MCT Oil=Snake Oil?
Medium Chain Triglyceride Oil (MCT oil for short) has gotten a lot of hype lately and I’ve had some people asking if it’s worth buying. Let’s start by explaining what it is, why it’s popular and then we’ll talk about whether it’s worth investing in.
What Are Medium Chain Triglycerides?
There are quite a few great blogs out there explaining the intricacies of MCT’s, so I’ll spare the details and go with a brief description here. In simple terms, they are triglycerides with 6-12 carbons as opposed to long chain fatty acids with 16-20 carbons. (They do NOT contain EPA and DHA like fish oil does which is a long chain fatty acid). MCT’s are naturally found in coconut oil, palm oil, human breast milk, goat’s milk and dairy products. Because of the shorter length of MCT’s, they are easily absorbed into the digestive system and can pass directly through the intestinal cell membranes (long chain fatty acids require bile acids and pancreatic lipase for absorption). Because of this rapid ability to be absorbed, they are used in western medicine to treat malnourished individuals. It’s also used to treat those with seizure disorders and cystic fibrosis.
Why It’s Popular:
Many claim of MCT oil as being this new miracle that has the capability of helping you lose weight, improve exercise performance, improve brain function, and increase energy. I’ve seen other claims that it balances hormone levels and improve digestive health as well. I’ll admit, when I first started reading about it I thought, “Wow, maybe I should start taking this too.” But let’s dive into the research and I’ll walk you through whether these claims are valid or not.
#1 Can MCT Oil Help You Lose Weight?
The results are mixed on this topic. Several studies have shown its potential to improve body weight because of diminished fat storage by increasing thermogenesis and fat oxidation (1,2,3,4,5,6), or by an increased feeling of fullness which helps you eat less 7. Another study shows MCT oil reduces body weight and improves insulin resistance in Chinese men with type 2 diabetes (8). But here’s the deal, even though there are eight studies listed above that make MCT oil seem like the next miracle weight loss drug, it seems to improve body weight by only about 1-2 pounds compared to long chain fatty acids like olive oil (9,10) and at most by about 3.5 pounds in Chinese men with type 2 diabetes (11). According to the study just mentioned, most subjects with an initial BMI of greater than 25 experienced more weight loss, whereas those with a lower BMI were less responsive to weight loss (11). There are several other studies showing no decrease in body weight with using MCT oil as a part of the diet (12,13,14,15).
Conclusion: The results are mixed. There are definitely some studies that show MCT oil can aid in weight loss, but at most by 1-3 pounds and usually only in those with a BMI >25. But there are just as many studies showing no improvement in body composition. It is also unclear how much MCT oil to take in order to obtain weight loss, but it always must be in a calorie restricted diet to have any effect at all. The studies have participants take anywhere from 1-15 teaspoons daily of MCT oil.
#2 Does MCT Oil Positively Affect Cholesterol Profiles?
Again the data on this is mixed...REALLY mixed. This study showed improved cholesterol profiles with ingesting MCT oil overall, this one showed it only improvement in LDL levels but not HDL or triglyceride levels. This one showed MCT oil lowered total cholesterol but not LDL or HDL. This one showed it improved triglyceride levels in Chinese men with hypertriglyceridemia, yet this one showed it only reduced triglyceride levels in overweight, but not obese individuals. This double blind, randomized cross over study (one of the best types of research studies done) showed it actually worsens cholesterol profiles and, lastly, this study overall showed worsened LDL levels with taking MCT oil. According to Up to Date (an evidence based website used by many physicians in western medicine as a trusted resource) greater than 6 months of ingestion of MCT oil will decrease HDL levels and increase triglyceride levels.
Conclusion: There are too many mixed results to know for sure how this will affect cholesterol levels, so I don’t recommend taking it for this purpose. Check out my previous blog here on coconut oil and saturated fats to see why cholesterol levels seem to be affected differently by different individuals.
#3 Does MCT Oil Improve Exercise Performance?
Overall studies show NO improvement in exercise performance with taking MCT oil prior to, or during exercise (16,17,18,19,20,21,22). I found one study that showed it may improve exercise performance (23), and one that showed it may improve performance if given along with carbohydrates, but again no improvement if MCT oil was substituted for carbohydrates (24).
Conclusion: There is overwhelming evidence to show that MCT oil DOES NOT improve exercise performance.
#4 Does MCT Oil Improve Cognition?
There are not very many studies on MCT oil and cognition, but a few have been done more specifically on its effect on Alzheimer’s. This study showed it may help cognition in those with a specific gene marker called the APOE4- gene variant, but it didn’t improve those with the APOE4+ gene. This one also showed mild improvement with the APOE4- gene variant, but the problem is, genomic profiles are not routinely performed in clinical settings, so it would be difficult to determine whether MCT oil is beneficial overall in Alzheimer’s patients. Lastly, this study showed mild improved brain function in those with “mild cognitive dysfunction.”
Conclusion: MCT oil may help brain function in Alzheimer’s patients who have the APOE4- variant gene, and may help those with mild cognitive dysfunction, but it does not help with cognitive function in the general population as far as we know today.
#5 Does MCT Oil Help With Diabetes?
The short answer is maybe. There are not many studies done on this particular topic, but it appears MCT oil may be able to improve insulin sensitivity which thereby helps improve glucose levels (25,26). In this study done on Chinese men with type 2 diabetes taking about 3.5 teaspoons of MCT oil daily and maintaining a “normal” diet, there was a trend towards decreased fasting insulin and glucose levels, but it did not reach statistical significance.
Conclusion: There may be benefit, but not enough studies have been done to know for sure.
How Is MCT Oil Different Than Coconut Oil and Is Coconut Oil Sufficient To Obtain The Same Benefits?
Coconut oil is comprised of somewhere around 50% as MCT’s, with the rest being long or short chain triglycerides. It is the richest source of medium chain triglycerides compared to palm oil and dairy products. The main problem is that nobody really knows how much MCT oil to take in order to obtain specific benefits, and the studies that have been done used somewhere between 1-15 teaspoons per day. Some of the studies that show improvement in body composition are actually a mix of long and medium chain triglycerides which is consistent with the composition of coconut oil, so it’s very possible that you wouldn’t need to get straight MCT oil to obtain benefits, and that simply using coconut oil is just as good. The obvious indication for using MCT oil instead of coconut oil is when placed in feeding tubes for severely malnourished individuals because they tolerate it without adverse side effects from long chain fatty acids which require bile acids and pancreatic enzymes that are often unavailable for these individuals, among other reasons.
Conclusion: Coconut oil may be just as beneficial as straight MCT oil depending on what benefit you’re hoping to achieve. Many more studies need to be done to figure out just how much MCT oil is required to achieve such benefits though.
Is It Worth The Money?
At this time, with the current amount of conclusive research done, the only time MCT oil seems to be needed medically is for malnourished individuals with severe gut dysfunction (those that can’t metabolize fat and find fat in their stool), those with seizure disorder and those with cystic fibrosis. It may or may not help with weight loss, and if it does, it’s very mild (only about 1-3 pounds and in those with a BMI >23-25). We also don’t know how much needs to be taken in order to achieve any benefit yet. It can be more than twice the cost of good old fashioned coconut oil which naturally has MCT oil in it already. So in my opinion, it’s not worth the money for the general population looking to “just stay healthy.” But stay tuned, as more studies come in, all of this may change.