The trouble with using MCT alone is that it can conserve glycogen, but it can't replace the carbohydrate that is already metabolised - only the carbohydrate in a sports drink can do that. Thus, sports drinks with carbohydrates and MCTs have a double effect: they decrease the 'burn' rates for glycogen and replace used-up glycogen. Beverages with just MCTs can only minimise burn rates

However, don't get too excited about MCTs just yet, because the damned things won't heighten all of your endurance performances. For one thing, the main fuel used by your muscles during competitions and strenuous workouts lasting less than three hours is carbohydrate, not fat. Thus, taking in MCTs would yield no - or very small - performance gains during such efforts, since your muscles would be 'tuned' to carbohydrate. It's only when your exercise lasts for more than three hours that MCTs can begin to really kick in.

The bottom line is that if you're going to be cycling, walking, skiing, swimming, or running for over three hours, MCTs can increase your endurance and upgrade your rate of speed, especially toward the tail end of your exertion. No one yet knows the optimal amount of MCTs to ingest during long-duration exercise, but a 4.3 per cent solution (along with the 6-10 per cent carbohydrate content), as utilised in the Cape Town study, may prove to be very effective. True, MCTs are found in 'bad' foods like coconut oil, but their use during competitions should do no harm to your health, and you can buy MCTs in pure form at most health-food shops. If you're a relatively slow marathoner or an ultra-distance competitor, using MCTs may improve your performances rather dramatically