Dr. Boz and Exogenous Ketones

(KM) #1

Someone pointed out Dr. Boz and I gave a couple of her live chat youtubes a whirl. Not too impressed. One thing she’s always doing is testing her blood ketones at the beginning of the video, then gobbling some ketone or mct product, and showing the miracle of raised blood ketones by the end of the hour. Well, I mean duh, that’s like adding salt to water and then praising the miracle of the saline content.

Am I missing something? What on earth is the point of exogenous ketones unless you’re looking to provide external fuel in terms of athletic performance? She herself says her theory is that excreted ketones are the secret to weight loss, which seems like a complete contradiction - if they’re not ketones generated from your own body content, but merely flowing in your mouth and out your kidneys, how is that weight loss. Anyone?

(Doug) #2

I’ve seen people say they feel awfully good due to them. I agree that the rationale usually boils down to really athletic stuff, and that weight loss isn’t a concern there.

(Joey) #3

@kib1 Yeah, I’m generally in agreement that it’s silly stuff.

Exogenous ketones have a very specific beneficial use in the context of a carefully designed cancer therapy (see ground-breaking research & treatise by Dr. Thomas Seyfried of Boston University/Yale Medical School).

But otherwise, it’s unclear (to me) that there’s any meaningful metabolic benefit to derive from consuming exogenous ketones by an otherwise reasonably healthy person.

Getting one’s body to produce one’s own ketones as needed remains the path to better health. It’s a marathon. You can’t simply take an Uber to jump to the finish line.

(Bob M) #4

There are some possible reasons. Some people think that higher blood ketones result in more satiety (less hunger). If you have migraines, ketones might help. Some people have less depression, or feel better with higher ketones. They might extend a fast without worrying about causing any effect on the fast.

I’ve tried the exo ketones a few times. They just make me feel “jittery”. Have taken them while fasting, though I can’t remember if I thought they were a benefit.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #5

One of the points is to provide ketones to fuel the brain, in the cases of illnesses that result from errors in brain glucose metabolism. In the absence of that kind of special need, however, forum members have pretty much concluded that exogenous ketones are pointlessly expensive.

The point of a ketogenic diet is not to increase the level of circulating ketones in the blood, but rather to lower insulin to the point where fatty-acid metabolism becomes possible and triglycerides are no longer trapped in adipose tissue and can thus be mobilised and metabolised. This cannot be achieved by consuming exogenous ketones; it requires the restriction of dietary carbohydrate. Since there is no way to test insulin at home, the presence of circulating ketones is the indicator that insulin has dropped to the desired low level. Artificially raising our ketone level thus interferes with knowing whether or not we are in the desired metabolic state.

#7

From having viewed a few of her videos, I think the reason she is showing the effect of the exogenous ketones is that those are the ones she sells on her site. She has said before that if you are going to buy exogenous ketones, make sure they are actually having an effect on your blood ketones. There have been companies selling some products that actually don’t have very much BHB in them if any. I think she was saying that is why she started selling these products herself, to make sure they have what they say they have in them because she uses them with her patients.

From reading and watching some of her stuff, it looks like she doesn’t seem to recommend taking them all the time, but there are some circumstances where they can be helpful, like if someone has fallen off the wagon and it is taking a while for them to make their own again. (I think I saw somewhere her saying they can be good for hangovers, either alcohol or carb hangovers!) She mentioned having seen some research where having some exogenous ketones in your system can give your liver a signal to make some of its own. So she sees taking some as a biohack to help stimulate your own production. Apparently some people starting out with very high blood sugar and taking insulin can have some trouble getting into ketosis right away just from diet.

#8

The plus of them is the hyper alertness, so those who like the feeling of nootropics are into them, plus obviously the energy. They’re a good crutch for people transitioning into keto, and the weight loss side of them is indirect, but the athletic performance will lag the longest, so if you boost your energy there, it typically translates to better workouts, hence the added fat loss.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #9

Ketone esters are easier to assimilate than ketone salts, too.

#10

The products she sells on her site are almost all BHB salts. Most are flavored and sweetened, although she also has some capsules. But there is one product that is just liquid Beta-HydroxyButyric Acid only, not a salt, and not flavored. Apparently it is very sour and tastes like an “extreme lemon”. It is called Pucker Up, and is for people who don’t want the sweeteners and extra electrolytes in the BHB salts drinks. (like her husband who is allergic to stevia.) I think I either read or heard her say that ketone esters taste very very bad and are expensive.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #11

Yes, they are more expensive, even if more effective. So everyone has to weigh the trade-off. But it is certain that if we can eat in a way that allows the body to produce its own ketone bodies, we are not only healthier, but not hit as hard in the pocket-book.