Is MCT Oil Necessary on Keto?
Quick answer: No. You get into ketosis by cutting carbohydrate far enough, and no oil is part of that requirement. MCT oil has a research base of its own, mostly around epilepsy and brain-related uses, but that's a separate question from whether your keto diet works. If you're doing keto for weight loss, remember that MCT oil is still fat, and fat is still calories.
In this article
- What MCT oil is and why it's everywhere in keto
- What ketosis actually requires
- Where MCT research does point
- The calorie side for weight loss
- When it might be worth having
- What the research says
- KetoDick's take
- Key takeaways
What MCT oil is and why it's everywhere in keto
MCT stands for medium-chain triglycerides, a type of fat found in coconut oil and sold concentrated as a clear, flavourless oil. It shows up in keto mostly through bulletproof coffee: coffee blended with MCT oil, coconut oil, grass-fed butter, heavy cream or some combination (video DLRlphyc1t8).
KetoDick's explanation of why it got attached to keto: people were reading health news about MCTs and grass-fed butter at the same moment they found keto, and the two stuck together (video DLRlphyc1t8). He adds that ketosis itself "doesn't come with a sales campaign," so what gets advertised is the stuff that can be sold, MCT oil among it (from the video DWI8qQl5BbY).
What ketosis actually requires
Ketosis needs one thing: carbohydrate low enough that glucose and glycogen run down and insulin falls. At that point the liver turns fatty acids into ketones (video s_sNd1v8Low). The NIH's StatPearls chapter describes ketogenesis the same way, as a liver process regulated by insulin and glucagon (Dhillon & Gupta, StatPearls).
Your liver can use fat from your plate or fat from your body. It doesn't need a special oil to start. KetoDick says that in his first 35 days on keto he had one dose of MCT oil and got into ketosis "with real foods" (auto-caption) (video DWI8qQl5BbY). In another video he's blunter: adding dietary fat to get into ketosis "doesn't make any sense" (from the video NUJNFG6lLWw).
Where MCT research does point
MCT oil isn't useless. KetoDick says MCTs have "promising research," especially for epilepsy and for the neuroprotective interest in ketones, but that it isn't tied to ketosis for weight loss (from the video DLRlphyc1t8). He also says MCT oil has solid research but isn't required (video ffwBPoKxlDI).
He has a personal reason to take it seriously: his dog has seizures and eats a food high in MCT oil (video DWI8qQl5BbY). His point is to keep the topics separate. Epilepsy treatment is one question. Losing 20 pounds is another.
The calorie side for weight loss
This is where MCT oil can quietly work against you. It's fat, and fat carries about 9 calories per gram. KetoDick's own working figure is that 20 g of fat is about 180 calories (video NUJNFG6lLWw).
Once you're past the first month and trying to lose body fat, the fat calories you eat are calories your body doesn't need to take from storage. KetoDick's advice for a stall past week five is to cut 20–30 g of dietary fat a day (video NUJNFG6lLWw). Check the grams of fat on your bottle's label: depending on how much you pour, a daily serving in coffee can land right in that range.
He frames his concern with bulletproof coffee for weight loss as "relatively empty calories": a lot of fat without much accompanying nutrition (from the video DLRlphyc1t8). He'd rather your fat came from salmon, avocado or a chuck roast.
When it might be worth having
- You like it and it fits your calories. He says there's no problem with bulletproof coffee if you enjoy it (video DLRlphyc1t8).
- You're using keto for a medical reason where MCTs are part of a plan your care team set up. That's a conversation with them, not a forum.
- Practical notes from him: MCT oil is tasteless and doesn't hold up to heat, so it works as an add-on, not a cooking oil (video DWI8qQl5BbY). For cooking oils generally, see the cooking oils chapter.
If none of those apply, skip it. Keto on a budget is still keto (see keto on a budget).
What the research says
The evidence pages behind this site cover ketosis, protein, fibre, electrolytes and multivitamins. They don't include MCT oil trials, so there are no MCT figures here. What they do cover:
- Ketogenesis is driven by low insulin and is regulated hormonally; no particular dietary fat is listed as a requirement (Dhillon & Gupta, StatPearls).
- The StatPearls clinical overview of the ketogenic diet covers its clinical indications, epilepsy among them, and how it is implemented and monitored (Masood et al., StatPearls). Medical ketogenic diets are a different setting from weight-loss keto.
- In a metabolic-ward study, cutting calories from fat produced more body-fat loss than cutting the same calories from carbohydrate (89 ± 6 vs 53 ± 6 g/day, 19 adults) (Hall et al., 2015). Fat calories count.
If you want to read the MCT literature yourself, look for trials that measure what you care about (weight, appetite, a clinical outcome) rather than ketone levels alone.
KetoDick's take
His summary is that bulletproof coffee and its ingredients are a "spin-off idea" that isn't directly part of keto: there's no requirement to drink coffee at all, let alone with MCT oil (from the video DLRlphyc1t8). In his "keto kit" video, going through a list of MCT oil, premium butter and ketone strips, he says the strips are the only arguably necessary item, and everything beyond avoiding carbohydrate is "window dressing" (from the video DWI8qQl5BbY).
Key takeaways
- MCT oil is not required for ketosis. Cutting carbs is.
- Its research base is mostly about other uses, such as epilepsy.
- It's still fat calories, and in the weight-loss phase that matters.
- If you like it and it fits your day, fine. If not, skip it with a clear conscience.