Health Hotline Magazine | October 2023

The wonderful thing about MCT is that it can benefit all brains, from healthy adults looking to power up their brain function and clear out the brain fog, to those with diagnosed cognition issues, such as dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. In one study researchers examined whether MCT could improve cognition in a group with mild cognitive impair ment (MCI), by providing the brain with more energy. The results were significant. Those taking MCT saw their brain ketone metabolism increase by 230 percent (in other words, the brain was able to efficiently use ketones for energy when glucose was lacking) and measures of episodic memory, language, executive function, and processing speed improved on MCT versus the participants’ baselines “…in direct relation to the increase in plasma ketones…” A 2022 randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, crossover study of elderly subjects with diagnosed mild to moderate Alzheimer’s disease, found that the subjects who took two to three tablespoons/day of C8 MCT, a form of MCT that is very easily absorbed and used as fuel, showed improvements in cognitive assessment scores. In fact, 80 percent remained stable or improved. The researchers concluded, “There was marked stability of cognitive function over the 15 months of the trial,” and added there was “no effect on body weight, composition, or serum lipids…,” and though some experienced GI side effects at higher doses (diarrhea, abdominal cramping), symptoms resolved with a dose decrease. Finally, in both type-1 diabetics and healthy people, when glucose availability is reduced (hypoglycemia), MCT can preserve cognitive function. Even in healthy people with normal glucose metabolism, increasing ketones in the body “…cause massive changes in cerebral fuel metabolism.” In other words, when there are sufficient ketones, the brain will preferentially burn those for energy versus glucose. MCT Promotes Healthy Weight & Metabolic Health

W Finding new “weighs” to lose weight might be our favorite pastime. Just turn on the TV, scroll through an article on your phone, or talk to your trusted healthcare prac titioner and you’ll surely learn about the latest, greatest weight-loss trend. Quietly, however, there has been study after study of MCT’s effect on weight loss, body composition, and metabolism over the years—with striking results. One meta-analysis and review looked at the results from 13 randomized clinical trials comparing the effects of MCT with long-chain triglycerides (LCT) like those found in soybean and corn oil, on specific biomarkers in healthy men and women. It was found that MCT resulted in a significant reduction in body weight, waist circumference, hip circumference, total body fat, total subcutaneous fat, and visceral fat compared to LCT. Notably, the studies varied in duration, dose, and control of caloric intake, but the results were all favorable in the end.

Additionally, when MCT oil is consumed after a fasting period, such as taking it with breakfast after fasting over night, it causes an increase in leptin, a hormone released from fat cells that sends signals to the brain to tell your body it does not require more energy (inhibiting hunger), as well as peptide YY (PYY) levels. PYY is another hormone created in the small intestines that decreases appetite and causes you to feel full when it binds to brain receptors. Increased levels of these two hormones are associated with appetite suppression and increased satiety.

22 | Health Hotline ®