For nearly a decade now, coconut oil has been touted as the
answer for health issues ranging from boosting metabolism to fighting candida.
While some of its claims hold up considerably more than others in relation to
ingesting it, it has become a mainstay in hair care, where it’s applied
topically, for its proven ability to penetrate the hair shaft. There’s some
pretty complex math and science about the exact extent to which coconut oil is
absorbed into the hair, but the TLDR version is, simply, a lot.
What exactly are the benefits of oil that lands inside
hair strands, versus other oils that sit on top of them? Oils that sit on your
hair make your hair feel greasy pretty quickly, whereas oils that absorb into
it add shine without you actually feeling it when you run your hands through
your hair. What this leads to is manifold: Coconut oil can protect your hair
from damage and can prevent protein loss, meaning it can make your hair
stronger. It’s great for your scalp—it's antifungal, can help fight dandruff,
and it can also increase hair growth. Coconut oil is high in medium-chain
triglycerides, aka MCTs, which refers to the length of its fatty acid chains.
(Fatty acid chains can be short, medium, or long.) It’s
composed of three main acids: lauric, capric, and caprylic. Studying coconut
oil for hair is so new that no one seems to have yet broken down which acids do
what in relation to your hair, and only lauric acid has been studied on the
topic.
Because coconut oil is proven to be safe for hair, it can be
found in products ranging from conditioners to styling creams. It’s often used
alone by those with thicker and/or curlier strands, as curlier hair tends to
need more added moisture than straight. So, if it’s so great, why search for
something better? I branched out into my new find because, thanks to the
multiple curl patterns I have on my head, coconut oil makes my curlier bits
glow but weighs down my looser waves. I wanted an oil that would absorb even
more fully and that doesn’t cost over $10 an ounce like Argan oil does (which
I’ve had mixed results with anyway).
What Is MCT Oil?
One day while in my pantry mixing up a Manuka honey mask,
which has helped my dry scalp significantly, I poked around for an oil that
would be easier to wash out than the usual olive I use. I pulled out a bottle
of Brain Octane Oil, a Bulletproof brand version of MCT oil that contains only
the caprylic acid element of the coconut oil it’s made from. MCT oil is created
by extracting out only the medium-chain triglycerides from coconut oil, leaving
chained acids of other lengths behind. People who are into biohacking claim
that capric and caprylic acids fuel your cells better than lauric acid does and that they help your body stay in ketosis, something that’s important for keto
dieters.
The feelings about caprylic and capric acid being super to
lauric are strong: On his blog, Dave Asprey says, “MCT oil metabolizes very
differently than any other saturated or even polyunsaturated fat. It does not
get processed by the liver and does not easily get stored as fat. The one
exception is lauric acid, the cheapest and most commonly available MCT oil,
which acts like other saturated fats. That’s why it’s important that you find
the best MCT oil you can get your hands on – one that is derived from coconut,
not a palm, and made in the U.S.”
What Are the Benefits of MCT Oil for Hair?
In trying MCT oil for my hair mask, my thought was that
since coconut oil absorbs well into hair maybe MCT oil would too. Minutes
later, after applying the mask I was shocked that the oil had literally
dissolved completely into my hair, leaving only manuka honey on top of it.
After washing, I decided to apply it to my wet hair to see what would happen.
The result? The shiniest hair I’ve ever had, and without the slightest hint of
grease.
I’ve gone hunting for the reason why caprylic acids enable
MCT oil to absorb into hair seemingly far more than coconut oil does, but, as
mentioned, no one has studied this subject at all in regards to separating out
the fatty acids and seeing which exactly do what to hair. The most I’ve found
is documentation that caprylic and capric triglycerides should penetrate hair
well, and even finding that took considerable sleuthing. I also found this
chart that details exactly how much of each type of fatty acid MCT oil and
coconut oils are composed of.
In terms of lauric acid and whether you should make sure to
use an MCT oil on your hair that doesn’t contain it, being the longest chain of
its category it often isn’t even considered an MCT, but rather an LCT (long
chain triglyceride). Any reputable brand of MCT oil will be capric, caprylic,
or both, and the label should give percentages of each.
The Results
MCT oil has been my mainstay hair product for months now,
and I love that I can apply it days after washing for a refresh and it still
won’t make my hair look oily. (When I’ve put coconut oil on my hair, I’ve
always had to wash it the next day because even if I applied it on my wash day
it was greasy the day following.) I did a full DIY black-to-platinum bleaching
in order to dye my hair a light mauve, dusty pink color, and magically
experienced no breakage.
Post a Comment