Discover The Many Benefits Of MCT Oil
One source of MCT oil is coconuts. Which leads to the question which is better MCT oil or coconut oil. MCT oil which means Medium-Chain Triglycerides can also be found in other foods such as avocados and macadamia nuts. The better choice of oils for a keto lifestyle is MCT oil with a few exceptions where coconut oil should be used.
What Makes MCT Oil Better Than Coconut
1. MCT Oil Contains Only ‘High Test’ Fats
This is most important if you are eating low carb and want to burn off fat instead sugar for energy. In a given tablespoon of coconut oil, approximately 60% of it is from medium chain triglycerides (MCTs). The remaining 40% is from other fats with their own benefits.There are 4 different types of MCTs that make up this 60%. The greatest percentage comes from lauric acid, an MCT that has many health benefits. Unfortunately, these benefits do not include helping you quickly burn fat for energy. So, if your goal is to get into nutritional ketosis and burn fat for fuel, a fat that’s primarily lauric acid isn’t the best choice.
The other MCTs in coconut oil are caproic, capric, and caprylic acids. Like lauric acid, caproic acid also doesn’t do too much to boost ketones so it’s not so important. Capric and caprylic do. Unfortunately, since at most they make up about 30% of the MCTs in coconut oil there isn’t enough available to quickly get your body into nutritional ketosis (burning fat for energy).
MCT Oil, on the other hand, only contains capric and caprylic acid. This means there’s enough of each to help your body burn fat for fuel faster and more efficiently for several hours after a single dose.
2. MCT Oil Is Flavorless And Odorless
Another thing that makes MCT oil better than coconut oil is that it doesn’t have any taste or scent. This makes it perfect for adding to your coffee, tea, smoothies, and protein shakes. Their flavor doesn’t change. You should actually notice that whatever you’re adding it to tastes better.MCT Oil’s ability to enhance other foods flavor is so powerful that chefs and food scientists use it to make hundreds of other foods tastier. Try it for yourself and see. The foods I like to add it to the most are sushi, coffee, and desserts made from dark chocolate.
Coconut oil, on the other hand tastes and smells like coconuts. Whatever your eat or drink with will taste like coconuts too. You probably don’t want this flavor to overpower your drink or shake – unless you want to it to taste like coconut – so here another instance where MCT oil is the better choice.
3. MCT Oil Is Better For Mental Energy
Our brains love using fat for its energy. This is because the ketones made from MCT Oil and our own body fat when we’re in nutritional ketosis easily crosses the typically impenetrable blood-brain barrier where it easily get into our brains.Ketones from MCT Oil are a more efficient source of energy for our brain too. That is, it takes less work for our brain to energy from them than carbs. They also are better at helping our brain build the chemicals needed help us feel relaxed, focused, and mentally sharp.
So, if you want to get more ketones into your brain and eliminate brain fog and scattered thoughts, MCT oil is a much better choice than coconut.
The reason for this is pretty simple. Since it contains nothing but the fats that enable the greatest increase in ketone production, MCTs will help you feel focused faster than coconut oil which contain a fraction of these fatty acids.
I’ve experienced this difference myself. When I eat coconut oil on an empty stomach I notice a slight but very mild lift in my mood and mental energy (focus, etc.).
When I take MCT oil, I notice a much more pronounced increase in my mood, even when I’m feeling great. My ability to focus is also much improved. This mental boost also happens faster, usually within 15 minutes. This is even faster than the super dark coffee I occasionally drink.
4. MCT Oil Is Better For Controlling Your Cravings
Our hunger and desire for food is controlled by our brain. It sends signals out to tell us to eat. Since there is a big difference between feeling hungry and being hungry, cravings can be a big problem, throwing you off your diet again and again.
For more reasons check out the source article
Watch this video to get some of the science behind MCT oil.
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But When Is Coconut Oil The Better Choice
My little friend here is a big fan of coconut oil.
All joking aside there are times for coconut oil.
The big one is for cooking. Coconut oil is more heat tolerant that MCT oil so it's better for cooking at higher temperatures.
Another advantage is that coconut oil is a solid at room temperature which is good for some recipes.
The second advantage is coconut oil contains an MCT called lauric acid, while not so good for weight loss it is good at killing viruses in our body and helping good bacteria grow in our guts.
The images came from pixabay.com.
More information on this topic is available at this great source article.
