Can Medium-Chain Triglycerides Help with Alzheimer’s Disease?

Medium-chain triglycerides are hot today. Derived from coconut oil or palm oil, they have the advantage of being used for energy without much processing by the liver. People doing the ketogenic diet use them, as well as athletes looking for more energy. From a medical perspective, MCTs are used for people with fat-absorption problems and to treat epilepsy in some people. For today, I’ll focus on the use of MCTs for preventing and treating Alzheimer’s disease.

From an examination of the research on those two specific areas, the research is sparse. There’s little to no research that MCTs will prevent Alzheimer’s disease. There are a couple of small studies that have been done to treat Alzheimer’s patients with coconut oil or MCTs, but the results are equivocal.

The reason MCTs may benefit the brain is energy production via a non-sugar-based pathway. Whether additional energy for the brain helps learning and memory is unknown. What seems clear is that prediabetes and type 2 diabetes contributes to the development of Alzheimer’s, so it seems more important to lower refined carbohydrates and eat a more plant-based diet. I think including extra virgin coconut oil in a better diet could be helpful. At this point, specific MCT products seem unwarranted due to the lack of research. They may prove to be useful for some groups based on genetics, phenotype, and microbiome. Just not yet.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

References:

1. Lancet Neurol. 2018 Jan;17(1):84-93. doi: 10.1016/S1474-4422(17)30408-8.
2. Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen. 2014 Aug;29(5):409-14. doi: 10.1177/1533317513518650.