What are MCTs?

There are several types of saturated fats that are made up of a chain of triglycerides. These chains are differentiated into three categories: long, medium, and short-chain triglycerides.

Your body makes short-chain triglycerides (or short-chain fatty acids) when you break food down inside the digestive tract. Short-chain triglycerides can play an important role in maintaining healthy gut bacteria and can be found in fiber-rich foods.

Medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) come from food and are easier for the body to absorb and put to good use versus long-chain triglycerides, and MCTs have been scientifically shown to provide far superior health benefits.

Unlike other fats, MCTs bypass the digestive tract and shoot straight to the liver where they are rapidly metabolized and converted into ketones—your own personal power source with the rare ability to cross the blood-brain barrier. Due to this unique quality, ketones are known as “brain food.”

MCTs may also help reduce overall food intake by improving satiety, which is the signal your brain gives your body that you’re full. So, MCTs can help make you feel fuller more quickly (making it easier to stick to your diet goals).