Whether you want to buy CBD products to help you relieve any chronic or traumatic pain, improve your sleep quality or simply feel calmer and more relaxed, you might have seen that many companies in the market offer MCT-infused cannabidiol tinctures. MCT stands for “Middle-Chain Triglycerides”, and refers to a group of fatty acids which are commonly extracted from coconut oil.
While MCT oil has benefits on its own, it is mainly used as a carrier for other fatty substances. The reason is that medium-chain triglycerides are among the most bioavailable oils in the market, meaning that they can be absorbed almost entirely into the bloodstream.
Bioavailability is one of the key characteristics determining the effectiveness of cannabidiol. While the administration method matters and sublingual tinctures are easier to absorb than edibles and capsules, adding MCT oil to CBD tinctures is a way to enhance cannabidiol’s ability to be absorbed into the bloodstream.
MCT Oil: Tasteless and Easy to Absorb
Although MCT oil is commonly extracted from coconut oil, these two substances could not be more different. While coconut oil contains medium-chain triglycerides, it also has several small-range and large-range components which are hard to be absorbed into the circulatory system. MCT is extracted using a process called “fractionation”, which involves heating the coconut oil to the different melting points of each fatty acid in order to separate them and isolate the middle-chain triglycerides.
When MCT-infused CBD oils are taken sublingually, the mucous membranes under the tongue absorb both substances and transport them directly into the bloodstream. This is a fundamentally different process from the one that happens with CBD edibles, which have to go through the entire digestive system before their effects can take place.
Unlike coconut oil, MCT extracts are completely tasteless and do not alter in any way the natural flavor of CBD oil or its chemical composition. As both MCT and CBD are fatty acids, they can be easily mixed into a homogenous oily substance. Furthermore, MCT oils have health benefits on their own, and they are commonly used by people engaging in ketogenic diets due to their condition of readily-available sources of energy for the body.
Quality and Effectiveness
Before buying any MCT-infused CBD product, it is important that you do some research on the methods used by each company. CBD laboratory tests are usually conducted to test the products’ THC concentrations, which must be below 0.3% in order to comply with the federal regulations established in the United States.
However, this quality testing is not only useful to ensure that CBD products are legal, as they can also tell a lot about the terpene and cannabinoid profiles of each tincture. The best CBD oils are made with organic hemp grown under controlled conditions and then carefully selected to include only the best strains. The best companies commonly use CO2 or cold-pressing extraction techniques to maintain all the beneficial properties of hemp intact in the final product.
Regarding MCT oil, the most important aspect is making sure that the company you choose uses middle-chain triglycerides and not coconut oil. Many of the cheaper products use these terms interchangeably, although they are completely different and have contrasting effects and absorption rates.
Finally, CBD concentration is also a critical aspect you must take into consideration before choosing a cannabidiol extract. One of the most common misconceptions among users is that larger CBD concentrations are more effective. The fact is that cannabidiol’s effectiveness follows a bell curve; taking too much or too little will reduce the substance’s ability to relieve pain or help with your condition.
