About MCT Oil

MCT Oil is derived from either coconut oil or palm oil. Most health practitioners will recommend MCT Oil derived from coconuts.

MCT Oil vs. Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is comprised of ~65% Medium Chain Fatty Acids (MCT’s) and 35% Long Chain Fatty Acids. MCT Oil processes out the Long Chain Fatty Acids, so it’s just 100% MCT’s remaining.

The reason this is important, is because MCT’s are very easily converted into ketones – which is a desired benefit of the ketogeneic diet.

There are 3 different types of MCT’s found in Coconut Oil / MCT Oil: C12 (Lauric Acid), C10 (Decanoic Acid), and C8 (Caprylic Acid). C8 is the type that is most readily turned into ketones. Because of this, many MCT oils will be refined to have a higher amount of C8 in it than what is normally found in coconut oil (coconut oil is ~7% C8).

However, it’s been shown that your body absorbs C8 better within regular coconut oil than MCT oil. The research showed that pure C8 raises ketone levels more than regular coconut oil, but not by as much as what you would think. Because of this, our recommendation is that pure C8 is best, but not nearly as much as what is advertised by most companies selling C8 … therefore, it may not be worth the expense (since pure C8 is way, way more expensive than just coconut oil).  Here’s an external article that goes into much more depth about mct oil vs. coconut oil (link).