Acute coffee ingestion with and without medium-chain triglycerides decreases blood oxidative stress markers and increases ketone levels

Abstract

Ingestion of ketone supplements, caffeine, and medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) may all be effective strategies to increase blood levels of the ketone body beta-hydroxybutyrate (D-BHB). However, acute ingestion of a bolus of lipids may increase oxidative stress (OS). The purpose of the study was to investigate the impact of adding varying amounts of MCTs to coffee on blood levels of D-BHB and markers of OS. Ten college-aged men ingested coffee with 0, 28, and 42 g of MCT in a randomized order. Blood samples were collected pre- as well as 2 and 4 h postprandial and analyzed for D-BHB, total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), glucose, triglycerides (TAG), insulin, and OS markers: advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP), glutathione (GSH), malondialdehyde (MDA), and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). All three treatments resulted in a significant increase in D-BHB, HDL-c, and TC as well as a significant decrease in TAG, MDA, H2O2, and insulin. The 42 g treatment was associated with significantly higher levels of AOPP and MDA. Acute ingestion of coffee results in favorable changes to markers of cardiometabolic health that were not impacted by the addition of 28 g of MCT. However, 42 g of MCT caused significantly greater OS.