How much MCT oil should I take daily?
MCT oils are extremely popular supplements right now. They have been growing in popularity for a number of years now as people have been becoming generally more health conscious. In particular, the popularity of intermittent fasting and the keto diet have taken MCT oils from niche supplements to almost a consumer staple (in the form of coconut oil at least).
More people today are using MCT oil than ever before. However, we think many people are not using MCT oil properly; in other words, they’re not getting everything they could be out of this very interesting supplement. Worse still, many people seem to be taking far too much MCT oil on a daily basis.
In fact, we’d go as far as to say that most users of the best MCT oil supplements don’t know how much they should be taking every day.
Let’s look at some of the reasons you might be using MCT oil for and see how much you should be taking daily for those goals.
How much MCT oil should I take daily as a pre-workout?
One of the most common ways that people use MCT oil is as a pre-workout.
MCT oil is rapidly converted to ketone bodies in the liver. These ketone bodies can then be rapidly used by the brain as fuel. The brain can use ketone bodies as fuel as readily as it can use glucose – in other words, FAST!
For people who are training in a fasted state, this makes MCT oil an ideal pre-workout. Training on zero blood sugar will leave you with severe brain fog, demotivated, and unable to focus on your workout. MCTs can provide your brain with the fuel it needs to stay focused and motivated through even the most gruelling workout.
So how much should you take?
Wit MCT oil, you cannot be too precise. Doses are normally measured in teaspoons and tablespoons. We think 1-2 tablespoons added to your morning coffee is plenty to fuel an intense workout. You may want to take another tablespoon with your post-workout shake for regain mental energy and refuel the body with lost fats.
How much MCT oil should I take daily for weight loss?
What about using MCT oil for weight loss? How much should you be using then?
For enhancing weight loss, you aren’t trying to provide the brain with a big dose of energy before a major workout. Instead, you’re trying to raise mental energy levels in a sustained way throughout the day. You’re also trying to stimulate fat burning and mitochondrial efficiency all day long. We therefore advise you to take a different approach to dosing MCT oil when trying to maximize weight loss.
For weight loss, you should take smaller amounts of MCT oil at regular intervals throughout the day. One dosing schedule might be a teaspoon with black coffee in the morning, a tablespoon over a salad or granola at breakfast, a teaspoon with lunch, and a teaspoon with dinner. In total, for boosting fat loss we recommend taking 2 tablespoons of MCT oil per day broken up into smaller servings of 1 teaspoon.
How much MCT oil can you take daily maximum?
What is the maximum amount of MCT oil that you should be taking daily?
The typical dose of MCT oil is one to two tablespoons per day. Once your body adapts to the increase in daily MCT consumption, you can up your dosage daily, teaspoon by teaspoon, until you are having up to 4 tablespoons a day. This is typically the maximum dose of MCT oil that people can take before they experience side effects.
Side effects of taking too much MCT oil
What happens if you take too much MCT oil daily?
The main side effects of taking too MCT oil include:
- Diarrhea
- Stomach cramps
- Indigestion
- Bloating
These side effects are transient; they almost always stop a soon as you stop taking MCT oil daily.
The severity of the side effects is directly correlated wit the amount of MCT oil you’re consuming every day.
Obviously, there is going to be a lot of variation user-to-user. Some of you will be able to take 5 tablespoons of MCT oil every day without any issues whatsoever. Others will start experiencing diarrhea at two tablespoons per day.
You need to find the dose that works for you and only increase your daily MCT oil dose slowly over time.
Learn more