The Benefits Of Mct Oil
Improved energy is just one of the many perks associated with MCTs.
The other potential health benefits of these powerful medium-chain triglycerides deliver include:
- Better mental clarity and brain function
- Greater metabolic and cellular function
- Healthy digestion
MCTs can also help with weight loss, which is another reason why many people use them especially on the keto diet.
Mct Oil Vs Coconut Oil
As you can see from the photo, there are many differences between coconut oil and adding MCT oil. For instance, MCT oil has a higher concentration of medium-chain fatty acids, long-chain triglycerides. While saturated fat tends to be high in lipid, medium-chain fats like these have a bigger influence on weight management. Some studies say that they are beneficial for healthy eating, while others suggest that they increase the risk of heart disease. This is why I donât recommend them for weight loss. Although you can certainly use them if youâre trying to lose weight. In fact, you can probably even eat lots of them without weight gain.
Depending on which medical study youâre reading, coconut is either the most destructive evil on earth or an age-old wonder product. Anecdotal evidence continues to support that coconut increases âbadâ LDL cholesterol while at the same time reducing âgoodâ HDL cholesterol. At least one reputable study, by Mary Jane Healey of Stanford University, found that replacing saturated fats with coconut increases your âbadâ LDL cholesterol. There is also some evidence that coconut increases your âgoodâ HDL cholesterol. Some scientists have also suggested that at a certain point, coconut oilâs increase in LDL cholesterol levels will offset any effects youâre receiving from its reduced âbadâ HDL cholesterol.
How To Take It
The dose depends on how much fatty acids you get in your diet and which condition you are taking flaxseed oil for.
Pediatric
Talk to your doctor or pediatrician before giving flaxseed oil to a child under 18.
Adult
There is no recommended dose for flaxseed oil. The best dose for you depends on a number of factors and should be determined in consultation with your doctor.
Flaxseed oil is often used in a liquid form, which contains approximately 7 grams of ALA per 15 mL , and contains about 130 calories.
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Whats The Deal With Mct Oil
MCT oil has made waves in the health and wellness industry in recent years, touting a wide range of benefits such as lowering cholesterol, increasing endurance during a workout, lowering blood glucose in diabetics, and improving fat absorption in people with gastrointestinal diseases.
What is MCT Oil?
MCT is short for medium-chain triglycerides, a type of saturated fat found in coconut oil, palm oil, and some dairy products. Coconut oil has the highest concentration with 55% of its fats being MCTs. The product MCT oil, found in many health stores, is manufactured by extracting medium-chain triglycerides from coconut oil or palm oil and purifying it so that only a flavorless, odorless oil remains.
What makes MCTs different from other fat is the way it is absorbed and metabolized in the body. Due to having a shorter chain than other fats, MCTs can be absorbed quickly and travel straight to the liver. The liver then converts the MCTs into a compound called ketones, which are an alternative source of energy. Their efficiency as an energy source makes them less likely to be stored as fat. Does this mean MCTs could potentially be used to assist weight loss? Keep reading to find out.
A Closer Look at Potential Benefits:
Weight Loss
Cholesterol
Endurance During Exercise
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Why Saturated Fat Matters
Ignore headlines like Butter is Back and claims that saturated fat isnt as bad as researchers once thought. Some of those headlines were triggered by studies with serious flaws.
The evidence that saturated fat causes atherosclerosis and heart disease is compelling, says Frank Sacks, professor of cardiovascular disease prevention at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and head of the heart association panel. Its consistent across randomized trials, large observational epidemiologic studies, and animal studies.
Thats because saturated fat increases LDLor low-density lipoproteincholesterol . LDL cholesterol is a cause of heart disease, Sacks explains. Its not a risk factor. Its a direct, absolute cause.
Several lines of evidence have nailed LDL as a culprit.
We know that LDL is the main carrier of cholesterol in the blood, and it enters into the walls of major arteries and deposits cholesterol there, says Sacks. And that sets off a chronic inflammatory reaction, which helps lead plaque to build up in arteries.
Also, people who inherit genes that raise their LDL have a higher risk of heart disease. And pretty much any class of drugs that reduces LDLlike statins, ezetimibe, PCSK-9 inhibitors, or resins like cholestyraminealso reduces heart disease.
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Triglycerides Synthesised From Coconut Oil
Standard medium-chain triglycerides are produced by hydrolysing coconut oil and esterifying the fatty acids shorter than lauric acid with glycerol the resulting triglycerides are rich primarily in caprylic and capric acids. The exclusion of LA reflects the fact that this fatty acid has high commercial value as a precursor for antibacterial pharmaceuticals and other worthwhile compounds. Coconut oil is one of the richest available sources of LAconstituting about half of its total fatty acid contentand so is used to produce LA the shorter chain fats are hence by-products of this process and then are used for production of MCTs. As contrasted with coconut oil, standard MCTs are consistently fluid at room temperature their utility for cooking applications, however, is limited by their low smoke point, which makes them unsuitable for use in frying.
Recently, however, manufacturers have started to produce a novel type of MCT that contains a high fraction of LAtypically 30%. A tablespoon of this MCTcontaining 14g of fatis said to contain 12g of medium-chain fatty acids and 1g of unsaturates . Hence, the content of longer chain saturated fatty acids is extremely low and of questionable physiological significance.
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Does Coconut Oil Deserve Its Health Halo
Its been known for a long time that coconut oil raises blood levels of artery-damaging LDL cholesterol, one expert said.
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Coconut oil continues to be widely touted as a miracle food. Proponents, including a slew of celebrities, claim it promotes weight loss, lowers blood pressure and blood glucose, protects against heart disease, increases energy, reduces inflammation, erases wrinkles and even counters Alzheimers disease. Plus it tastes great, so what could be bad? And if you believe all that, Ill offer to sell you the Brooklyn Bridge.
When I see a product with a long list of things its supposed to fix, I know it cant possibly be true, said Marion Nestle, a New York University specialist on nutrition and food policy. Coconut oil has acquired a healthful aura as a superfood and lots of people believe its true. Theyre guilty of magical thinking and need to stop and think, Theyre trying to sell me something. Nonetheless, a survey conducted in 2016 found that 72 percent of Americans viewed coconut oil as a healthy food.
The time is long overdue to relieve coconut oil of a halo that scientific evidence shows it doesnt deserve and instead give consumers a chance to use the $40 they may spend on a 32-ounce jar of coconut oil to invest in foods that can actually enhance their health.
Nor is coconut oil a diet food. Like other vegetable oils, a tablespoon of coconut oil supplies 117 calories, 15 more than a tablespoon of butter.
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Tslp Master Allergy Inducer
TSLP is a master cytokine responsible for the induction of allergic responses.128129 It is produced primarily by epithelial cells and plays a critical role in the regulation of immune responses via the maturation and activation of dendritic cells, lymphocytes, basophil precursors, and fibrocytes.130131132133
It is common to see increased TSLP production at the sites of inflammation such as those seen in severe asthma, allergic rhinitis, and even atopic dermatitis.134135 In mice that are deficient in TSLP receptors, there is close to no incidence of asthma or allergic dermatitis. We can easily extend this to include the intestinal epithelium, which has already been demonstrated to express TSLP mRNA in the presence of antigen.136137
To put it simply, wherever there are epithelial cells, there is the potential for TSLP-induced allergic reaction. TSLP mRNA levels were shown to increase significantly, for example, by doing nothing more than painting caprylic acid on the ear lobes of mice.
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Is Virgin Coconut Oil Bad For You
Lately, virgin coconut oil has been heavily promoted. Marketers claim that any bad data on coconut oil are due to hydrogenation, and virgin coconut oil is not hydrogenated.
But only a small percentage, 8%, of coconut oil is unsaturated fat, which means only 8% of coconut oil gets hydrogenated. And the yield is mostly stearic acid, the one common long-chain saturated fatty acid that has minimal impact on LDL cholesterol levels. So completely hydrogenated coconut oil has about the same impact on LDL cholesterol as does virgin oil, points out Dr. Kenney.
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A Doctor Explains Why Saturated Fat In Coconut Oil Isn’t A Problem
It’s no secret that I’m a big fan of eating fat as a way to reach optimal well-being, and coconut oil is one of my favorites. And yet, if you’ve ever read a nutrition label on the back of a jar of organic, raw, cold-pressed coconut oil, you’d see that it’s high in saturated fat. Isn’t that a no-no doesn’t saturated fat cause cholesterol to increase?
Glad you asked. Now we know that eating fat doesn’t necessarily mean being fat: It’s far more nuanced. As a doctor, I’m fascinated by longevity and how dietary fat affects our bodies. One thing that makes coconut oil unique is that it contains medium-chain triglyceride oil or MCT oil, and MCTs are like super fuel for your cells. Your cells burn these MCTs for energy while storing very little of them as fat, boosting metabolism and supporting your immune system in the bargain.
Theres No Mercury To Worry About And Flaxseed Oil Does Contain Omega
Troll the medical literature, and youll come up with study after study showing that fish and fish oil are good for us, especially for our hearts but maybe also for our moods and immune systems. Various epidemiologic investigations have found that people who eat fish regularly are less likely to have heart attacks, suffer strokes, or die from sudden cardiac arrest. The definition of regularly varies, but it usually means at least a couple of times a week, although eating fish even once a month has been shown to make a difference.
Fish, and especially fish oil, have also been the subject of dozens of randomized clinical trials, most involving people with existing heart conditions. In large amounts , fish oil has been shown to nudge various cardiac risk factors in the right direction.
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Mct Oil Could Potentially Aid Weight Loss
Although research has turned up mixed results, there are several ways in which MCTs may aid weight loss, including:
- Lower energy density. MCTs provide around 10% fewer calories than LCTs, or 8.4 calories per gram for MCTs versus 9.2 calories per gram for LCTs (
- 16 ).
However, keep in mind that many of these studies have small sample sizes and dont take other factors into account, including physical activity and total calorie consumption.
Furthermore, while some studies have found that MCTs could aid weight loss, other studies have found no effects .
According to an older review of 21 studies, 7 evaluated fullness, 8 measured weight loss, and 6 assessed calorie burning.
Only 1 study found increases in fullness, 6 observed reductions in weight, and 4 noted increased calorie burning .
In another review of 12 animal studies, 7 reported a decrease in weight gain and 5 found no differences. In terms of food intake, 4 detected a decrease, 1 detected an increase, and 7 found no differences .
In addition, the amount of weight loss caused by MCTs was very modest.
A review of 13 human studies found that, on average, the amount of weight lost on a diet high in MCTs was only 1.1 pounds over 3 weeks or more, compared with a diet high in LCTs .
Another older 12-week study found that a diet rich in medium-chain triglycerides resulted in 2 pounds of additional weight loss, compared with a diet rich in LCTs .
Should People With High Cholesterol Eat Fish And Seafood
For most people, it is beneficial to consume oily fish. The United States Department of Agricultures Dietary Guidelines for Americans 20202025 recommends that most adults eat at least 8 ounces of low-mercury fish and seafood each week.
On average, this gives someone 250 milligrams of DHA and EPA per day, though the exact amount will depend on the type of fish.
However, because some fish and seafood contains dietary cholesterol, people who struggle to control their cholesterol levels may need to be more cautious.
The United Kingdom charity, Heart UK, recommends that people with this concern speak with a dietitian about what is best for them.
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It May Promote Weight Loss
One of the reasons MCT oil became popular is its potential to help with weight loss by promoting satiety, according to Dr. Pedre. He points to a 2014 study in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, which found overweight men who consumed MCT oil for breakfast ate less total calories at lunch compared to those who had consumed corn oil St-Onge MP, Mayrsohn B,OKeeffe M, Kissileff HR,Choudhury AR, Laferrère B. Impact of medium and long chain triglycerides consumption on appetite and food intake in overweight men. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2014 68:11341140. . This was accompanied by a lower rise in postprandial triglycerides and glucose, he says, meaning that MCTs help you feel satisfied post-meal so you dont overeat.
MCTs also seem to increase thermogenesis, the metabolic process in which your body burns calories to produce heat that can result in weight loss, adds Dr. Pedre, citing a small study in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. The research found both lean and obese male subjects showed an increase in thermogenesis after eating when long-chain triglycerides were replaced with MCTs in the mealL Scalfi, A Coltorti, F Contaldo. Postprandial thermogenesis in lean and obese subjects after meals supplemented with medium-chain and long-chain triglycerides. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 1991 53:1301133. . Research, however, is limited.
Adding Mct Oil To Your Diet
If you decide to add MCT oil to your diet, use it sparingly. Excessive consumption could not only lead to high cholesterol but also weight gain, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and heart disease, Flanagan says.
How much is too much, though? The American Heart Association suggests that saturated fat intake be no more than five to six percent of your total daily calories, Flanagan says. If youre eating 2,000 calories, thats 120 saturated fat calories per day. Others, though, recommend that the upper level of saturated fat intake should be 10 percent of total calories.
Regardless, you need to keep saturated fat in your diet as low as possible, and if you want to consume MCT oil, youll need to cut back on other sources of saturated fat, Flanagan says, adding that you should monitor your cholesterol levels while taking it. Each tablespoon of MCT oil contains seven grams of saturated fat , and on a 2,000-calorie diet, thats just a small amount more than three tablespoons to reach that 10 percent limit.
If theres anything that should stick with you about MCT oil, its this. Will it hurt you? Probably not, unless youre taking too much, Wooten says. But based on scientific research, you dont need it to be healthy.
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What This Means For Us
Essentially, the paper provides a hierarchy of sorts: When it comes to optimizing cholesterol levels, unsaturated fatty acids are top-tier . However, their findings suggest that medium-chain fatty acids are less harmful for cholesterol than longer-chain saturated fatty acids .
“Our findings support MCT oil as a likely healthier choice than coconut oil, which is also commonly consumed by people following a ketogenic diet,” the report continues. At the end of the day, the differences are pretty minimal , but the numbers may sway you into consuming pure, extracted MCT oil rather than relying on the MCTs in coconut oil.
Mct Oil Vs Mct Powder
The only real difference between MCT oil and MCT powder is the form they come in. Obviously, MCT oil is a liquid and MCT powder is a solid
MCT powder also requires a carrier fiber to make it into a powder, and you may also find other ingredients depending on which brand you choose.
That said, MCT powder is more convenient to travel with and seems to be easier on the digestive system.
Whether one form is more effective than another has yet to be studied. Personally, I notice more benefit from MCT in oil form in terms of feeling it.
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Flaxseed Health Benefits Can Flaxseed Help Your Blood Sugars
I just love flaxseed, and one I supplement with daily. Flaxseed has an amazing amount of benefits to help promote overall health. In saying that, how can one find flaxseed? What actual benefits does organic flaxseed provide? Can it help prevent your blood sugars from spiking? For that and much, much more, continue reading!
Flaxseed oil is an excellent supplement that supports the bodys vital systems. It is rich in the omega-3 essential fatty acid alpha-linolenic acid, or ALA. Although omega-3s are crucial to human health, they are not manufactured by the body, so its important to get a steady supply through dietary sources and supplements.
There are two types of essential fatty acids, omega-3 and omega-6. Most Americans get enough omega-6fatty acids from dietary sources such as meat, eggs and dairy. Omega-3s are necessary for growth, heart health and brain function, but many of us do not get enough of them from dietary sources. MayoClinic.com reports that multiple studies have shown that omega-3 supplements may lower the risk of cardiovascular disease.
These supplements have also been studied as a treatment for depression and other mental illnesses, Alzheimers disease, diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, PMS, ADHD, osteoporosis, and even cancer prevention.