text: what is a mct diet for chylothorax? my brother has nhl and continues to build up chyle in pleura.? he has had repeated thoracentesis to no avail.  dr. suggested mct diet but i know nothing about it.  does anyone have specific infomation? an mct diet, or medium chain triglyceride diet, is one form of a ketogenic diet. a ketogenic diet is one that is high in fat and extremely low in carbohydrate. it is often used to treat epilepsy, but (obviously) has other uses as well, such as in your brother's case of non-hodgkins lymphoma.  it works by inducing ketosis and its related effects, a condition typically only present in starving individuals. without getting too technical, in ketosis, the body stops using glucose as an energy source and starts using fat.  normally we don't want this to happen, but in the case of your brother, it could cause a reduction in chyle buildup because the body would be forced to use the chyle (which is just lymphatic fluid rich in fat and other nutrients) as an energy source.  i have included below in the source information a page with guidelines for a few different ketogenic diets. the page is geared toward the ketogenic diet as a treatment for epilepsy, but the dietary guidelines themselves are the same (the ketogenic diet is the ketogenic diet, regardless of what you are using it for). hope this helps, and best of luck to your brother.