This is the hands-on version of our big-ass keto supplements guide.
If you’re looking for the best keto supplements without diving into too much theory, this guide is for you.
How to use it:
All supplements fall into three categories: essential, situational, and controversial ones.
Essential supplements are what you can buy without much thinking. Nearly everyone on keto needs them.
Situational supplements are… situational. Sometimes you need them, sometimes you don’t.
Controversial supplements are more about placebo than about bioavailability. They have quite a narrow practical application yet very effective marketing campaigns.
Essential Supplements
Essential: 1) Absolutely necessary; extremely important. 2) Required for normal growth but not synthesized in the body and therefore necessary in the diet.
Situational Supplements
Every situation can be substantially improved; even the sky is not the limit.
Since entering the Space Age, the sky is indeed no longer the limit, but let’s be just a little bit more down-to-earth.
What if your current limit is the area within a 10-meter radius around your commode. Can this situation be substantially improved? And how about some other keto-related situations?
Yes, with these situational supplements:
Controversial Supplements
If you’ve got a big mouth and you’re controversial, you’re going to get attention.
If only Simon was running a supplement company on the keto market, he could’ve used this quote as his marketing plan.
He would only need to replace “mouth” with “money.” Because a huge marketing budget can help you put just the right amount of bullshit into customer’s heads to skyrocket your sales.
That doesn’t necessarily mean these supplements are bad. But sometimes they just don’t deliver what has been promised.
Given their price, this is… unfair.
Exogenous ketones
In this section, we step away from our previous review pattern.
We’re going to do two things:
- Clarify what exogenous ketones are
- Compare two supplements from two different brands
And show you some fun math.
What are exogenous ketones?
After eating, your body breaks food down into its building blocks: amino acids, fatty acids, glucose, vitamins, and minerals. Then, under certain conditions, your body starts breaking fatty acids down into ketones, which is crucial to feed your brain when glucose is insufficient.
Ketones produced within your body are called endogenous as opposed to exogenous ketones, which you get from the outside. In terms of their molecular structure, they are similar.
(Three types of ketones are made endogenously: AcAc, BHB, and acetone. BHBs are the predominant ketone in the human body and in supplements.)
Then, your body transfers ketones to your heart, brain, and muscle, where they are transformed into ATP (which is the human body’s favorite energy currency).
Obviously, ketones→ATP is faster than food→fatty acids→ketones→ATP.
In a nutshell, exogenous ketones are just a fast source of energy.
Is that bad?
Of course not. Everybody needs energy, and getting it fast might be beneficial.
But the question is, how much energy will you get for your buck?
Let’s find out by examining two different exogenous ketone supplements.
The competition
Our competitors are IGNITE KETO BHB Exogenous Ketones, the Amazon’s choice brand, and Perfect Keto Exogenous Ketones Chocolate, a well-known exogenous ketones supplement.
Let’s start with the former.
Now, on to the second contestant:
Now, since this was a competition, there must be a winner. And there is one: wild Canadian smoked sockeye salmon.
If you find this controversial, we might discuss it in the comments.
MCT Oil
Then why are MCT oils controversial?
This is only because of over-inflated promises. MCTs are more easily digested, that’s their only fundamental benefit; the rest stem from it. And whereas gut health and easier ketone production are pretty evident, things like “weight management and immune system support” are controversial.
They require the words might, help, or can before them.
Nevertheless, MCTs are great. If you need a source of instant energy, get them without a doubt. You can add them to salads or to your bulletproof coffee. Or to whatever recipe you like.
But make sure to get 100% C8 MCT oil.
The Bottom Line
The line between a supplement being effective and being just a pee-coloring pigment is oftentimes hard to notice.
(However, a bit easier for men.)
Basically, everything can be useful, and everything can be useless—it really depends on what you need right now.
However, what you need right now can be to some extent predictable. A typical American keto lifestyle promotes certain common deficiencies, hence three essential supplements.
Less usual situations can benefit from situational supplements. But in nearly no situation would you benefit much from supplementing, say, exogenous ketones - their efficient practical application is too limited.
Unless you’re a millionaire, of course. If it doesn’t hurt your budget, you can get as many exogenous ketones as you wish.
For the rest of us, I rest my case.
P.S. If you want to dive a little deeper into how these supplements work (right to the cellular level), check out the original version of this guide.