Coconut oil is everywhere nowadays. It’s exploding in popularity in the health and wellness scene and consumed by people for everything from weight loss to energy to managing diseases like epilepsy and Alzheimer’s. Furthermore, products that have combinations like MCT oil and CBD have helped cement coconut oil’s status as a wellness staple.
Coconut Oil vs MCT Oil
You have probably seen supplements at the store that are labeled as coconut oil or MCT oil. You’ve probably also seen products that say they contain either coconut oil or MCT oil (think Bulletproof coffee). It might seem like the terms coconut oil and MCT oil are used interchangeably. So what’s the difference?
In a nutshell, MCT oil is a substance extracted from coconut oil. As the name implies, medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil is made up of medium-length chains of fats called triglycerides. Due to their shorter length, MCTs are easily digested and can result in a variety of health benefits. Coconut oil, on the other hand, contains multiple fats and oils in addition to MCT. The two are commonly associated with one another because more than 50% of the fat in coconut oil is derived from MCTs.
Benefits of MCT Oil
Although many of the fats and oils contained within coconut oil produce beneficial health effects, MCT oil is really the star. They are widely used along with usual medications for treating food absorption disorders including diarrhea, steatorrhea (fat indigestion), celiac disease, liver disease, and digestion problems due to partial surgical removal of the stomach (gastrectomy) or the intestine (short bowel syndrome).
Additionally, MCTs are used by athletes (and sometimes non-athletes) to improve exercise performance, help burn body fat, and to increase lean muscle mass. Because of its ability to help the body burn fat, MCT and coconut oils are also often integral components of the keto diet.
Furthermore, WebMD lays out several other diseases and health issues that MCT may be effective at combatting:
- Preventing muscle breakdown in critically ill patients, when given intravenously (by IV). MCTs can provide calories in critically ill patients.
- Certain types of seizures in children.
- A rare disease called Waldmann disease. Following a low-fat, high-protein diet and supplementing with MCTs seems to reduce symptoms in patients with Waldmann disease.
Anti-Fungal Properties
One of the more exciting developments in the study of MCT oil benefits and coconut oil benefits is their apparent ability to fight the growth of fungi and yeast in the body.
In a recent study done at Tufts University, researchers found that coconut oil is highly effective at controlling the overgrowth of the fungal pathogen called Candida Albicans in mice. According to the study, C. Albicans is the most common human pathogen and has a 40% mortality rate when causing infections.
The study also stated that systemic infections caused by C. Albicans can lead to invasive candidiasis, which is the fourth most common blood infection among hospitalized patients in the United States according to the CDC.
Needless to say, the overgrowth of this fungus in your digestive system is a very serious health concern.
Although the reasons exactly how or why are not yet clear and require further study, what is clear is that coconut oil that contains a large amount of MCT slows and even reduces the growth of this fungus in the body. By some estimates, MCT oil can reduce the growth of C. Albicans by up to 25% and other common infectious fungi by up to 50% in the gastrointestinal tract.
MCT Oil and CBD
The benefits of MCT oil make it an excellent supplement to add to your daily regimen. They also make the combination of MCT oil and CBD a potential powerhouse for your health. For starters, the two substances are thought to complement each other when it comes to metabolism. This may occur because CBD shifts the metabolism away from burning sugar and towards a fatty-acid metabolism, while MCT oil helps the fat burning process.
Also, both CBD and MCT oil are thought to assist brain function and have neuroprotective properties. It’s this aspect that leads researchers to increasingly believe that both CBD and MCT may be helpful in the management and prevention of diseases like Alzheimer’s and epilepsy. Essentially, both substances work together from different angles to help optimize body function and improve overall health and wellness.
CBD Tinctures Blended with MCT Oil
At Urban Roots, we combine the potential healing powers and health benefits of CBD and MCT oil in our tincture products. Putting these two substances together gives you a fast acting, daily supplement that offers potential benefits like inflammatory relief, headache relief, indigestion relief, stress relieve, and improved metabolic function to name a few.
Substances like coconut oil and CBD oil are so exciting because we are discovering more and more that we can take our health into our own hands. In many cases, we may not have to rely (or solely rely) on prescription drugs and their associated side effects to help us with our health ailments and produce the results we want in our bodies.
The potential is huge and with research really getting off the ground, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
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A smooth blend of coconut (MCT)oil combined with CBD allows each consumer to choose their desired dosage with every drop. Tinctures allow for a faster-onset of effects than other consumption measures which is ideal to see what dose is right for you. |