Why does MCT Oil cause diarrhea?
MCT Oil, unlike nootropics, can cause significant gastrointestinal distress (diarrhea), and other issues like vomiting, bloating and cramping because it is shorter than LCTs (Long-Chain Triglycerides). It’s quicker for your body to absorb, and in some cases, people take on more than they can absorb in one serving. In doing so, more water is secreted into your stool and diarrhea occurs.
However, this isn’t always the case. Most people who use MCT oil don’t experience side effects from it. Read our Best MCT oil report and find what works the best.
Or you can read what’s working for me at the moment which is Performance Lab MCT.
How MCT Oil Causes Diarrhea
The main reason MCT oil may cause diarrhea is due to it being incredibly quick for it to absorb and that it is a medium-chain triglyceride.
MCT oil is very easy and quick for your body to absorb because it’s already broken down. This allows it to completely bypass your body’s digestive process – which can cause a form of irritation in the GI tract.
When your GI tract is irritated, it will try to get rid of the cause as quickly as possible – which results in diarrhea.
Not only that, triglycerides also contain glycerol (a.k.a. Glycerin). Glycerin is typically used as a suppository and is what’s known as a hyper-osmotic laxative. It draws water into your colon from surrounding tissues to increase the softness of your stools.
MCT oil is capable of doing this if you consume too much of it. However, if you’re sticking to a maximum of 2 tablespoons a day – that’s highly unlikely to happen.
How to Stop MCT Oil Causing Diarrhea
Here are several things that you can do to stop MCT oil giving you diarrhea:
#1. Lower Doses
We usually recommend that most people who are new to MCT oil should start on around 1 teaspoon of the oil a day. Then they should gradually work their way up to a tablespoon over the course of a week to a few weeks.
If you go straight in with a higher dose that your body can’t take, you’re buying a first-class ticket to diarrhea town.
#2. Don’t take MCT oil on an empty stomach
Without being absorbed with other foods, the MCT oil becomes the main focus of your system when it gets to processing it. This means it may absorb a lot more of it and result in you getting the unwanted side effects of diarrhea.
Try to have it with, or just before / after a big meal. Helping it process with other foods may support safer digestion of the medium-chain triglycerides.
#3. Split up the daily dosages
This is an easy one that works for most people – and you don’t have to reduce your overall daily dose. All you have to do is take half of your usual MCT oil serving in the morning and the other half in the afternoon / evening.
This gives your body more time to process to keep giving you the health benefits without bringing the diarrhea side effects.
#4. Don’t put MCT Oil in Your Coffee
Who hasn’t done this though? It gives the coffee that nice thickness – but it can also cause diarrhea as a side effect.
How? Because not only are you getting the risk diarrhea side effects from the MCT oil – the stimulating caffeine in the coffee also contributes. This can be a winning combination if you’re looking for a diarrhea cocktail.
#5. The Keto Diet might be a problem
I know! MCT oil is great on a keto diet, but those two things together may be the reason you’re having diarrhea.
Keto diets have a crazy high fat content to make up for the lack of carbs – and in doing so it may irritate your GI tract further.
As we’ve mentioned before, having and irritable GI tract makes it want to clear itself as soon as possible – with the end result being diarrhea.
MCT Oil and Diarrhea: Why does this happen?
As you can see. MCT oil can (if you have too much) pose a risk to giving you diarrhea.
This is mainly due to it being easy to absorb and containing glycerol. However, there are outside factors like coffee and keto which could be pushing it over the edge to give you those digestive issues.
If you’re experiencing diarrhea from MCT oil, we first suggest splitting up your dosages throughout the day, and failing that try smaller doses in general.
Related Posts:
- What can I use instead of MCT Oil?
- What does MCT oil taste like?
- How much MCT Oil in Coffee?
- What is MCT Oil Made From?
- Why does MCT Oil cause Diarrhea?
- What does MCT Oil do to your body?
- How much MCT oil should I take daily?
- What are the side effects of MCT Oil?
- Does MCT Oil Go Bad?
- MCT Oil Before Bed
- Performance Lab MCT Review
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.