition in years to come.

How does MCT Oil Fight Yeast and Bacterial Growth?

The fatty acids in MCT oil have been seen to lessen the growth of yeast and bacteria in your body. Medium-chain triglycerides are thought to have some antimicrobial and antifungal effects.

For example, MCTs have been observed to suppress infectious fungus growth in hospitals up to 50%. [11]

Whereas the MCTs in coconut oil have been seen to fight the growth of the yeast Candida albicans which is what causes skin infections and thrush in your body. [12]

How does MCT oil help reduce heart disease in your body?

MCT oil potentially has the ability to decrease risks of heart disease risks in your body. By fighting conditions such as obesity, high cholesterol and inflammation – it can reduce the main factors which can contribute to heart disease.

We’ve already covered how MCT oil can help weight loss in your body, but did you also know that MCT oil can boost your levels of HDL (“good” cholesterol)? [13] Having better cholesterol can help fight the risks of heart disease.

In addition, MCT oils can even help reduce the C-reactive protein (CRP) which is an inflammatory marker which is closely linked to increasing the risk of heart disease. [14]

How does MCT oil control blood sugar levels?

MCT oil may help to control your blood sugar levels as well as helping diabetes sufferers by reducing fat storage and accelerating fat burning.

One study found 40 diabetics who took MCT oil a daily basis had big losses in body weight, waist size and insulin resistance – compared to another group who were taking corn oil which has Long-Chain Triglycerides. [15]

Whereas another study found that those who consumed MCTs over LCTs needed 30% less sugar to maintain normal blood sugar levels when injected with insulin. [16]

Summary: MCT Oil and Your Body – What does it all do?

As you can see, MCT oil has numerous positive effects on your body when used correctly, and can even help to some degree with a variety of differing conditions.

Whether it’s weight loss, brain fuel, athletic performance, or one of other issues that we’ve mentioned, supplementing Medium-Chain Triglycerides may give you the support you need to manage them more effectively.

References:

[1] St-Onge MP, Mayrsohn B, O’Keeffe M, Kissileff HR, Choudhury AR, Laferrère B. Impact of medium and long chain triglycerides consumption on appetite and food intake in overweight men. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2014;68(10):1134-1140. doi:10.1038/ejcn.2014.145

[2] Kinsella R, Maher T, Clegg ME. Coconut oil has less satiating properties than medium chain triglyceride oil. Physiol Behav. 2017;179:422-426. doi:10.1016/j.physbeh.2017.07.007

[3] St-Onge MP, Jones PJ. Greater rise in fat oxidation with medium-chain triglyceride consumption relative to long-chain triglyceride is associated with lower initial body weight and greater loss of subcutaneous adipose tissue. Int J Obes Relat Metab Disord. 2003;27(12):1565-1571. doi:10.1038/sj.ijo.0802467

[4] Rial SA, Karelis AD, Bergeron KF, Mounier C. Gut Microbiota and Metabolic Health: The Potential Beneficial Effects of a Medium Chain Triglyceride Diet in Obese Individuals. Nutrients. 2016;8(5):281. Published 2016 May 12. doi:10.3390/nu8050281

[5] Takeuchi H, Sekine S, Kojima K, Aoyama T. The application of medium-chain fatty acids: edible oil with a suppressing effect on body fat accumulation. Asia Pac J Clin Nutr. 2008;17 Suppl 1:320-323.

[6] Nosaka N, Suzuki Y, Nagatoishi A, Kasai M, Wu J, Taguchi M. Effect of ingestion of medium-chain triacylglycerols on moderate- and high-intensity exercise in recreational athletes. J Nutr Sci Vitaminol (Tokyo). 2009;55(2):120-125. doi:10.3177/jnsv.55.120

[7] Thevenet J, De Marchi U, Domingo JS, et al. Medium-chain fatty acids inhibit mitochondrial metabolism in astrocytes promoting astrocyte-neuron lactate and ketone body shuttle systems. FASEB J. 2016;30(5):1913-1926. doi:10.1096/fj.201500182

[8] Chang P, Augustin K, Boddum K, et al. Seizure control by decanoic acid through direct AMPA receptor inhibition. Brain. 2016;139(Pt 2):431-443. doi:10.1093/brain/awv325

[9] Reger MA, Henderson ST, Hale C, et al. Effects of beta-hydroxybutyrate on cognition in memory-impaired adults. Neurobiol Aging. 2004;25(3):311-314. doi:10.1016/S0197-4580(03)00087-3

[10] Augustin K, Khabbush A, Williams S, et al. Mechanisms of action for the medium-chain triglyceride ketogenic diet in neurological and metabolic disorders. Lancet Neurol. 2018;17(1):84-93. doi:10.1016/S1474-4422(17)30408-8

[11] Papavassilis C, Mach KK, Mayser PA. Medium-chain triglycerides inhibit growth of Malassezia: implications for prevention of systemic infection. Crit Care Med. 1999;27(9):1781-1786. doi:10.1097/00003246-199909000-00013

[12] Ogbolu DO, Oni AA, Daini OA, Oloko AP. In vitro antimicrobial properties of coconut oil on Candida species in Ibadan, Nigeria. J Med Food. 2007;10(2):384-387. doi:10.1089/jmf.2006.1209

[13] Cardoso DA, Moreira AS, de Oliveira GM, Raggio Luiz R, Rosa G. A COCONUT EXTRA VIRGIN OIL-RICH DIET INCREASES HDL CHOLESTEROL AND DECREASES WAIST CIRCUMFERENCE AND BODY MASS IN CORONARY ARTERY DISEASE PATIENTS. Nutr Hosp. 2015;32(5):2144-2152. Published 2015 Nov 1. doi:10.3305/nh.2015.32.5.9642

[14] Kondreddy VK, Anikisetty M, Naidu KA. Medium-chain triglycerides and monounsaturated fatty acids potentiate the beneficial effects of fish oil on selected cardiovascular risk factors in rats. J Nutr Biochem. 2016;28:91-102. doi:10.1016/j.jnutbio.2015.10.005

[15] Han JR, Deng B, Sun J, et al. Effects of dietary medium-chain triglyceride on weight loss and insulin sensitivity in a group of moderately overweight free-living type 2 diabetic Chinese subjects. Metabolism. 2007;56(7):985-991. doi:10.1016/j.metabol.2007.03.005

[16] Eckel RH, Hanson AS, Chen AY, Berman JN, Yost TJ, Brass EP. Dietary substitution of medium-chain triglycerides improves insulin-mediated glucose metabolism in NIDDM subjects. Diabetes. 1992;41(5):641-647.

Pablo Garduno

Hi, I’m Pablo Garduno. I am a biohacking enthusiast, and Head Writer of SanDiegoHealth.org. I write the majority of the content on this site, and appreciate you taking the time to read my work.