Ketogenic dietsare popular for a reason: They get great results.
After a few weeks on this plan, my patients usually feel great and lose weight.
Their mental clarity improves, they lower inflammation levels, and they reduce their risk for disease.
But getting into andstayingin ketosis can be hard work.
Maybe high-fat foods don’t work well for you.
Perhaps you travel a lot or otherwise find maintaining keto difficult.
Or you’re an athlete who wants to eat carbs on training days.
With a ketogenic diet, your bodyconverts fatty acids into ketones.
You’re always making ketones.
You’re literally burning fat for fuel.
That’s where exogenous ketones come in.
These supplements promise to sidestep the tediousness of rigorously sticking with a high-fat diet.
But do they work?
Let’s look at the science.
What are exogenous ketones?
Supposedly, even if you consume exogenous ketones with carbohydrates, your bodywill preferentially use ketones first.
They comein two forms: salts and esters.
Salts are bound to minerals and come in a powder form that you mix with liquid.
The latter form is linked to a compound called anesterand comes as a liquid.
Do exogenous ketones work?
Is there any truth to these quick-start ketosis products?
One animal study found exogenous ketone drinks could raise ketone levels without restricting carbs.
In the study, rats that got exogenous ketonesgained significantly less weightcompared with those who did not get them.
Human studies show similar results.
Researchers concluded that “exogenous ketone drinks are apractical, efficacious way to achieve ketosis1.
Should you try exogenous ketones?
Along with these studies, you also want to considerwhyyou might need exogenous ketones.
5 strategies to optimize ketosis.
When you go keto, you eliminate sugary, processed foods that create inflammation.
But ketogenic diets still often containinflammatory foods, such as conventionally raised meats and dairy.
double-check to eat meats and dairy from grass-fed animals, free of antibiotics and hormones.
Maintain a cyclical ketogenic diet.
Even the best-designed eating plan can create plateaus with time.
Besides, sometimes you want to eat decidedly un-keto foods like sweet potatoes and quinoa.
Cyclical keto can give you the best of both worlds.
Incorporate fasting.
Once you get into ketosis and stabilize your blood sugar, you cansustain these and other benefits with fasting.
You’ll ideally be sleeping about half of those fasting hours.
Keep stellar lifestyle habits.
Mind your gut.
Too many ketogenic diets neglect gut health by reducing the emphasis on nonstarchy vegetables.
Even a strict keto plan allows high-fiber plant foods as well asfermented and cultured foods like sauerkraut and kimchi.
These foods provide your gut the probiotics and other nutrients it needs to stay healthy.
I recommendplant-based ketofor better gut health.
