FAQ: Do ketone supplements and MCT oil help me burn
more fat?
A: MCT oil and ketone supplements may provide serious
cognitive benefits, but they are often marketed as a weight-
loss aid—for which they are not ideal. Ketones made by
your body are the by-product of fat being burned. When
you add exogenous ketones, which is still a form of energy
that will need to be burned, you’re actually preventing your
body from using its own fat. For weight loss, we think it’s
better and more meaningful to make your own ketones than
to consume them from outside sources.
For people with Alzheimer’s disease or other
neurodegenerative conditions, MCT oil may be particularly
useful. In Alzheimer’s disease, a shift in food preference
occurs where sufferers develop a sweet tooth.^37 This may be
a distress call from their metabolically ailing brains, starving
for energy, to attain sugar in the form of rapidly digestible
carbohydrates—the exact kinds of foods that spike insulin,
drive inflammation, and block ketone production.
Supplementary coconut or MCT oil theoretically may
circumvent this particular issue while dietary carbohydrates
are gradually lowered. When these dietary ketones are given
to sufferers of memory loss, cognition has improved in
some studies, and at least one case report has detailed
positive responses from a patient with advanced
Alzheimer’s who consumed as little as two tablespoons per
day (see sidebar).^38 You can even get a prescription for a