As an athlete, you know you’re always searching for something that will help you move faster and recover more quickly. Whether your goal is to increase your front squat load or get a PR on Fran, better performance always begins and ends with nutrition.
Everyone is an individual with different fitness goals, and Crossfit Port Saint Lucie is here to help you achieve results whether it’s through CrossFit or other fitness endeavors, including boot camp and our six-week transformation challenge. Up your nutrition game and learn more about MCT supplementation in today’s post.
Athlete Nutrition
If you’ve been in CrossFit for any length of time, you’ll know the various nutrition trends circling the community — in a single workout you can hear anything from keto and paleo to intermittent fasting and IIFYM (if it fits your macros). There are copious amounts of diets, challenges, cleanses, and overall nutrition advice; it’s easy to become overwhelmed in the choices. So, where do MCTs fall on the nutrition spectrum?
Multi Chain Triglycerides (MCTs)
MCTs are beneficial fatty acids that have been found to be advantageous for people by supporting cognitive functions and weight management. This form of fatty acid is largely missing from the western diet because the public has been led to believe that fat is unhealthy and harmful, but as research studies have found, fat is great for us and provides many essential roles in our bodies.
Where are MCTs found?
MCTs are largely found in coconut oil and grass-fed beef, with smaller amounts being found in butter, full-fat yogurt, and whole milk. They are also easier to digest than long-chain triglycerides (LCTs), which make them great for athletes.
Why are MCTs good for athletes?
Because MCTs are rapidly digested, bypassing traditional digestion and going straight to the liver, it is more quickly available and used as energy. Less work is involved, and they’re absorbed more readily because your body doesn’t have to break down any extra carbon bonds. MCTs are also smaller compounds so they don’t require special enzymes to be broken down for the body to use them.
There are also studies that have found that if used as a pre-workout, they can help boost endurance throughout your workout.
MCTs can are also beneficial in the following ways:
- Support a healthy metabolism
- Reduce brain fog
- Increase cognitive functions
- Support a thriving microbiome
- Support digestion
- Improve hormone balance
What is the difference between coconut oil and MCTs?
The main difference between the two is largely the concentration of MCTs — coconut oil is about 50 percent MCTs, and MCT oil is more saturated and almost entirely MCTs. MCTs aren’t simply just MCTs; there are roughly four different kinds. Because of this factor, athletes prefer MCT oils because you get the variety, and not just the one kind found in coconut oil.
How do get MCT oil into my diet?
MCT oil is available in liquid and capsule forms, and you can also consume it in coconut oil. Butter coffee is popular for being an MCT treat, and some people will even take a spoonful of coconut oil.
MCT oil is proven to be advantageous for the athlete as a pre-workout because it is readily absorbed and digested, and can accommodate the demands of a strenuous CrossFit workout!