Does Medium Chain Triglyceride Play An Ergogenic Role In Endurance Exercise Performance?

Because of the medium chain triglycerides (MCT) specific hysical and chemical properties, they have been used over the last 40 years in enteral and parenteral nutrition. esults from clinical practice lead some researchers in he early 80’s to use them for ergogenics purposes. The ypothesis was based on the relationship between the xidation rates of carbohydrate and fat. The increase in at oxidation would promote glycogen sparing effect, and herefore, delay the time to exhaustion. The aim of the resent paper is to review the effects of MCT upplementation upon endurance exercise performance. Most f the studies failed to prove the ergogenic effect of CT. A few studies that showed the ergogenic effect of MCT dministration used alternative experimental designs, such s high MCT dose (above from the previous established imit) or infusion. The chronic use of MCT by athletes is new and few studies have been done in this matter. These ew studies showed controversial results. There is a trong tendency in the literature that MCT is not a viable strategy to increase performance during endurance xercise. The aim of this study is to discuss the effects f MCT use on endurance exercise.

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