People Are Calling These Supplements the Ultimate Keto Diet Shortcut
Achieving ketosis-where your body burns fat for energy instead of carbs-is how people are losing weight on the keto diet, and it isn’t easy or instant. But can taking a supplement make the process fast and effortless?
A growing number of people are giving it a try, thanks to exogenous ketone supplements that claim to launch your body into a state of ketosis within two and a half days-even if you’ve been living on pasta and cookies instead of following a low-carb diet. How can that be, though? And can that kind of rapid transformation actually be safe? Here’s what you should know.
Why would I take an exogenous ketone supplement?
Getting into a state of ketosis normally involves eating a ketogenic diet consisting of around 80 percent fat, 15 percent protein, and 5 percent carbs. Over time, the body transitions from burning carbs for fuel to burning ketones-an alternative fuel source that the liver makes by breaking down fat, explains keto diet expert Amy Davis, RD, LDN. Since advocates say that ketosis can help you lose weight fast, think more clearly, and feel more energized, it’s tempting to try.
But moving into ketosis usually takes a week or two, and is known for having some unpleasant, flu-like side effects that keto dieters call the "keto flu." Even after crossing that hurdle, going over your allotted carb limit can throw your body out of ketosis-forcing you to start all over. That’s where ketone supplements come in.
How do exogenous ketone supplements work to help you get into ketosis?
Ketone supplements contain exogenous ketones-synthetic ketones made in a lab. Most use a type of ketone called beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), which is the same as the ketones the body produces naturally. “We’re literally biohacking," says Amie Heverly, who began taking a ketone supplement called Prüvit last year and now works as a promoter selling Prüvit products. "You’re not adding a foreign substance to your body, because BHB is identical to what your body would naturally produce,” she explains.
Taking exogenous ketones not only eliminates the need to follow a strict ketogenic diet to achieve ketosis (so you can have your high carb cake and eat it too), it can also help users get there faster. “They can expedite the process of getting into ketosis and becoming fat adapted,” Davis explains. “They can also help people push past the keto flu and potentially experience more mental energy and clarity than from diet alone.”
How quickly are we talking? Prüvit, for example, says it can help you “reset your metabolism by reprogramming your genes to run on fat for fuel” within 60 hours. That’s two and a half days.
Do ketone supplements help you lose weight?
Proponents like Heverly say that taking exogenous ketones can transform your body-and your life. (Her before-and-after shots below were taken just 10 days apart.) “Within 10 days, my body had this shift. My midsection wasn’t as bloated or fluffy. And I don’t have that cellulite on my legs now,” she says. Heverly also credits Prüvit with giving her a much-needed energy boost and improved mental clarity.
Her clients have had similar success. One woman, for instance, has gone from around 170 pounds to 140 pounds since April without making any initial dietary changes. She’s started to gravitate towards more keto foods over time, but still eats her favorite high-carb treats. As for exercise? Her routine consists of a couple of walks each week, Heverly says.
The problem? Exogenous ketone supplements work by flooding your bloodstream with ketones. But unless you’re also eating a ketogenic diet (and producing a steady stream of ketones naturally), those supplemental ketones won’t stick around forever. “The benefit of exogenous ketones is limited due to their excretion through the urine,” explains Madge Barnes, MD, family medicine specialist with Texas Health Family Care. In other words? They’ll only work for a few hours until you pee them out. As a result, you need to keep on supplementing-which can get expensive. Twenty single-serving packets of Prüvit’s Keto//OS MAX Pure Therapeutic Ketones, for example, cost $130. (The company doesn’t specify how often you should take them.)
That’s not all. Though Prüvit in particular has a legion of fans (the brand has nearly 35,000 Instagram followers and some 256,000 likes on Facebook) and a small team of affiliated medical experts, there’s no hard science on Prüvit or similar products. (Prevention reached out to several Prüvit experts and employees for interviews but did not receive a response.) The research page on the brand’s website does include links to legit scientific studies. But the studies are on the keto diet-not on Prüvit’s products. When it comes to research on the actual supplements, the brand’s website simply says “Human studies on finished products (underway) at various universities and research facilities.” In other words, there’s no scientific evidence available yet to show that they actually work.
That’s not to say that the supplements don’t work. They very well might. But they could also be useless-or even dangerous, says Christine Palumbo, RDN, Nominating Committee member for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. As of right now, there’s no way to know. “Currently, there’s just not enough evidence from research studies to answer those questions,” Barnes adds.
Are ketone supplements safe to use?
It’s hard to say. Achieving a natural state of ketosis (as in, by eating a ketogenic diet) is thought to be beneficial in the short-term. But experts don’t know the long-term effects, Palumbo says. And some suspect that it could lead to problems like kidney damage or an increased risk for heart disease (and day-to-day keto diet side effects are, at this point, well-documented). Assuming that ketone supplements do work identically to natural ketones, taking them long-term could have similar health effects.
There’s also the issue of supplement safety in general. All supplements-whether you’re talking about vitamins, minerals, herbs, or other nutritional mixes-are only loosely regulated. “We know that there is contamination of supplements here in the U.S., often from products that are manufactured abroad,” Palumbo says. In that case, “the same concerns apply to this as for any other supplement.”
The bottom line: Exogenous ketones are unregulated, and it's unclear whether there are the long-term effects of these supplements
Talk to your doctor before you start taking ketone supplements (or any type of supplement, for that matter).
Another option? Skip the fad diets and products for a more tried-and-true approach to weight loss. “My recommendation would be to choose a lifestyle change that can safely be maintained for the duration of one’s life,” Barnes says. “The decision begins with a paradigm shift in one’s thinking.”
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