The ketogenic diet is currently the darling of the weight-loss diet industry. How could it not be when the concept of “burning fat for fuel” conjures up a mental image of your wobbly bits melting off and revealing the body of your dreams? And like all trendy and highly marketable fad diets, everyone wants in on that keto dollar –from Michael Moseley to the Big Wellness companies that make supplements. Suddenly, it’s keto everything. Everywhere. All at once.
This brings us to ketone supplements. This is a specific type of supplement, not just any of the myriad of supplements with the word “Keto” slapped onto the label. If you’ve been wondering whether you should take a ketone supplement, read on – this is for you!
WHAT ARE KETONE SUPPLEMENTS?
During ketogenesis, fatty acids are broken down to produce ketone bodies (ketones), which can fuel the cells in your body. The two primary ketones the human body uses for energy are acetoacetate and beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB). Taking a ketone supplement allows you to increase your blood concentration of ketones for a short period without having to rely on your body being in a ketogenic state.
Currently, ketone supplements exist in the following forms:
- Ketone esters
- (R)-3-hydroxybutyl-(R)-3-hydroxybutyrate; sold as deltaG™ /ΔG™
- Ketone salts (sodium, magnesium or calcium salts of BHB)
- Precursor to BHB (1-3-Butanediol)
A quick Google search for ketone supplements will show ads for many products that are NOT ketone supplements despite their labelling – here are some examples:
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Raspberry ketones
The ketones in this supplement refer to the aroma compound of raspberries and are not the same as the ketone bodies produced by the human body. As such, your body cannot use it in the same manner.
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Ketone gummies
Most of these supplements don’t contain any actual ketones.
Those with “BHB” on their labels did not declare how many ketones a dose contained, and in some cases, the large dose of ketones advertised on the label is actually per bottle rather than per dose. Keto gummies have also been associated with financial scams, so proceed with caution.
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“Keto” + [insert adjective or noun here]
Keto-Fit, Keto Accelerator, Keto Electrolytes, Keto Collagen, Keto Essential—the list goes on and on. None of these supplements contain ketones; they are just regular supplements targeted at people on a ketogenic diet.
WHY TAKE KETONE SUPPLEMENTS?
The central claims made by ketone supplement manufacturers are that taking their supplements will improve your energy levels, decrease your appetite, and enhance your body’s physical performance. On a more worrying and irresponsible note, some supplement manufacturers claim that taking ketone supplements will give you the weight loss associated with ketosis WITHOUT having to follow a ketogenic diet. This is downright wrong – I will expand on this further below.
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Increased Energy
At the core of it, ketone supplements are just an energy supplement.
As such, they may benefit people with high energy demands, such as highly active people or athletes – especially if they struggle to meet their body’s significant fuel demands from diet alone. Many ketone supplements also contain caffeine and/or other stimulants, such as guarana and bitter orange extracts, which are probably more responsible for the feeling of increased energy than the ketones themselves.
The downside of increased fuel or energy is that it can negatively impact fat loss. If you take ketone supplements while on a keto diet for weight loss, your body will use those ketones for fuel instead of breaking down your fat stores to produce the same ketone bodies – which is the whole point of being on a keto diet. Furthermore, if your energy expenditure is low, the extra calories provided by the ketone supplements may contribute to an energy surplus, which will then be stored as body fat. What a double whammy.
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“Еаt favourite fооd, drink soda, and don’t wоrry аbout extra kilos”
That is word-for-word copied off the top ad on my Google search. The promise of weight loss without the suffering of a ketogenic diet is because you’ll be in ketosis from taking ketone supplements. The problem with this premise is that ketosis from an external source of ketones means you won’t be using your stored body fat to convert into ketone bodies. That is the whole point of being on, and staying on, a ketogenic diet.
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Decreased appetite/appetite suppression
The current evidence regarding the use of ketone supplements for appetite suppression is poor, with mixed results. However, one study on athletes found that while appetite suppression was achieved, overall calorie intake increased with chronic use of ketone supplements. This may not be the best outcome for someone trying to lose weight.
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Enhanced sports or physical performance
Of all the forms of ketone supplements, ketone ester appears to be the most likely to benefit physical performance. However, the overall strength of the evidence around ketone supplementation is poor. Furthermore, ketone supplements may be counterproductive in some sports performance scenarios because of their effect on other stored forms of energy (glycogen, intramuscular triglycerides) and their impact on increasing blood acidity.
SO, SHOULD I TAKE A SUPPLEMENT?
If you’re thinking of taking a ketone supplement for weight loss, the evidence would suggest that it would be counter-productive, especially if you are not able to balance your energy intake with your energy expenditure.
If you are an athlete or are looking to improve your physical performance, you might find that ketone supplements may not be the best value given that they (ketone esters) are costly and do not have much proven benefit. Ketone salts, which are cheaper, can cause gastrointestinal upset and are also unlikely to increase blood ketones sufficiently.
If you have other chronic health conditions, I would strongly caution you against using ketone supplements as these supplements can affect your blood acidity and often contain high doses of caffeine and stimulants – all of which may affect your health.
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