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.
What Is MCT Oil?
The acronym “MCT” stands for medium-chain triglyceride, a type of fat found in a variety of different foods. MCT oil is most naturally abundant in coconut oil, however, so it is usually derived from that source.
Due to their shortened structure, medium-chain triglycerides are easier for your body to uptake and transform into the healthy fats it needs to thrive. Increasing levels of medium-chain triglycerides in your body by taking MCT oil is believed to have a variety of impressive benefits.
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 CBD Oil Tinctures?
CBD oil tinctures combine CBD-rich hemp extract, which is naturally quite viscous, with a carrier oil like MCT oil that makes it easier to ingest and more absorbable. CBD tinctures can also contain a wide variety of other ingredients like flavorings and sweeteners, but all that’s truly necessary is CBD extract and a carrier oil.
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.
MCT Oil vs. CBD Oil
Even though they’re often used side by side, MCT oil and CBD oil are quite different. For starters, cannabinoids like CBD are unique to Cannabis sativa while MCT oil can be derived from a variety of different sources — coconut oil and palm kernel oil are just two such examples.
Next, while CBD and MCT oil both appear to exert health benefits, the benefits of CBD oil are far greater than those offered by MCT oil. At best, MCT oil can be considered to offer moderate benefits, but the health benefits offered by CBD can be utterly life-changing.
MCT oil and CBD are similar, though, in that they’re both often used as supplements on their own. Long before it was used as a carrier oil in CBD products, MCT oil was already used as a general supplement for diabetes and cardiovascular health.
Alternatives to MCT Oil
CBD MCT oil may be one of the best types of CBD tinctures on the market, but that doesn’t mean it’s the only option at your disposal. Here’s some basic information on the three most common alternatives to MCT oil used as carriers in CBD tinctures:
- Hemp seed oil: The main benefit of hemp seed oil is ensuring every ingredient in a CBD tincture is hemp-derived. As the second-best option, hemp seed oil could arguably be just as viable a choice as a CBD carrier oil as MCT oil.
- Avocado oil: Avocado oil is sometimes used as a carrier for CBD tinctures, but it has a relatively potent flavor and texture that most users don’t find pleasant. Within the CBD product pantheon, avocado oil is much more useful in topicals than it is in tinctures.
- Olive oil: Instead of MCTs, olive oil consists of long-chain triglycerides, which take longer to absorb. Users also generally do not enjoy the texture or flavor of olive oil CBD tinctures.
Why MCT and CBD Oil Are a Perfect Match
Compared to other carrier oils used in CBD tinctures, MCT oil is nearly flavorless, offers impressive health benefits, and has a much more palatable texture. Since it is commonly used as a supplement in and of itself, the therapeutic properties of MCT oil are already well-established, making the use of MCT oil in CBD tinctures a joining of two beneficial substances rather than a mere arrangement of necessity.
MCT oil adds its benefits to the benefits offered by CBD, and it even makes CBD more effective. The shorter the chain in a fatty molecule, the better it is absorbed in the digestive system, so when paired with MCT oil, CBD absorbs into your bloodstream at an improved rate.
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 Do You Buy CBD Oil with MCT?
If you’ve decided that MCT CBD oil is the best option, there’s no better source than Colorado Botanicals. Our tinctures use organic coconut-derived MCT oil as their carrier base, paired with high-purity, lab-tested broad-spectrum or full-spectrum CBD-rich hemp distillate.
Whether you’re looking for a 750mg CBD tincture or you’d rather have something a little bit stronger, Colorado Botanicals MCT oil CBD tinctures offer the highest standard of quality and transparency. Each batch of products is third-party tested for cannabinoid levels and the presence of common contaminants like mycotoxins, heavy metals, and residual solvents. No effort is spared to make Colorado Botanicals CBD oil the best tinctures with CBD and MCTs you can buy online.
What Is the Best CBD MCT Oil?
The best CBD tinctures that use MCT oil as a base are as simple as possible and include the cleanest, most-tested ingredients. Aside from terpenes, flavoring agents are usually unnecessary in CBD tinctures, and be especially wary of the artificial substances PG and VG, which are sometimes used as fillers. To learn more about a CBD MCT tincture manufacturer, check out reviews online, or contact customer service.
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.
