Yes. MCT oil is better for increasing the ketones responsible burning fat and boosting brain power. Coconut oil can help with cooking, skin and hair recipes and contains different fat strains compared to MCT oil – coconut oil is not the best for fat loss or general ketosis.
If you want something to help your body and mind during keto – use the best MCT oil. If you want to bake a cookie – use coconut oil.
What makes MCT oil better than Coconut oil?
The type of Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCTs) it contains – these can make or break how effective they are for raising your body’s ketones.
When on a ketogenic diet, your body depletes your glucose stores and starts to use your ketones as an energy resource. These ketones can help both your fat loss and your brain power and MCT Oils and Coconut Oils differ greatly in their effectiveness to produce these.
It all comes down to the medium-chain fatty acids they contain, specifically:
- C6: caproic acid or hexanoic acid
- C8: caprylic acid or octanoic acid
- C10: capric acid or decanoic acid
- C12: lauric acid or dodecanoic acid
The main ones that work the best are C8 and C10. Both are in MCT oil and Coconut Oil but there are some key differences.
For starters, Coconut Oil is typically only 55% MCTs. Pound for pound, it’s beat by MCT oil which is 100% MCTs.
Another issue with coconut oil is that it also contains C14, C18:1, C18:0, C18:2 and more – all which don’t work well for ketones. Combined it has numerous MCTs in it – where you only want the C8 and C10. This dilutes the overall potency of the MCTs in Coconut oil which stops it from being the ideal choice for ketosis.
It’s also worth noting that coconut oil typically contains high amounts of C12 over any other type of MCT. The issue here is that C12 is almost a long-chain triglyceride and may take much longer for you to get the full benefit.
MCT Oil is Better Than Coconut Oil
If you’re cutting not cooking, MCT oil is by far the best choice for improving your overall fat loss – specifically if you’re looking to improve your ketosis and brainpower in the process.
Coconut oil does have it’s advantages in terms of flavoring – but it is not potent enough for you to get the most benefit. It contains a lot of C12 which doesn’t work well as an MCT. There are also some issues with overall MCT potency, as it typically only has around 55% MCT potency compared to the 100% in regular MCT oils.
It can help you when it comes to improving your hair and skin health, but when it comes to consuming it for weight loss or keto benefits – it shouldn’t be high on your list. You want an MCT oil which has a high concentration of C8 and C10 – which are the easiest for your body to use and strongly supports a keto diet.