I recently wrote an article about the differences between MCT and Coconut oils on NutriONN blog: http://www.nutrionn.com/keto-guide-mct-oil-vs-coconut-oil/ Although coconut oil and MCT oil may seem to have many fairly similar health benefits, they are actually different and can be used for various reasons.
MCT content in coconut oil is approximately 60%. Coconut oil consists roughly of 45% lauric acid, 8% caprylic acid and 7% capric acid. It’s important to keep in mind that although lauric acid is also considered as an MCT, it is being metabolized more like a long-chain fatty acid. However, MCT’s in MCT oil don’t go through the regular metabolization process in your digestive system. Instead, they are directly sent to your liver where they are instantly burned for energy.
MCT oil vs. coconut oil?
Ah. Good article. I have been trying some MCT I got from Walmart. It tears my stomach apart. I’ll keep trying it for a little longer, and maybe try some other brands before I pass judgement. Thanks for the article!
Thanks! Look for MCT oil with the least added ingredients and as pure as possible. Definitely make sure it’s sourced from coconuts and no palm oil is being used!
Just to confirm @Shortstuff’s warning, I have had bulletproof coffee the last two days with 3tbsp MCT oil in the last two days and have had massive stomach cramps and diarrhea. Normally I love a good diarrhea - it’s very cleansing and I feel renewed afterward. However, yesterday, I probably spent 45 minutes straight on the pot. It started to not be fun anymore. Today wasn’t as bad, but I’m probably at about 20 minutes so far, and maybe more to come lol!
Anyway, as I said above, I’ll give it some more time, maybe my body needs to adjust, maybe not. Maybe I need another brand. We’ll see.
Sorry if it’s TMI
I was up to 2-3 Tbsp of coconut oil per coffee, blending with immersion blender, but I buy this now and don’t regret the dust on the blender and my tummy is much stabler going into workouts:
https://www.amazon.com/Nutricost-MCT-Oil-Powder-5LB/dp/B0772V1WXY/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1524854142&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=nutricost+mct+oil+powder&psc=1
One scoop per 20-32oz of coffee and it’s about as creamy as putting HWC in it. I still add a blip of HWC though, finding it hard to break that habit.
Reduce the amount and build back up gradually as you get used to it! Honestly, start with a teaspoon only!!
Well now I know what caused me so much trouble on my very first Keto breakfast - a
Rocket Fuel Latte made with 1 tablespoon MCT oil. Within a half hour I was experiencing stomach cramps and diarrhea.
Oh well, I’m used to it now.
The MCT oil, not the stomach cramps and diarrhea that is. 
Not a fan of highly engineered/processed MCT oil at all, despite Dave Asprey’s generous enthusiasm about it (and I appreciate many other aspects of his self experimentation) and the many marketers expounding on our need for their pricey extra-processed industrial food products…
My hunch is that basic, traditionally low tech coconut oil (wet-milled) used in coffee and smoothies or melted over tasty foods shows its benefits over time - as does ghee!!! They are highly esteemed in various traditional medicine lineages.
I know for my own n=1 my brainz have been fantastic with a minimum of one tblsp coconut oil per day, and that an additional tblsp is even better - along with cooking with ghee whenever I can manage to make it.
Dr. Mary Newport’s work w/ coconut oil reversing Alzheimer’s for many years in her own husband is rather compelling too - Dr. Mary Dan Eades and Dr. Michael Eades wrote about her in Protein Power. Here’s a video of her: https://youtu.be/Dfux-5Z4COo
I purchase large containers of quality coconut oil on Amazon at cheap prices - either Butcher Boy’s or Nutiva.
This super large study study on virgin coconut oil (not extra virgin, and not highly refined - just virgin) conducted in the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Kerala in India is interesting on another angle related to lipids & protein antioxidation and enzymes - which sounds rejuvenating. Unfortunately though - conducted on rats (as if it is a human right to experiment on animals, but I digress).
They observed increased activities of catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase and glutathione reductase in the liver, heart, and kidneys.
Someday though I’d love to learn this neo-traditional homemade coconut oil making routine from Sweet Sister Copey!!! It’s a traditional handicraft really… involves a lot of skill to harvest the coconut flesh - and last time I tried to crack a coconut it was not good…
I agree with Mary. I’m getting out of processed food in general, so one that is theoretically better does not hold interest for me. I feel like I’ve been here with vegetable oils before.
I agree. I find it a contradiction. If ketogenic lifestyle is all about “non-processed” foods, the what is MCT oil doing in there?
Personally, I find that I tolerate coconut oil better than MCT oil. I frequently end up in the bathroom with diarrhea when I consume MCT oil without food. I sometimes end up in the bathroom even when I consume it with food.
I’ve been reading Dr. Bruce Fife’s book, The Coconut Oil Miracle. He says that coconut oil has three MCFAs: lauric acid (48%), caprylic acid (8%), and capric acid (7%). He further says that MCT oil consists of about 75% caprylic acid and 25% capric acid (which is different than caprylic acid). It is his opinion that a major drawback of MCT oil is that it contains little or no lauric acid. Later in the book, he discusses health benefits associated with lauric acid, including its antimicrobial, antifungal, and antiviral properties. (I haven’t actually gotten to that part of the book yet - I’ve only now just skimmed it while composing this reply.)
Here’s a link to Fife’s book:
I’ve been using Nature’s Way liquid coconut oil in my fatty (iced) coffees lately- I figured it is processed in some way to keep it liquid at room temperature. The only ingredient listed is coconut oil. Any thoughts? Though further reading of the label this morning states 93% MCTs. This might explain my tummy response to more than 1 Tbsp! But it seems to be less 
inducing than before so that’s good, I guess. In all other things, I use Trader Joe’s unrefined coconut oil because it’s so cheap and good.
I’m not sure this is universally accepted. Firstly, it’s impossible to avoid processed foods. Secondly, they’re not all bad - just certain types of hydrogenated oils and sugar/starch-packed packaged food.
That said, I would love to get to a point in my creativity with keto that I didn’t have to rely on things like bacon and hot dogs to get the fat, but for now it’s working and super convenient. Anyway, avoiding processed foods is not really an official keto tenet, as far as I’m aware, but I’ve been wrong before 
Yes and no. Or no and yes.
Keto is about trying to reduce insulin and eating as naturally as possible. Yes, it’s very hard to go all out whole foods, and some processing is not only acceptable, it’s necessary. You’re not going to get any oil of any kind without some level of processing. I mean, you don’t just crack a coconut open and scoop out the fatty oil.
But one of the ideas behind both Paleo and Keto is to get back to a woe before highly processed foods took over. For Keto, before the agricultural age took hold. There are certainly different levels of adherence to this and many discard it altogether and just focus on the carbs. And that’s fine if it works for them. No judgement here. But we shouldn’t say it isn’t a principle of pure ketogenics. I’m certainly not a purist by any means, but I respect the ideals of it.