Any merit to exogenous ketone supplements?

Nutrition Q&A [Moderated]
1

Hello,

I train strength, hypertrophy and ultra distance running. In the ultra space there are some people who talk about taking ketone supplements just before and during a workout or race to improve performance. On the surface it seems plausible. If ketones can be use by the body as any energy source then it could improve performance in the same way eating carbohydrates before and during a long effort like an ultra race helps with performance by providing the body with an energy source.

Is there any merit to ketone supplementation? Can the body even process and use ketones taken in this way?

Thanks

2

There are dozens of mechanistic studies showing that exogenous ketone supplements could theoretically improve performance, but in practice, they don’t seem to do so. Last time I looked at this (late 2023) there were ~ 10 studies on actual outcomes, 2 studies showed a benefit but were confounded with the use of caffeine compared to placebo and the other 8 showed either worse performance or no benefit. I don’t think I would recommend using them for now.