OPP 159: 60 Grams of Exogenous Ketones and Ketoneaid with Frank Llosa

By now, you know that our brains and bodies can run on various fuel sources.

No longer confined to run on glucose, we know that FAT is not only an effective fuel source, but often preferred for high performance. 

But what if you've never been fat adapted?

What if you have yet to take that plunge and re-program your metabolism, give up sugar and achieve a state of ketosis.?

What if you've never measured your blood ketones, but are are curious about the wonderful world of ketone esters, ketone salts and (of course) optimal performance. 

Exogenous ketones my friends. Exogenous ketones are the subject of this week's podcast.

I've been eating for ketosis about 80/20 for about 2.5 years.  Meaning, most of my meals are keto-friendly, high fat, moderate protein, low carb. I have a cheat day though, sometimes two, but they never throw me off track thanks to the occasional supplements to help dispose of the influx of sugar I'll indulge in.

But, after trying exogenous ketones twice in one week, I can tell you, there's a shortcut to breeze past the adaptation phase and straight to full-blow keto.

My first test with Ketoneaid went like this:

• Woke up, opted for black coffee instead of my daily butter coffee (upon suggestion).
• Skipped breakfast as well as my typical Natural Stack supplements: Krill, D3, Curcumin, Vit C, Ciltep, MycoImmune, MycoMind.
• Around 930am, I tested my blood ketones and they read .4 mmol. Mind you, the standard fat-burning ketosis range starts at .5 - but it was the day after the superbowl and I watched at Ben's house...and his lady Deana made these ridiculous chocolate chip cookies (I had 3). 

After my first blood test reading of .4 - I chugged the 30 grams of Ketoneaid. Within 20 min I was in full ketosis.  

Frank Llosa is the founder and CEO of KetoneAid - the same ketone ester company that raised over $150,000 on Indiegogo (5X their projected target!) to continue research on their ketone ester product. They had so many people pre-order the product, that they had to stop the offer. YOU COULD SAY PEOPLE ARE INTERESTED. 

Frank is an interesting and energetic guy. I had a great time talking with him. He got into the wide world of ketones after his wife's godfather - the creator of the exogenous ketone Dr. Richard Veech tapped him on the shoulder. 

Our conversation ranges from both the very technical, to the standard operating procedure when taking exogenous ketones.

Here's some highlights:

• There are some key differences between salts and esters. They are the same in that they are both beta hydroxybutyrate, but ketone salts are bonded with salts and ingested (and to get an effect you have to eat half a salt shaker to see the increase  - whereas ketone esters are bonded with 1 3 butanediol which is an organic alcohol.
• With effective ketone esters like Ketoneaid, there is a point of diminishing returns. You can actually get too much energy, which may be wasted if you're not burning energy for performance.
• You can take Ketoneaid for mental performance (which I did) or for physical performance.
• Frank suggests that consumer grade ketone esters like Ketoneaid will be available at convenience stores at some point in the near future, as a healthier option to energy drinks.
• If you're used to ketosis. As in, if your baseline is a ketogenic state, then you may not benefit or notice the effect of the exogenous ketones. We said in the podcast "You can't be in more flow then then flow."

Back to my first exogenous ketone ester experience...

I tested my blood ketones 20 min after drinking the 30gram bottle of Ketoneaid - and they had jumped from .4 to 2.9. That's full ketosis. I tested 20 min later and again got 2.9, then I kept working and did another test at 60 min and it registered at 3.2. My cognitive speed noticeably increased, as well as my vocabulary. I was able to focus faster and more clearly almost immediately. I liked the energy boost as well. Energy without jitters. 

After talking with Frank a little more about baselines, he suggested that I do another test, but take the same standard vitamin/nootropic stack i usually do. So, about a week later I took another 30 gram test, on top of my daily stacks. 

At 930am I tested my blood ketones beforehand again, and I was at .5. Then I drank another 30 grams of Ketoneaid and tested after 20 min. They had jumped to 3.4! Also, my immune system had been wrecked all week by a cold that was going around. I was holding out though, and at the day of my second test, I woke up with a bit of dryness in the sinuses and a little brain fog... not bad, but noticeable. 

I was actually pretty interested in seeing what effect, if any the Ketoneaid had on my incoming cold symptoms. After a second post-drink test, I was at 4.2 (well within the ideal range of ketosis). This day wasn't a big cognitive load day, instead, my family was headed to the beach to walk and built driftwood forts. But, after driving about 15 minutes I felt like the pressure mounting in my sinuses and brain fog had lifted noticeably and I actually mentioned to my wife that i felt much better. 

I didn't test again that day, but I did notice a few things:

• My bourgeoning cold symptoms suppressed. Whether that's my own badass immune system or the MycoImmune or what, I don't know. But, I didn't get sick.
• I felt a mood increase, a brain speed increase, and even a slight increase in my wit. At least I thought I was funnier my wife and kids may not :).
• I felt a natural energetic increase. Despite feeling the start of a start of a cold, the symptoms decreased and really dissipated over the next 24 hours.
• I didn't experience a drop off or anything like that. Perhaps it was the 3pm cup of tea I had while conversing with my folks at their house, but I didn't get tired until my typical repose around 915pm. 

This was my first experience with Ketoneaid, or any other sort of ketone ester. I like it. I can absolutely see why it's getting these really exceptional results for people. Of course, I took the mind protocol, which Frank explained to me in an email. But the other protocol is for performance and I can clearly see how it's effective in that respect. 

I'd do it again for sure. And since it sounds like the goal is to make it available at convenience stores everywhere (but probably health food stores and amazon before that), it sounds like everyone will have the chance to try it. 

I don't know of any research that says exogenous ketone esters are harmful. I think it's really really early in the process to try and understand how all of this works, the effects and it's uses. 

But I dig the stuff. 

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