MCT for Health

We know that some plant compounds are poisonous to us, and some of these compounds are also found in foods that we commonly eat. Our ancestors therefore developed a number of sophisticated methods for preparing such foods so that they would not harm us. Lectins are among these compounds, and you can read about them, for example, in the book called "The Plant Paradox" by Dr. Steven Gundry. I was going through previously saved studies and one caught my attention: it reported that some plant lectins mimic the effects of insulin, sometimes even better than insulin itself. They act on insulin receptors for a longer period of time, and the effects can be seen as suppression of lipolysis as well as activation of lipogenesis. In other words, they make sure that we can easily store fat, but also that we never use it. These are test-tube experiments. We therefore do not know whether these experiments have any practical impact on real life. But if diseased intestines can allow bacterial...

So I was going through some older studies I had saved, and this one caught my attention. I don't remember seeing it at all, but it illustrates beautifully how deceptive things can be. What is it about? Essentially, it is a study of how adding fiber (fructo-oligosaccharide, FOS) to the diet favorably affects metabolism. Perfect. Opinions on fiber vary widely. My view is that fiber in the large intestine triggers signaling similar to overeating. The presence of undigested food in the large intestine signals that we have eaten more food than would have been necessary, and so the intestinal bacteria feed on it as well. What comes out of this is quite a lottery, because each of us has a different composition of bacteria in our gut, so we don't know what those bacteria will actually produce. If things turn out well, the bacteria produce acetate (and other short-chain fatty acids, SCFAs), and this signals to the body that there is indeed enough fuel, and the body adjusts accordingly. ...