sensitivities & substitutions

Q: Have you ever heard of someone having a sensitivity to MCT oil? My sister and I both seem to get diarrhea if we have too much of it and now I feel like it irritates my throat after consuming it sometimes.

A: Diarrhea as a side effect of MCT oil is fairly common, especially if you take too much and if you are new to it. You might want to suspend it until your symptoms subside. Then if you want to try and reintroduce it, make sure you go low and slow. Just try the tiniest amount at first and then build up to the serving size recommended on the package, and make sure you don’t exceed it

Bulletproof is a popular brand of MCT oil, and it has a hashtag, #DisasterPants, which makes a lot of sense because it can definitely cause diarrhea if you take too much. So, if and when you reintroduce it, take just a quarter teaspoon or even less, and just build up to the recommended serving size on the package. 

As for the burning throat, if you're getting that as well with just regular coconut oil, then you may want to consider stopping coconut oil and coconut derived oils, such as MCT oil, and switch to a different kind of oil (e.g., extra virgin olive oil) and see if that helps.