MCT oil is an indispensable aid to CBD when added to CBD tinctures and other oil-based products. Unlike any other carrier oils, MCT has the exact chemical balance that’s ideal for both accompanying hemp extract and providing maximum nutritional and medicinal benefit. What, exactly, is MCT oil, though, and why does it pair so well with CBD-rich hemp extract?
Overview
- CBD MCT oil is CBD extract with a carrier oil of MCT
- It is one of the most popular carrier oils, with many CBD tinctures consisting of MCT CBD oil
- Your body digests MCT oil more easily than CBD on its own, increasing bioavailability
- The CBD is “carried” by MCT oil into the liver for efficient processing
- Compared to other carrier oils, MCT oil has a better taste and is better for you
What Is MCT Oil?
Medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil is a term that can technically refer to any oil rich in medium-chain triglycerides, a type of chemical formation that occurs in many plants. Usually, though, MCT oil is derived from coconuts, which offer high concentrations of MCTs per volume, proving economical for both producers and shoppers.
MCT oil is generally tasteless or has a slightly oily taste, similar to olive or avocado oil. Aside from the potential of allergies in individuals who are sensitive to coconut products, MCT oil is not known to have any serious side effects.
What Is CBD Oil?
The term “CBD oil” is often used to refer to the specific type of formulated product known more accurately as a CBD tincture. The term also refers to CBD extract: The viscous, highly potent substance that appears when refining the contents of CBD-rich hemp flowers.
CBD oil should not be taken on its own due to low inherent bioavailability. Alone, CBD-rich hemp extract is estimated to have around 6% bioavailability, meaning more than 90% of any raw CBD extract ingested will be wasted and excreted. Exact figures are not available, but abundant research confirms that adding any carrier oil to CBD — especially MCT oil — dramatically increases its bioavailability.
MCT Oil vs. CBD Oil
CBD and MCTs are not directly comparable in many categories due to the fact that one substance is a carrier oil while the other is an active ingredient. In some contexts, though, MCT oil is, itself, used as an active ingredient — research shows that MCT oil may be useful for everything from neurodegenerative diseases to diabetes, showing that this impressive substance is far from “just a carrier oil.”
In terms of sheer potential for medicinal benefits, though, CBD extract is in another category altogether. Reams of scientific knowledge have accumulated regarding the therapeutic effects of CBD, which are theorized to span all the way from pain management to metabolism to prevention of serious neurological disorders. Many of the benefits of CBD and MCT overlap, but CBD should be considered the superior substance when it comes to sheer ability to heal.
What Are the Benefits of MCT Oil?
MCT oil is far from just a carrier ingredient used in CBD tinctures. This substance appears to have its own array of health benefits, including:
1. Energy & Neurological Health
Since they have shorter tails, medium-chain fats are absorbed faster than long-chain triglycerides (LCTs), resulting in better uptake of energy. The brain uses an immense amount of fat to power itself every day, and your liver has an easier time converting MCTs into ketones, resulting in bursts of energy and improved cognition.
2. Source of Fatty Acids
MCT oil contains fatty acids like caprylic acid, caproic acid, and capric acid. Your body uses all of these substances to fight back against oxidative stress and keep itself healthy, and the fatty acids in MCT oil appear to be particularly useful against certain skin infections.
3. Helps Manage Glucose
For patients with diabetes, reducing glucose levels and improving insulin sensitivity is a daily necessity. We could all do with better insulin sensitivity, however, and some studies indicate that MCT oil might help manage blood sugar levels.
4. Improves Athletic Performance
When you exercise, your body produces lactate, which decreases your performance over time. Some studies indicate that MCT oil might reduce lactate production, potentially allowing athletes to perform longer and with less recovery necessary afterward.
What Are the Benefits of MCT and CBD Oil Together?
When CBD and MCT oil are combined, they provide synergistic benefits that are both obvious and subtle. On the obvious side, MCT oil is known to dramatically improve the bioavailability of CBD extract, making CBD much more viable for oral ingestion.
As to the more subtle side of the spectrum, we are limited to speculation for the time being, but it certainly appears that combining CBD with MCT oil may unlock or improve the cannabinoid‘s inherent benefits. CBD and MCT oil seem to impact metabolic function, for instance, and the two substances also appear similar in their potential to improve certain neurological conditions.
Far more so than the relationship with any other carrier oil and CBD, MCT oil and CBD extract appear to nearly have been made for each other. Whatever the case may be, the two substances are clearly perfectly matched, making CBD oil with MCT oil inherently superior to other types of formulations.
Why Is MCT Oil Used in CBD Products?
MCT oil is used as a carrier oil in CBD products because it’s an ideal consistency for pairing with CBD-rich hemp extract and it has its own benefits that synergize nicely with CBD. Like CBD, MCT oil has been researched for its potential benefits against oxidative stress and inflammation, so CBD oil with MCT may be even more effective than other types of CBD products.
What Are the Side Effects of MCT CBD Oil?
MCT oil is not known to have many serious side effects in individuals who are not allergic to coconuts or other sources of medium-chain triglycerides. The same is true for CBD, which usually causes only mild digestive discomfort or sleepiness at worst. MCT oil can also cause digestive discomfort, but it isn’t known to significantly affect your energy levels or mood.
How to Make CBD Tincture with MCT Oil
Even if you already have the necessary equipment, it is much easier and more cost-effective to simply buy a CBD tincture with MCT oil and it is set up to make one in your own home. The process is messy, you’ll make more tincture than you could possibly use, and the results are almost guaranteed to be inferior to the types of high-quality artisan tinctures you can buy online.
Can You Buy CBD Oil without MCT Oil?
Yes, it is certainly possible to buy CBD oil that includes a carrier other than MCT oil. The only other carrier oil we could potentially recommend, however, would be hemp seed oil.
Hemp seed oil offers nearly as many benefits as MCT oil, and it’s derived from Cannabis sativa — just like CBD. However, the texture of hemp seed oil is considerably thicker than the texture of MCT oil, making it considerably less palatable for most users.
Over time, MCT oil is gradually becoming the standard carrier oil in CBD tincture products. CBD users simply prefer it, and it’s better than the alternatives.
Where to Buy CBD with MCT Oil
CBD tinctures with MCT oil as a carrier are widely available on the internet, and no MCT CBD oil brand is trusted more than Colorado Botanicals. Using a unique process that preserves the terpenes in hemp, Colorado Botanicals CBD extract is combined with MCT oil to provide the best bioavailability and additional benefits possible.
The two most popular Colorado Botanicals MCT oil CBD tinctures are the 750mg CBD oil and the 1,500mg CBD oil options, but CoBo offers dosing all the way from 300mg to 3000mg CBD per bottle. With a 60-day guarantee and hundreds of five-star verified customer reviews, nothing should hold you back from trying Colorado Botanicals MCT CBD oil today.
Types of CBD Oil without MCT Oil
There are plenty of CBD oil products that don’t contain any MCT oil at all. Some others contain both MCT oil and other carrier oils, and some CBD tinctures don’t use carrier oils at all, finding other ways to improve the bioavailability of the cannabinoid. Here are some examples of CBD oil types that don’t contain MCT oil:
- Hemp seed oil CBD oil: Compared to MCT oil, hemp seed oil is a pretty good carrier oil. It lacks many of the benefits of MCT oil, though, and is harder to make.
- Olive oil CBD oil: Olive oil is commonly used as a carrier in tinctures, but it has a distinctly noticeable taste and isn’t as beneficial as MCT.
- Avocado oil CBD oil: While it’s a pretty good carrier oil, Avocado oil has both a texture and chemical makeup that don’t make it as ideal as MCT for oral ingestion.
- Palm oil CBD oil: Palm oil is believed to be one of the most bioavailable carrier oils, but it often comes at the cost of deforestation and inhuman labor practices.
- CBD oil with PG or VG: PG is propylene glycol, VG is vegetable glycerin. Both are entirely inadmissible carrier oils that are nonetheless sometimes found in CBD tinctures despite their clearly dangerous properties.
FAQs on CBD and MCT Oil
Whether you’re still keen to debate the benefits of MCT vs. CBD or you’re curious what CBD oil without MCT oil might be like, peruse the following FAQ section to learn more details about these valuable and beneficial oils:
Is CBD Soluble in MCT?
It’s best not to think about the situation regarding CBD being soluble in MCT. Medium-chain triglycerides do not “dissolve” CBD. They “carry” it — as a carrier oil, MCT oil carries CBD through the digestive lining, allowing better processing by the liver. MCT oil makes CBD oil more soluble, but CBD doesn’t actually dissolve in MCT.
Can You Take MCT Oil Every Day?
Yes, there appears to be no reason not to take MCT oil daily. However, before committing to taking MCT oil daily, evaluate how it affects you over the first few doses. That’s all it usually takes to determine if MCT oil will cause digestive discomfort or other issues that may interfere with your intention to ingest it daily.
Can You Mix CBD with MCT Oil?
It is technically possible to make your own CBD tincture by mixing CBD extract with MCT oil but doing so would almost certainly be both more laborious and expensive than simply buying a pre-mixed tincture. CBD extract is not sold in consumer quantities, only in bulk, so it would be necessary to buy a kilo or more of CBD extract along with however much MCT oil you would need to mix it with. Overall, such an expenditure is truly unrealistic, given the reasonable pricing of today’s CBD MCT tinctures.
Does CBD Oil Have MCT Oil?
CBD oil does not inherently contain MCT oil, but MCT oil can be added to CBD oil to improve its bioavailability and provide additional benefits. As a result, it’s common to come across CBD oil products containing MCT oil, potentially leading to the mistaken belief that the two substances are always combined together. The best CBD tinctures contain MCT as a carrier oil, but the two substances do not accompany each other in nature.
Is Hemp Seed Oil Better than MCT Oil for CBD?
No, it does not appear that hemp seed oil offers any benefits above MCT oil as a carrier oil for CBD extract. In some cases, though, a hemp-MCT oil mix can prove effective at offering even more nutritional and potential therapeutic benefits than one carrier oil can provide on its own.
There are dozens of different ways to make CBD oil, but only a few ingredients are worthy of standing beside CBD-rich hemp extract. MCT oil is among the substances it’s acceptable to find in CBD tinctures, and this even-healthier form of coconut oil has lots of its own impressive benefits. Find out what MCT is, and learn why it’s such a great partner for CBD in tinctures.
Conclusion: Is CBD Better with MCT Oil?
It seems clear that pairing CBD with MCT oil makes both beneficial substances stronger. While no one had heard of hemp MCT oil a mere decade ago, it now seems perfectly clear that these two compounds belong together.
Taking CBD orally can be a challenge for many people, and some carrier oils can make the flavor and texture of CBD extract even less bearable. MCT oil, however, empowers CBD tinctures to stay competitive with capsules by covering up the less-palatable aspects of hemp extract and replacing them with the light smoothness of MCT.
Hemp seed oil is also often taken as a supplement, but as supplement-grade carrier oils go, MCT oil has considerably more attractive benefits. Especially notable is MCT oil’s ability to help CBD absorb faster and at a higher rate of bioavailability, benefits all CBD tinctures should ideally offer.
Without MCT oil, CBD tinctures would be far less palatable, and they would even be less effective. By adding medium-chain triglyceride oil to CBD tinctures, though, both substances become stronger, and CBD tinctures become much easier and more pleasant to take.
