MCT for Health

We already know that in order to maintain a healthy metabolism, we need to keep our mitochondria in very good condition. But how do we do that? When I tried to find out what the usual composition of cardiolipin, one of the most important phospholipids in a healthy mitochondrial membrane, is, I always found that it contains a high percentage of tetralinoleoyl cardiolipin (4L-CL), i.e. cardiolipin containing four linoleic acid chains. Cis-vaccenic acid (cVA) comes in second, and only further down do we find, for example, DHA (in mitochondria from the heart), oleic acid, or other polyunsaturated fatty acids. In some studies, researchers have tried to replace linoleic acid with the long-chain fatty acids ARA and DHA, but the results are not particularly encouraging. For example, in this study , they tried to remodel cardiolipin by manipulating the enzyme ALCAT1 and achieved the incorporation of more DHA into cardiolipin, but they obtained the best results after shutting down remodeling v...

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. ...

Today it will be more of a summary, a more general reflection. In one of my recent posts, I commented on a study that quite clearly showed that if we remove the regulatory processes limiting the rate of fat burning, then the rate of burning is suppressed only after mitochondrial damage, loss of cardiolipin, loss of the necessary phospholipids , simply through oxidative stress . It is not a good idea to switch off regulatory mechanisms and think that things will be better without regulation—they will not. If researchers try to switch mice or rats to a high-fat diet, they almost always damage their mitochondria. We now know that they will probably deprive them of sufficient cardiolipin, a phospholipid necessary for the proper functioning of the enzymes that produce cellular energy in the form of ATP molecules. We also know that this can be prevented by a different composition of fats, for example if the diet contains fish oil , or if it contains MCT oils, or if it contains vinegar/aceta...

Could an excess of the omega-6 fatty acid linoleic acid in the diet and in adipose tissue create the paradoxical situation in which linoleic acid (LA) is lacking in the phospholipids needed to form mitochondrial cardiolipin? That would mean reduced mitochondrial function and increased oxidative stress, which we observe in animal models fed very high-fat diets. We have already encountered a similar situation with omega-3 fats. Take a look. The percentage of omega-3 phospholipids in cell membranes initially increases sharply but then declines as the consumption of more plant-derived omega-3 and omega-6 fats increases. This phenomenon is explained by changes in the activity of the enzymes that elongate and desaturate plant fats into the long-chain fatty acids EPA and DHA, which are found primarily in fish oil. The same enzymes also elongate and desaturate linoleic acid (LA) into arachidonic acid (ARA), whose concentration is maintained relatively stable. Thus, a higher intake of LA mean...

Recently, Georgi Dinkov commented on an interesting study on his blog, which shows that uncontrolled fat burning could damage mitochondria. Let's take a closer look at this study, considering all the facts known so far. Should we be afraid of fats or not? We must first show the position of the study authors. Quote "Unrestrained fatty acid oxidation triggers heart failure in mice via cardiolipin loss and mitochondrial dysfunction" "Collectively, these results indicate that although FAO is essential for cardiac energy production, therapeutic strategies aimed at stimulating cardiac FAO may be detrimental rather than beneficial in heart failure." Unquote So, can promoting fat burning really be harmful? Well, we already know that promoting fat burning without overeating extends the life of mice . Cells need fat burning to improve resilience . So the scientists' statement about the dangers of promoting fat burning is contradictory to these findings,  so something...

We have already discussed conjugated linoleic acids (CLA) here several times. Unlike ordinary linoleic acid (C18:2n-6), CLA are also C18:2 fatty acids, but they differ in the spacing of the double bonds along the carbon chain—they are closer together. They can also have different combinations of trans and cis double bonds. What they have in common is that they are less stable than linoleic acid and are more susceptible to peroxidation . They are therefore better sensors of oxidative stress. They more accurately reflect the state of metabolism and respond more sensitively to metabolic disturbances, breaking down more readily into various signaling molecules,  but they probably do not produce the aldehyde HNE. The most common source of CLA in our diet is milk fat. However, our bodies can also produce CLA from trans-vaccenic acid (TVA) , which is also present in milk. There are animal studies showing that as little as 1% of calories from CLA in mice completely eliminates arterial pla...