Do Exogenous Ketones Actually Speed Up Ketosis? Here's What Science Says

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.

While they differ in certain ways, both forms promise to get your body into ketosis fast—like 30 minutes fast.

Human studies show similar results. One review of three studies that gave participants a ketone ester or salts found that both forms elevated blood ketone levels for hours. Researchers concluded that "exogenous ketone drinks are a practical, efficacious way to achieve ketosis1.

Some reasons to include them in your plan might be:

For those conditions, exogenous ketones might—might—give you a nudge for weight loss, more energy, better performance, and more. But, they aren't a free pass to gorge on pizza and ice cream while "magically" shifting your body into ketosis.

Regardless of whether you use exogenous ketones, I've found these five strategies can help optimize a ketogenic diet:

When you go keto, you eliminate sugary, processed foods that create inflammation. But ketogenic diets still often contain inflammatory foods, such as conventionally raised meats and dairy. To get the full benefits of a ketogenic diet, you need plenty of anti-inflammatory foods like wild-caught seafood and green veggies. Make sure to eat meats and dairy from grass-fed animals, free of antibiotics and hormones.

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. You eat a high-fat diet, say, four or five days a week and have some starchier carbs on the others.

Intermittent fasting is a great way to give your digestive system a break, lower inflammation, break weight-loss plateaus, maintain your ideal weight, and so much more. Once you get into ketosis and stabilize your blood sugar, you can sustain these and other benefits with fasting. To make things simple: An eight-hour daily eating window, for instance, means you're fasting 16 hours daily. You'll ideally be sleeping about half of those fasting hours.

Speaking of sleep: How you eat matters, but so do things like quality sleep, stress management, and exercise. To get all the benefits of a ketogenic diet, you'll want to aim for eight hours of sleep nightly, find a workout routine that works for you, and incorporate things like meditation, yoga, or deep breathing to manage stress levels.

Too many ketogenic diets neglect gut health by reducing the emphasis on nonstarchy vegetables. Just think of the old Atkins diet, which recommended eating a steak with butter and an egg. What affects your gut affects everything: Headaches, migraines, allergies, autoimmunity, weight gain, acne, skin rashes, yeast infections, hormonal imbalances, fatigue, immune challenges, even the way you sense pain all relate to the condition and health of your gut. Even a strict keto plan allows high-fiber plant foods as well as fermented and cultured foods like sauerkraut and kimchi. These foods provide your gut the probiotics and other nutrients it needs to stay healthy. I recommend plant-based keto for better gut health.