Caprylic Acid: Benefits, Side Effects, Best Time to Take It & More

Caprylic Acid

(Octanoic Acid)

Evidence: Very Low
Possible Benefits: Low
Safety: Reasonable

What is caprylic acid?

Caprylic acid, also known as octanoic acid, is a non-essential, medium-chain fatty acid. It is naturally found in palm oil, coconut oil, and the milk of humans and some other mammals. As a supplement, most people use it for healing fungal and viral infections. This article is about the main benefits of caprylic acid, its potential side effects, the best time to take it, and more.

What does caprylic acid do for the body?

Since caprylic acid is a non-essential fatty acid, you don’t need to consume it to survive. However, this fatty acid still serves some important functions in the body.

This saturated fatty acid has antibacterial, antiviral, antifungal and anti-inflammatory properties.

Possible benefits

The benefits mentioned below are dose-dependent. Generally, the higher the dose, the more pronounced the effects are. However, they do reach a plateau at a certain point. We will discuss the best dosing protocol later in this article.

Minor benefits

Reduced symptoms of viral and fungal infections – The supplement can reduce the symptoms of viral and fungal infections like Candida and Chlamydia.

Possible side effects

These side effects are dose-dependent. The risk for them increases (often linearly but sometimes exponentially) as you increase the dose. Some of the side effects only apply to very high doses.

Nausea
Diarrhea
Change in taste
Inability to break down caprylic acid – Some people are deficient in MCAD and cannot break down caprylic acid. This can lead to increased levels of caprylic acid in the blood, which can lead to serious side effects.
Toxicity – While acute toxicity is extremely rare, taking high amounts of caprylic acid could lead to chronic toxicity and cause some health problems. To prevent chronic toxicity, it is best to stay below 6 grams a day unless you have a great reason to take more.
Contamination – Contaminated supplements are uncommon in the USA and other well-regulated countries. However, if you wish to buy products from China, India, or other countries without strict regulations, beware that the supplements may be contaminated. Either way, you need to choose the brand you order from wisely. It is highly recommended to check the certificates or read through some reviews for the specific product before you buy it. The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) has the power to regulate dietary supplements but can only do so after they have been on the market for a while. That’s because supplement companies are not obligated to announce to the FDA when releasing a new product on the market. The FDA has to discover the product and test it for potential impurities, which can take a lot of time. During that time, the supplement can be sold on the market even if it’s impure. Also, supplement companies can change their manufacturers without announcing it to the FDA.

Who should not take caprylic acid?

You should probably avoid taking the supplement if you:

experience a severe adverse reaction after taking the fatty acid
have an MCAD (medium-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase) deficiency – this deficiency makes people unable to break down caprylic acid, which can lead to serious side effects
are on a tight supplement budget (since there are more cost-effective supplements on the market for most people)

Who will benefit the most?

You may benefit from taking the supplement if you:

are on a very low-fat diet
suffer from a viral or fungal infection

How much caprylic acid should you take?

If you plan to take a caprylic acid supplement to reduce the symptoms of viral or fungal infections, 3-6 grams appears to be the best daily dose for most people. This amount should provide most of the benefits without meaningful side effects.

The upper safety limit for caprylic acid is not well-established. To stay on the safe side, don’t take more than 6 grams daily unless you have a great reason to do so. Higher amounts may cause problems if you take the supplement for a prolonged period.

Best time to take caprylic acid

Caprylic acid is fat-soluble so make sure to take it with food to absorb it well.

Whether you take the supplement in the morning or the evening doesn’t matter much.

Unless it feels too impractical, spread the daily dose into 2+ smaller doses throughout the day.

Interactions

Omega 3
This combination appears to be more effective at reducing the symptoms of viral and fungal infections than when these fatty acids are taken alone.

Where to buy caprylic acid

Amazon is the best option for ordering caprylic acid supplements in most countries. They offer some very affordable products backed by many positive reviews. Also, you can choose from a wide range of brands without having to search through other markets on the internet.

Beware some brands display the dosage per serving instead of per pill or capsule. Therefore, you may accidentally buy something less potent than you intended. Do not fall for this marketing trick.

FAQ

You can take the fatty acid daily and do not need to cycle it. However, it is certainly not a problem if you don’t take it every day. Not taking the supplement every once in a while could lead to better absorption. That is yet to be proven or disproven.

All of these options are fine. The two most important things to consider are the price and dosing. Powders are almost always the cheapest form. However, you may need a highly accurate scale to dose them correctly (preferably 0.001g). You can get one for as little as $20 from Amazon. Dosing the powders also takes some time that can add up over months or years. The disadvantage of capsules is that they often contain bovine gelatin, which rarely comes from an ethical source.

Yes. Most fatty acids, including caprylic acid, absorb and digest well if you take them before falling asleep. The supplement should not impact sleep quality in any significant way.

This fatty acid can oxidize and become harmful if kept in bad conditions. Keep the supplement in a cold, dark, and dry place, and it should remain just as potent for many months.

While toxicity is rare, too much caprylic acid in the system can cause some health problems, often related to oxidation or causing an imbalance in fatty acids. It is best to stay below 6 grams a day to prevent these side effects.

The half-life of caprylic acid in the body is about 1.3 hours. This fatty acid should be processed in your body within 5 hours after you consume it.

In the long term, you need to take the supplement for about 2-4 weeks to begin noticing the benefits.

You can easily find vegan-friendly caprylic acid supplements but always check the label to be sure. If you buy caprylic acid in a capsulated form, beware that the capsules often contain animal-based gelatin. Instead, find a brand that puts its products into cellulose capsules.

Caprylic acid is fat-soluble, so you need to take it with food to absorb it well.

Caprylic acid should not break a fast unless you take a very high dose at once. If you practice time-restricted eating, take this fatty acid during your eating window to make sure it absorbs well and doesn’t break your fast.

References

Most of the information provided in this guide is supported by scientific research that can be found and verified in the PubMed medical library. We highly encourage you to use the library to verify anything said in this article. We excluded from consideration studies that are either confounded or have a high conflict of interest.

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