The energy balance theory of weight gain states that if you eat it and don’t burn it, you’ll store it. This is based on the same tired old mantra that eating too much food makes you fat. However, the nutritional literature does not support this contention and there are many example of studies that show clearly it is not how much you eat, but what you eat that makes you fat. Medium chain triglycerides are one such food that will not fit neatly into the energy balance paradigm, much to the annoyance of those who believe in calorie counting and other fanciful dietary notions. Commercially available medium chain triglycerides are lipids that contain 75 % of their fatty acids as C8 and 25 % of their fatty acids as C10 in length. These fatty acids are naturally occurring in coconut oil and butter, but it is coconut oil that is used to make commercial preparations. Medium (and short) chain fatty acids are not absorbed in the same way as longer chain fatty acids, but are instead absorbed directly to the portal vein and transported to the liver.
It is this transport route that makes medium and short chain fatty acids confer different metabolic effects to longer chain fatty acids found in most foods. Once in the liver medium chain fatty acids are oxidised immediately as a source of energy. In this way medium chain fatty acids are far less likely to be stored as fat than longer chain fatty acids, which are absorbed to the circulation and are then passed from their lipoprotein carrier molecules to adipose tissue. But a calorie is a calorie and over eating any food should cause weight gain if it tips the energy balance equation to the positive right? The fallacy of this statement was shown in a study1where rats were infused with either long chain or medium chain fatty acids through a gastrostomy tube. After 6 weeks of consuming 45 % of their diet as fatty acids, the rats infused with the medium chain triglycerides had gained 20 % less weight, despite consuming the exact same amount of energy. In addition the adipocyte size was smaller in the rats fed medium chain triglycerides and fat deposits were 23 % lighter.
These results support the contention that medium chain triglycerides are an effective tool for fat loss. Although this study was performed on rats, and rats are not humans, the conditions in the experiment were able to be controlled such that the rats diets and exercise levels were controlled precisely by the researchers. There is no doubt therefore that the medium chain triglycerides did not induce the same degree of weight gain as the longer chain fatty acids. This exposes the calorie is a calorie myth for what it really is. The energy balance theory of weight gain makes no sense and is not supported scientifically. The body is far more complex that a seesaw that depicts food intake on one side and resting metabolic rate and physical activity on the other, as can be found in most dietetic and medical textbooks. The different ways that nutrients are metabolised has a strong influence on the oxidation and storage of energy and this in turn has a strong influence of weight gain. You are what you eat, not how much you eat.
Dr Robert Barrington’s Nutritional Recommendation: Medium chain triglycerides are not readily stored as fat. Swapping some of the longer chain triglycerides for those with chains of medium or short length may be an effective weight loss strategy. Athletes can also use short and medium chain triglycerides as a source of energy because they are readily oxidised for energy.
RdB
