Just a quick warning to anyone trying MCT. I began taking a tablespoon with my coffee, a long with a tablespoon of heavy cream a couple of weeks ago. I used to have a resting heart rate of around 39 bpm. I began to notice it rising daily. I also began having diarrhea regularly (sorry TMI) and severe abdominal cramping. I didn’t connect it to MCT, I thought my electrolytes were out of whack. I tried and tried to get them back in balance. Upped my sodium to 5 to 7 grams and began supplementing potassium. Still my heart rate continued to climb. Then began the palpitations, horrible! I felt like my heart was going to jump out of my chest. The diarrhea continued to worsen, as did the cramping. My palpitations were so bad 2 nights ago my watch did not even record my sleep, I received an error message that said it was unable to record a consistent heart rhythm. My resting heart rate has climbed to 73 bpm! I asked myself what is different and it dawned on me it was the MCT! I did some research and sure enough my symptoms were a reaction to MCT! Apparently some people have a genetic mutation that causes them to react this way to MCT, and I even read that something like 40% of people in Germany have this mutation (my grandmother is German.) Now, I know you can’t believe everything you read online but I find all this too much to be a coincidence and wanted to warn others. I really did and still do feel like I was dying. I didn’t take any MCT this morning and only made it an hour at work before coming home, feeling weak, severe heart palpitations, cramping, etc. I read it can take a few days for things to return to normal. I wasn’t even taking huge amounts, some people take 3 tablespoons a day! I hope if anyone reading this is having similar symptoms they consider stopping their MCT to see if they get better. Just wanted to make others aware of my experience.
MCT oil almost killed me
This is why it’s always advised to start with very small amounts and let your body adjust to it.
I didn’t know! Honestly after what I’ve been through I will never touch the stuff again, even in small amounts. I’ll stick to my butter and other healthy fats😬
Thank you for sharing. For me, it helps me feel full past lunch and helps to move things along. I don’t use it much as I don’t need the extra fat. I’m sorry is been detrimental for you.
By the way, are you an elite athlete? Even when I was training really hard with road racing, my resting heart rate wasn’t 39 - nor was anyone’s on my team.
I am not elite but I have always had a resting heart rate on the low end, in the 50s but once I became a runner it dropped even more. I went to a cardiologist last year because it concerned by primary care doctor. After a full workup I was diagnosed with athlete’s heart, which is harmless. If I stopped running my heart rate would return to the 50s.
It’s good you had it checked and it seems like a good baseline for knowing if something is going wrong. MCT is definitely not necessary for keto. I’m sure you’ve already thrown it out the window.
I’m experiencing similar side effects. How long did this take to stop once you cut out the mct oil?
Roderick, I ended up going to the emergency room because the pain became unbearable! They did a CT scan of bowels and they were lit up like a Christmas tree! Nothing else showed up on bloodwork or anything. I believe it took almost a whole week to get completely back to normal and pain free. I’ve never touched the stuff again. I hope that your symptoms resolve soon.
Thanks for the reply! I can’t find much info on this. I had upped my dosing recently and that’s when I noticed the heart pounding.i went to urgent care and they ran a ekg and it was normal. I’m a super active guy so to have heart issues is rather odd. I’ve stopped taking the mct oil and any other stimulants that can rev up my heart like coffee. I’m hoping this passes soon.
Urgent care recommended a physical to see what’s going on and a visit to the cardiologist
Sometimes overtraining can create the same symptoms. Are you new to keto or low carb? I noticed similar symptoms when I first went keto but they resolved quickly. The main problem I had with MCT was the abdominal pain.
The reason people have problems like this is not enough fiber in ratios to MCT’s. Never eat or drink more MCT’s than you do fiber (e.g. leafy greens, cruciferous veggies). Or eat or drink too much of it?
And make sure your MCT’s are cold pressed extra virgin, not chemically extracted or heat extracted.
I no longer do MCT’s.
I use to do Bullet Proof Coffees until I was bouncing off the walls (literally). It does scary things with your heart and can contribute to POTS syndrome, so I learned my lesson.
I learned my lesson too. Just because someone else does it with no side effects doesn’t mean it’s good for me.
Im on a low carb diet. I’ve lost 15lbs in the last 3 months
The only thing that was different before I started feeling this way was upping the dose of mct.
I generally workout 6x a week. I run,cycle,surf,Muay Thai,and lifting. I do a lot but I’ve maintained this kind of a routine for quite some time with no issues other than always being sore lol
My only assumption is the damn mct oil. And after I found this forum I thought that’s exactly what has to be causing this
MCT has to be the problem! I’d bet money in a few days your heartrate will settle down.
Thanks for your post. I am reading it after searching “Palpitations and MCT” from my hospital bed after dozens of tests. My HRM jumped up to 198 and stayed stuck after I abandoned my workout and them climbed to 240 as I drove to the nearby satellite ER nearest to me. It stayed high for 10 minutes. The only i had before that run was MCT oil…
Let us know what happens, if everything returns to normal.
Anyone have any idea on why MCT might cause this?