Coconut oil
Information on nutritional supplements people with ALS have been taking
Coconut oil (and MCT oil) and ALS[edit]
By raising ketone levels, coconut oil could theoretically help compensate for mitochondrial dysfunction and impaired energy production. It could slow progression simply by acting as a high calorie supplement that increases circulating lipids. It has antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal and antiprotozoal effects.
Coconut oil should be virgin oil and cold processed. Hydrogenated / heat processed coconut oil is detrimental to health.
ALSUntangled conclusions[edit]
"Coconut oil has plausible mechanisms for use in ALS involving raising ketone bodies and lipid levels. Ketogenic and high fat diets may have helped slow motor neuron loss in small ALS animal studies with many flaws. ... Coconut oil at doses of 1–4 tablespoons per day appears generally well tolerated but it is not entirely clear how well these doses raise blood ketone levels. Although several large respected groups have warned against coconut oil intake in large amounts, the rationale behind these warnings has recently been called into question. Given all this, ALSUntangled supports further careful study of coconut oil or other methods of raising ketone bodies in patients with ALS. A reasonable next step would be a small case series of well-characterized PALS using coconut oil or other methods to raise blood ketone levels into the range found to be effective in epilepsy and possibly Alzheimer's, compared to a well-matched historical control group on objectively verifiable outcome measures. ALSUntangled 15 - Coconut Oil
