Since 1975, worldwide obesity has tripled. In 2016, the number of adults who were obese reached an estimated 650 million people. That accounts for about 13 percent of the world’s adult population. (1)
It’s a bit scary.
As we work toward losing weight through eating according to the ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting, many people reach for supplements like MCT oils to boost their ketone levels.
You might be among them. You might wonder how to use MCT oil while intermittent fasting.
Studies are ongoing, and a lot of the research is new. However, there are answers for people who want to know how to use MCT oil while intermittent fasting.
We’ve pulled these into some simple steps you can follow to boost your fat-burning power, increase your overall health and slow your aging process. (2)
Step One: Decide on the type of intermittent fasting you’re going to do.
Intermittent fasting is an approach to losing weight and increasing health by restricting calories. Preliminary studies indicate it has strong possibilities for helping with weight loss and for preventing type 2 diabetes.
Rather than focusing on a daily constriction of calories, you restrict caloric intake a few days each week. Intermittent fasting is often done for one to three days a week.
There are a few different ways to do intermittent fasting. One method is an alternate-day fasting. With alternate day fasting, you’ll eat about 75% less calories every other day. When it was studied, this method indicated that risks for developing diabetes decreased. (3)
That’s not the only option, though. Here are a few others to consider:
- Eat for five days, fast for two days. On the fast days, you’ll only consume 500-600 calories per day. You can eat normally on the other two days.
- 24-hour fasts, done once or twice a week—on your fasting days, you would only have light beverages. No solid food allowed.
- Fast for 16 hours out of every day and allow yourself to eat during the other eight hours
- Snack on fresh, raw fruits and veggies through the day, and eat one decent meal at night.
- Skip meals. If you’re just too busy to eat, turn it into a spontaneous fast. Just make sure you eat normally when you do finally get to a meal, and don’t overdo the calories.
While intermittent fasting isn’t an easy form of dieting, it does have some significant benefits. It reduces inflammation and can help your body fight off disease. Along with that, you lose weight. (4)
Step Two: Settle on an MCT oil supplement
As you learn how to use MCT oil while intermittent fasting, you might find out several surprising benefits.
Before you start looking seriously at the types of supplements out there, quickly review what you’re getting into:
- For starters, you’ll burn fat faster when you use MCT oil. (5)
- You’ll also store less fat. Also, since your body temperature rises when you take MCT oil, you’ll be using more energy. This is an indication that you’re probably burning fat. (6)
- Taking MCT oil might also change the way you expend energy, which could result in a different body composition. (7)
Overall, using MCT oil works better for reducing fat and body weight than olive oil does. (8)
So how do you go about choosing an MCT oil to take when you’re looking at how to use MCT oil while intermittent fasting?
Not all MCT oils work the same in your body
For example, there’s a difference between an MCT oil supplement and MCT oils.
MCT oils are medium-chain triglycerides. MCT oil molecules have shorter carbon chains than many other fats do, and this allows your body to process them differently.
When you take MCT oil, it goes almost directly to your liver, where it’s turned into ketones. Your body can then use these ketones for energy in place of carbohydrates. (9)
It’s the form you take them in that makes the difference.
MCT oils are found naturally in coconut oil (60 percent), palm kernel oil (50 percent), and dairy products (10-12 percent). However, these natural sources also have long-chain triglycerides. 10
MCT oil supplements, on the other hand, are derived from these natural sources. They’re pure MCT oils, though, so they’re more potent.
Now that you know this, you can choose whether you want to consume the whole-food sources of MCT oils or whether you want to go to the potent MCT oil supplements.
If you choose a whole-food source, you might find it at a local health food store or order it online. Finding a good MCT oil supplement, an exogenous ketone supplement and other keto-handy tools requires more research.
How do you want to take your MCT oil supplement?
MCT oil supplements can come in pill form, powder form or as oil in a bottle. There are benefits to each. Pills are easy to take. You can cook with the oils, and the MCT oil powder is easy to add to a variety of foods and to take on the go.
If you’ve decided on the type of product you like best, you can start shopping. Choose the best MCT oil for your lifestyle and make a purchase.
Step three: figure out your routine and build up your doses of MCT oil
MCT oils can have some side effects, including stomach cramps and diarrhea. One way to avoid the negative side effects of MCT oil is to start with small doses and work up to larger ones. Start with about a teaspoon a day. Work up to taking two tablespoons or more of your MCT oil supplement each day.
Dovetailing MCT oils and intermittent fasting
If you’ve built up your ability to take a decent amount of MCT oil, you can combine it with intermittent fasting to boost your fat-burning ability. Taking a dose as you start your fast can give you the burst of energy you need as well as push your body into fat-burning mode.
Conclusion on how to use MCT oil while intermittent fasting
Discovering how to use MCT oil while intermittent fasting is mostly about understanding what goes into both intermittent fasting and how MCT oil works in your body.
With a solid understanding, you’ll be able to combine the two methods to slim down quickly, increase your health, fight off disease and ultimately slow the aging process in your body.
