What are Exogenous Ketones? Are they Right for You?
So you are here to learn more about what exogenous ketones are, and if they are right for you — and your goals.
You will learn in this article the use and benefits of exogenous ketones being a supplemental form of ketones that can help you get into ketosis much faster.
What are Exogenous Ketones and Ketosis
Before I dive into which exogenous ketones you should use I want to talk a little bit more about a surface level understanding of ketosis. Ketosis is obviously when your body is running on ketones (which is from body fat breakdown). Normally to achieve this you will follow a beginner keto diet where you are consuming a four to one ratio of fats to protein now that can skew depending on what your overall goals. If you’re trying to maintain more muscle it might be more like a three-to-one ratio but overall you’re looking at a predominantly high level of fats and a moderately low level of protein.
When the body is conditioned to run on glucose you consume carbohydrates your body is going to convert that into energy. But when you start depriving your body of glucose or maybe when you’re fasting, or if you’re pregnant, or if you’re having prolonged activity your body is going to start breaking down lipids and fatty acids into ketone bodies.
Before I get into the exogenous ketones I’m going to explain a little bit more about how that works.
How to Get into Ketosis
When you deprive your body of glucose it usually takes three or four days for your body to start adapting to utilizing ketones. You have to use up all your glucose stores, drain through your carbohydrates, and glycogen stores and then your body is going to start utilizing your body fat for fuel in the form of ketones.
So this is where exogenous ketones helps. Due to the fact many people who use a beginner keto diet somewhat difficult to follow to get into nutritional ketosis.
Exogenous ketones has gained a lot more popularity over the last couple of years.
We are finding more and more ways to biohack ourselves into ketosis so we can reap those benefits of ketosis with ultimately not having to do all the hard work — so that’s where exogenous ketones come in.
Are Exogenous Ketones the Solution?
Simple put exogenous ketones are an oral forms of ketone bodies that you consume (normally through a drink). Keto OS NAT is my personal favorite.
Ordinarily it would take three or four days for your body to transition into ketosis — exogenous ketones an oral form of ketones can help you get there much faster (in about 1 hour) essentially providing you with the ketones immediately so you can get the positive benefit.
So how exactly does that work in the body?
Let’s talk science here. Mitochondria is the energy powerhouse for just about every function in our body. That mitochondria is critical for creating energy ,and that mitochondria is pretty unique it can run on glucose or it can run on ketone bodies now like I said earlier when you’re running on glucose everything’s fine and dandy, but when you start transitioning into ketosis a few things change.
When you’re deprived of glucose and you have the fats flowing through the body the liver has to do a little bit of work to break down those fats into what are called “ketone bodies”.
There are three ketone bodies that are the most prevalent ketone bodies which are:
- Beta-HydroxyButyrate (also known as BHB)
- Acetone
- Acetic acid
Ultimately BHB is the one we’re going to focus on because that’s the one that you’re going to find in exogenous ketone supplements.
The mitochondria can use any three of those ketone bodies to create energy. But beta-hydroxybutyrate or bhb is the most common ketone body which almost every function of the body is going to ultimately come down to.
There are 2 main types of exogenous ketones, either ketone salts or ketone esters.
Ketone Salts
Now ketone salts are the primary source that we’re looking at, when it comes to exogenous ketone supplements. Ketone salts are going to bind that beta-hydroxybutyrate is going to bind with either sodium potassium or calcium it’s going to bind with one of those minerals.
When it binds with those minerals that’s how it creates the energy and that’s how you end up with a ketone salt. So if you look at exogenous ketone supplements you’re generally going to see that they’re high in sodium that’s why we’re looking at ketone salts BHB bound with sodium.
Ketone Esters
The other one is a ketone ester and a ketone ester is not readily available in supplement form it’s really only in the research phase. But the biggest issue with ketone esters is they taste terrible (bitter), and are extremely harsh on your stomach. Which makes it not a consumer-friendly product in the terms of exogenous ketones consumption. So I would recommend ketone salts over ketone esters.
Benefits of Drinking Exogenous Ketones
There are numerous benefits to drinking exogenous ketones. Some of the top benefits are:
- Fat-Loss: ketones targets and uses body fat for fuel.
- Appetite Suppression: Ketones naturally suppress your appetite allowing you to make better choices and eat less frequently.
- Protect and preserve muscle: Ketones are extremely anti-catabolic (they are protein/muscle sparing) and will preserve and protect your lean tissue during periods of caloric restriction. The more muscle you preserve, the more fat you burn.
- Fast & Sustained Energy: Ketones offer fast energy that maximizes your mindset and mental focus while motivating you to move more, do more, and be more.
- Improved Clarity & Focus: ketones provides a cleaner, quicker energy pathway than glucose while providing very important signaling molecules to the body.
Another benefit, is the dramatic shift in body composition (pure fat loss) that occurs from exogenous ketones.
It mainly due to the appetite suppressant effect of the ketones in general, so what this essentially means is that ketones are a powerful appetite suppressant which really is ultimately what yields the major fat loss benefits of ketosis. The level of satiation (satiety) is really strong when you’re in ketosis
So are Exogenous Ketones Right for You?
It’s all going to come down to what are your goals.
I have been drinking exogenous ketones for 4 years and love them. As well worked with 1000's of people also consuming exogenous ketones and achieving their goals.
If you are looking for a fast way to get into ketosis, without follow a strict ketogenic diet — this maybe the solution for you.
If are looking to try one of the best exogenous ketones on the market (the one I personally use) you can check out the site here.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Prüvit products are not intended to diagnose prevent treat or cure any disease. If you are under medical supervision for any allergy, disease, taking prescription medications or you are breastfeeding contact your medical provider before adding any new supplements to your daily regimen.
