MCT Oil and the power of fat.

[TrevC]

I've had a pretty revolutionary change the past few days, and if it can help someone else, I felt it was worth sharing.

Simply, I had reached a place where the things I were taking were not giving me the same anxiolytic and mood-lifting effects I was accustomed to.
When that happened with K@, I realized it had to be a tolerance thing.
But when it happened with Kava, I felt like something was up.

I researched mal-absorption, on the hunch that it SEEMED like my body wasn't processing stuff the way it should.
(My FIRST thought was that my liver was failing... or something extreme like that.)

Seeing that caffeine can interfere with vitamin/supplement absorption, I quit drinking my cups in the morning.
The next - and BIGGEST - thing that helped, was to add oil to my supplement routine.

A super kind and helpful member here shared some info with me about sunflower lecithin. I was pleased to learn of it, because I didn't want to be taking soy lecithin every day.
While picking up some sunflower lecithin, I also grabbed a bottle of MCT (Medium Chain Triglyceride) oil. It's derived from coconuts and extremely easy for the body to absorb.

I know terms like "game-changer" are often thrown around too quickly, but I'm telling you... this stuff has been HUGE for me.

SIDE-BENEFIT, and one I didn't even notice, because I was more blown away by how GOOD I feel:
Within a week, my dermo was gone. I'm no longer slathering Amlactin all over myself at night.

What I'm accustomed to is waking up feeling "low", getting a little boost from supplements for an hour or so, and absolutely dragging through work by 2pm.
Previously, I would look forward to my after-work Kava session, but that got to a place where I was not only not feeling the positive effects - it would even sometimes leave me feeling worse than when I started the session.

I wanted to come here and post the day after this new change, but felt like I should wait and see if it wasn't a fluke.
(I'm also more of a pessimist, and when things are going well I find myself almost waiting for things to NOT go well. I know that's not the way to be.)

Granted, cutting out the one or two cups of coffee in morning may be playing a bigger factor in this than I anticipated.
But I really think it has more to do with the addition of oil/fat.

For the curious: I take a tablespoon (15ml) in the morning when I take my supplements. I also add just shy of that when I drink Kava in the evenings.

This whole experience made me think of Julia Childs: "You need some fat in your diet, or your body can't process your vitamins."

 

[The Kap'n]

Nice! Thank you for taking the time to let us know.

This could help quite a few people.

 

[AlexisReal]

I've had a pretty revolutionary change the past few days, and if it can help someone else, I felt it was worth sharing.

Simply, I had reached a place where the things I were taking were not giving me the same anxiolytic and mood-lifting effects I was accustomed to.
When that happened with K@, I realized it had to be a tolerance thing.
But when it happened with Kava, I felt like something was up.

I researched mal-absorption, on the hunch that it SEEMED like my body wasn't processing stuff the way it should.
(My FIRST thought was that my liver was failing... or something extreme like that.)

Seeing that caffeine can interfere with vitamin/supplement absorption, I quit drinking my cups in the morning.
The next - and BIGGEST - thing that helped, was to add oil to my supplement routine.

A super kind and helpful member here shared some info with me about sunflower lecithin. I was pleased to learn of it, because I didn't want to be taking soy lecithin every day.
While picking up some sunflower lecithin, I also grabbed a bottle of MCT (Medium Chain Triglyceride) oil. It's derived from coconuts and extremely easy for the body to absorb.

I know terms like "game-changer" are often thrown around too quickly, but I'm telling you... this stuff has been HUGE for me.

SIDE-BENEFIT, and one I didn't even notice, because I was more blown away by how GOOD I feel:
Within a week, my dermo was gone. I'm no longer slathering Amlactin all over myself at night.

What I'm accustomed to is waking up feeling "low", getting a little boost from supplements for an hour or so, and absolutely dragging through work by 2pm.
Previously, I would look forward to my after-work Kava session, but that got to a place where I was not only not feeling the positive effects - it would even sometimes leave me feeling worse than when I started the session.

I wanted to come here and post the day after this new change, but felt like I should wait and see if it wasn't a fluke.
(I'm also more of a pessimist, and when things are going well I find myself almost waiting for things to NOT go well. I know that's not the way to be.)

Granted, cutting out the one or two cups of coffee in morning may be playing a bigger factor in this than I anticipated.
But I really think it has more to do with the addition of oil/fat.

For the curious: I take a tablespoon (15ml) in the morning when I take my supplements. I also add just shy of that when I drink Kava in the evenings.

This whole experience made me think of Julia Childs: "You need some fat in your diet, or your body can't process your vitamins."

I have been eating, not MCT oil, but organic coconut oil, 40-60 grams a day for a decade now, plus plenty ex V olive oil. High, natural fat diet.

So if a person's overall fat intake was pretty low, especially natural saturated fats, I would assume that could inhibit the effects of kava.

But maybe you are suggesting that MCT oil in particular, has a greater potentiating power.

But I wonder if your dietary intake of healthy natural, and especially the establishment villianally and wronfully demonised saturated fats like coconut oil and butter, was inadequate before you added 30ml MCT oil daily.

 

[Zaphod]

I've had a pretty revolutionary change the past few days, and if it can help someone else, I felt it was worth sharing.

Simply, I had reached a place where the things I were taking were not giving me the same anxiolytic and mood-lifting effects I was accustomed to.
When that happened with K@, I realized it had to be a tolerance thing.
But when it happened with Kava, I felt like something was up.

I researched mal-absorption, on the hunch that it SEEMED like my body wasn't processing stuff the way it should.
(My FIRST thought was that my liver was failing... or something extreme like that.)

Seeing that caffeine can interfere with vitamin/supplement absorption, I quit drinking my cups in the morning.
The next - and BIGGEST - thing that helped, was to add oil to my supplement routine.

A super kind and helpful member here shared some info with me about sunflower lecithin. I was pleased to learn of it, because I didn't want to be taking soy lecithin every day.
While picking up some sunflower lecithin, I also grabbed a bottle of MCT (Medium Chain Triglyceride) oil. It's derived from coconuts and extremely easy for the body to absorb.

I know terms like "game-changer" are often thrown around too quickly, but I'm telling you... this stuff has been HUGE for me.

SIDE-BENEFIT, and one I didn't even notice, because I was more blown away by how GOOD I feel:
Within a week, my dermo was gone. I'm no longer slathering Amlactin all over myself at night.

What I'm accustomed to is waking up feeling "low", getting a little boost from supplements for an hour or so, and absolutely dragging through work by 2pm.
Previously, I would look forward to my after-work Kava session, but that got to a place where I was not only not feeling the positive effects - it would even sometimes leave me feeling worse than when I started the session.

I wanted to come here and post the day after this new change, but felt like I should wait and see if it wasn't a fluke.
(I'm also more of a pessimist, and when things are going well I find myself almost waiting for things to NOT go well. I know that's not the way to be.)

Granted, cutting out the one or two cups of coffee in morning may be playing a bigger factor in this than I anticipated.
But I really think it has more to do with the addition of oil/fat.

For the curious: I take a tablespoon (15ml) in the morning when I take my supplements. I also add just shy of that when I drink Kava in the evenings.

This whole experience made me think of Julia Childs: "You need some fat in your diet, or your body can't process your vitamins."

Interesting. I have been a big believer in fish oil for the last year or so and it has been great. I was a bit skeptical on coconut/mct oil but I might re-look at it again. My current supplement regime must haves that effect my mood: Fish Oil, Vitamin D3, and Zinc. I notice a significant difference if I miss a day of these three. Others supplements are on and ad-hoc basis and include an amino acid mix, l-theanine, occasional CBD. I have played around with some nootropics as well...with mixed results, but the big three are a must.

 

[TrevC]

I have been eating, not MCT oil, but organic coconut oil, 40-60 grams a day for a decade now, plus plenty ex V olive oil. High, natural fat diet.

So if a person's overall fat intake was pretty low, especially natural saturated fats, I would assume that could inhibit the effects of kava.

But maybe you are suggesting that MCT oil in particular, has a greater potentiating power.

But I wonder if your dietary intake of healthy natural, and especially the establishment villianally and wronfully demonised saturated fats like coconut oil and butter, was inadequate before you added 30ml MCT oil daily.

THIS is what I wonder as well! To be honest, I don't think I have gotten enough good old-fashioned FATS in my diet.
I'm seeing all the new research now that it ("fat") was wrongfully villainized.

Someone here, in another thread, used an illustration of leather. Once turned to leather, water can't bring it back - it just sorta runs off it. Oil is a different story.
I'm not quoting it right, and would be hard-pressed to find it now, but that illustration stuck with me.

I feel like over time, I reached a place where my body desperately needed some fats.
Despite working out over the past few years, drinking protein shakes, etc... I was never able to gain much muscle mass. Really low body fat %.

 

[TrevC]

Interesting. I have been a big believer in fish oil for the last year or so and it has been great. I was a bit skeptical on coconut/mct oil but I might re-look at it again. My current supplement regime must haves that effect my mood: Fish Oil, Vitamin D3, and Zinc. I notice a significant difference if I miss a day of these three. Others supplements are on and ad-hoc basis and include an amino acid mix, l-theanine, occasional CBD. I have played around with some nootropics as well...with mixed results, but the big three are a must.

I'm also a fan of D3, and take it with K2, mostly out of concern for arterial calcification (the two are a good pair and reportedly prevent this).
Zinc is one of those I don't take as often, because it's one of the only ones I DON'T take on an empty stomach, so it tends to get forgotten about.
Thank you for the reminder!

 

[Yogini]

I've had a pretty revolutionary change the past few days, and if it can help someone else, I felt it was worth sharing.

Simply, I had reached a place where the things I were taking were not giving me the same anxiolytic and mood-lifting effects I was accustomed to.
When that happened with K@, I realized it had to be a tolerance thing.
But when it happened with Kava, I felt like something was up.

I researched mal-absorption, on the hunch that it SEEMED like my body wasn't processing stuff the way it should.
(My FIRST thought was that my liver was failing... or something extreme like that.)

Seeing that caffeine can interfere with vitamin/supplement absorption, I quit drinking my cups in the morning.
The next - and BIGGEST - thing that helped, was to add oil to my supplement routine.

A super kind and helpful member here shared some info with me about sunflower lecithin. I was pleased to learn of it, because I didn't want to be taking soy lecithin every day.
While picking up some sunflower lecithin, I also grabbed a bottle of MCT (Medium Chain Triglyceride) oil. It's derived from coconuts and extremely easy for the body to absorb.

I know terms like "game-changer" are often thrown around too quickly, but I'm telling you... this stuff has been HUGE for me.

SIDE-BENEFIT, and one I didn't even notice, because I was more blown away by how GOOD I feel:
Within a week, my dermo was gone. I'm no longer slathering Amlactin all over myself at night.

What I'm accustomed to is waking up feeling "low", getting a little boost from supplements for an hour or so, and absolutely dragging through work by 2pm.
Previously, I would look forward to my after-work Kava session, but that got to a place where I was not only not feeling the positive effects - it would even sometimes leave me feeling worse than when I started the session.

I wanted to come here and post the day after this new change, but felt like I should wait and see if it wasn't a fluke.
(I'm also more of a pessimist, and when things are going well I find myself almost waiting for things to NOT go well. I know that's not the way to be.)

Granted, cutting out the one or two cups of coffee in morning may be playing a bigger factor in this than I anticipated.
But I really think it has more to do with the addition of oil/fat.

For the curious: I take a tablespoon (15ml) in the morning when I take my supplements. I also add just shy of that when I drink Kava in the evenings.

This whole experience made me think of Julia Childs: "You need some fat in your diet, or your body can't process your vitamins."

MCT has been on my radar for a while so I just ordered some. I know that I don't get enough fat in my diet but my body also is struggling to assimilate food (possible gastroparesis which I need more tests for) and fats are extremely difficult for me to assimilate. My diet is extremely simple which isn't necessarily a bad thing by any means. I love very good food in small portions. I have been using coconut milk as a potentate, diet aside, for kava and it works nicely. I'm interested in MCT for other reasons but this is great to know.

 

[AlexisReal]

MCT has been on my radar for a while so I just ordered some. I know that I don't get enough fat in my diet but my body also is struggling to assimilate food (possible gastroparesis which I need more tests for) and fats are extremely difficult for me to assimilate. My diet is extremely simple which isn't necessarily a bad thing by any means. I love very good food in small portions. I have been using coconut milk as a potentate, diet aside, for kava and it works nicely. I'm interested in MCT for other reasons but this is great to know.

One truly, and IMO still massively underappreciated, or unknown aspect of plain old coconut oil itself- it does not have to be metabolised by the liver.

Im not sure on this next point, which has just entered my thoughts, because I have never researched it....but Im not aware of any other fats that do not require the liver for proper digestion.

Even the very best, most medicinal fat of all- proper organic ghee (homemade best), may not be fully digestible without the liver.

So coconut oil basically doesn't need to be digested. It actually supports the gall bladder and aids in general fat digestion, and has a myriad of health benefits, especially all round antimicrobial action.

But so does butter and ghee.

The man made fats, are pure demonic poison. Seriously. All refined oils (except standard, non-extra virgin Olive oil, are pure poison and indigestible, destructive to healthy gall bladder function and very cancer causing.)

I speak of margarine, refined oils any kind- sunflower, groundnut, soya bean, canola etc.

Also, originally, when these particular man-made fats were marketed to the world public many decades ago alongside Stern health warnings about natural saturated fats like butter and coconut oil and lard etc, which they claimed were the chief cause of heart disease, one very strong selling points they argued was that these man-made refined oils could withstand high temperature heating without producing as many carcinogens.

At least three or 4 years ago now it was scientifically proven without question that out of all of the fats tested including coconut oil and olive oil cold pressed versions, which they said were really terrible to heat to high temperatures and produced large amounts of carcinogens, anyway they tested all of these fats at various temperatures including the man-made refined versions and even extra virgin olive oil was shown to produce a surprisingly low amount of carcinogens at very high temperatures compared to what we were informed and led to believe by the establishment and food industry.

But most alarmingly all of the refined fat versions produced carcinogens literally off the scale like more than 10 times as much so this politically correct fat which is used in virtually all takeaways and publicly available food over the majority of the world and in hospitals and old people's homes and schools is actually incredibly carcinogenic when heated and cancer causing, completely contrary to one of its strongest original selling points.

Coconut oil was shown to the absolute King in producing very little if any carcinogens when heated to very high temperatures.

so the type of that you eat is absolutely essential and man-made fat just like man-made refined salt is poison which is so obvious when you think about it you alter nature how can you expect it to be good for your body?

That was not directed at yourself or anybody here by the way just a general statement.

One final quick points these natural healthy saturated fats if you take at least a teaspoon with your vegetables they play a very important role in assisting the nutrient absorption from the vegetables. You would not get the same level of nutrient absorption from vegetables with olive oil however healthy it can be.

 

[AlexisReal]

One other random note. I still can't help feel that the MCT oil hype is overrated. Essentially, it is a byproduct of coconut oil distillation, where the many super medicinal compounds such as capryllic and capric acid, laurel etc, are extracted and turned into expensive supplements.

Im not saying anything negative about MCT oil. It is very expensive though, vs organic coconut oil, which has the full range of health benefits, and is choc full enough of MCT oil already.

Just my feelings though.

 

[AlexisReal]

I'm also a fan of D3, and take it with K2, mostly out of concern for arterial calcification (the two are a good pair and reportedly prevent this).
Zinc is one of those I don't take as often, because it's one of the only ones I DON'T take on an empty stomach, so it tends to get forgotten about.
Thank you for the reminder!

 

[AlexisReal]

Hi again. I hope some of the above info I posted on fats may be useful to you as well.

I also take vitamin D3 daily. I use Nature's Answer vitamon d drops, purely synthesised from sheeps wool, all natural. It is a very good and effective vitamin D supplement, as pure as any.

I can't tolerate any zinc supplements, but maybe I should make an effort to consume a few oysters when next available (only on months with R in them I believe(?) From old memory.)

I am intolerant to most like 99% of supplements, and have never fpund a zinc supplement I can tolerate.

But I eat organic grass fed beef fat, I believe it contains K2.

Also for a very good source of K2 is the western price grass fed butter oil or something along that description. I tried it, couldn't tolerate it at all, but is a super nutritious product.

Alomg with the fermented, raw cod liver oil.

Also EVCLO, extra virgin cod liver oil is an incredibly powerful medicinal form of cod liver oil which is far more nutritious and beneficial I believe then the other cod liver oils on the market perhaps with the exception of the fermented version.

 

[Zaphod]

MCT has been on my radar for a while so I just ordered some. I know that I don't get enough fat in my diet but my body also is struggling to assimilate food (possible gastroparesis which I need more tests for) and fats are extremely difficult for me to assimilate. My diet is extremely simple which isn't necessarily a bad thing by any means. I love very good food in small portions. I have been using coconut milk as a potentate, diet aside, for kava and it works nicely. I'm interested in MCT for other reasons but this is great to know.

Just a caution - there is a fine line for me using mct oil between "that is great" and "holy hell I need to find a bathroom quick". Others have experienced the same issue so it isn't just me.

 

[Yogini]

Just a caution - there is a fine line for me using mct oil between "that is great" and "holy hell I need to find a bathroom quick". Others have experienced the same issue so it isn't just me.

Thanks for the warning! From what I've read you have to work your way into it a tsp at a time.