MCT Oil

MCT Oil 

Medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil is a particular form of fat that your body uses for energy. MCT oil is not inclined to hang around and cover up well-built muscles with body fat. Unlike most fats, which are made up of fatty acids linked together in relatively long chains, MCTs, by definition, consist of shorter (medium-length) chains. This structure accounts for the ability of MCTs to stimulate metabolism and increase body temperature. MCTs also have slightly fewer calories per gram than regular fat, though not by much (8.3 calories per gram for MCTs and about nine for regular fat).

Most people who use MCTs do so to help preserve muscle mass during fat loss--especially in times of low-carb dieting. Reducing carbohydrates is believed to be especially harsh where muscle loss is concerned, so any help you can get in retaining lean tissue while on a low-carb diet is important.
Is MCT oil effective? There is evidence to suggest that MCTs do play such an anti-catabolic role One study looked at obese women on a very low-calorie diet and found that when they used MCTs instead of regular dietary fat, they lost less muscle and more body fat. The key isn't just adding MCTs to a diet---it's using them instead of other fats.

It makes sense to take MCTs instead of, rather than in addition to, the fat in your diet. Otherwise, you might get more smoke than flame where fat loss is concerned. Why more smoke than flame? Another of the touted benefits of MCTs is a thermogenic effect to help fat loss. The problem is that MCTs are a source of calories, and the body will use MCTs, instead of stored body fat, for energy. That's why adding MCTs to shakes won't necessarily cause fat loss despite a thermogenic effect. You want to burn body fat, not supplements, when you're training and recovering. Use MCTs to preserve muscle when you're on a low-calorie diet, especially of the low-carb variety, and as a fat substitute for fat loss.

One good way to use MCT oil is as a substitute for other oils in salad dressing--just add vinegar, herbs and spices. MCTs emulsify (go into and stay in solution) easier than many other lipids, so they're a bit more versatile than regular oil in that you can mix them successfully in juices, protein shakes or water-based drinks. Unfortunately, MCT oil is not recommended for cooking due to its low smoke point. (That is, don't brown chicken breasts in it. That blue smoke wafting from the frying pan is carcinogenic.)
Interestingly, MCT oil also reduced hunger pangs in the study of obese women previously mentioned. That's consistent. with another investigation in which people taking MCTs ate less food at their next meal than when they took in a similar amount of regular fat prior to eating.

MCTs can help spare muscle glycogen reserves. This may add up to a better pump in the gym, but don't necessarily expect a big bump in endurance. Even huge doses (30-60 g or about two to four tablespoons) didn't do that, at least in short-term research that used well-fed endurance athletes as test cases. Keep in mind that you'll need to replace a significant amount of dietary fat with MCTs (e.g., the fat-replacement study involved substituting 60 g of fat per day). That makes MCT oil a minor player in the fat-loss scheme compared to, say, ephedrine and caffeine. Nonetheless, MCT oil makes a good substitute for certain dietary oils and its use as a possible anti-catabolic supplement is intriguing.