Impact of medium-chain triglycerides on gait performance and brain metabolic network in healthy older adults: a double-blind, randomized controlled study

What this study found

Three months of MCT supplementation improved walking balance compared with placebo, but it did not produce clear overall cognitive benefits. The Lissajous index in the MCT arm improved from 33.9 ± 19.9 at baseline to 23.1 ± 14.4 after treatment, with an intergroup P3 = 0.009 and time-by-treatment effects P < 0.01. MCTs were also associated with suppressed glucose metabolism in the right sensorimotor cortex (FDR-corrected P = 0.046) and increased functional connectivity from the cerebellum to motor and limbic regions. Six participants (5%) reported mild gastrointestinal symptoms within 1…

Study & population

Double-blind, randomized controlled trial conducted in Japan in healthy older adults aged 65 to 80 years without dementia or major medical conditions.

Intervention

Participants in the active arm received medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) as a yogurt-flavored jelly stick, 18 g/day total, taken before meals for 3 consecutive months.

Key limitation

The active arm was small (N = 32) and the intervention lasted only 3 months, limiting precision and long-term inference.

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