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MCT Oil Works for Me

Written by Christopher Kelly

April 7, 2015

There's a lot of misinformation in the abbreviation MCT oil. The full name expands to medium-chain triglyceride oil. A triglyceride (also known as a triacylglycerol) is a way to package fatty acids. Think of it like you'd think of a storage container in your kitchen. Perhaps the most common container is the Mason jar--that's your triglyceride. The medium-chain part of the name has nothing to do with the packaging; instead it refers to the number of carbon atoms in the three fatty acids contained within the triglyceride packing. If fatty acids were a string of sausages, then the number of carbon atoms would be analogous to the number of links. Medium-chain usually refers to strings of length 6-12, and so that's what you can expect to find in your oil. Fats found in nature are vastly more diverse, containing many different types of fatty acid in many different types of packing. MCT oil then is carefully selected product designed to take advantage of the way in which these special fatty acids get used inside your body.

The final catch is that not all of the medium-chain fatty acids get used in quite the same way, and so enter the Bulletproof line of MCT oil. I've heard lots of accusations of snake oil and white labeling generic oils, and so as a regular consumer of Brain Octane I was delighted to read this article that clarified the difference.

Do you use MCT oil? What type? Do you notice the difference? Let me know in the comments below.