Ketones?

rachelhaueter

I read somewhere today that ketones will help you burn more calories. Is there any truth to that or is it just another empty promise dieting fad?

fushigi1988

Nope, it's just calories in versus out, there is no magic pill for healthy permanent weight loss.

Shropshire1959

Snake oil ..... there are NO magic bullets... Eat Less ...and Move more.

TCsaba

I would disagree with fushigi's opinion above. If by ketones you mean the ketone bodies produced when the body is on a low-carb diet (LCD), then yes, that is usually a good way to lose weight. I have lost about 18 lbs in two months so far on a LCD, meaning that I keep my carb intake at between 50-100 grams per day. Here's some more info on LCDs:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_research_related_to_low-carbohydrate_diets#Meta-analytic_summaries

Basically, it's about keeping your insulin levels stable which also gets rid of the cravings that follow high-carb meals. If you get your carb intake down far enough, the body will start burning fats more intensely.

I'm no expert on this, and the science is not completely settled, but check out www.reddit.com/r/ketoscience . As long as you get less than 20% of your calories from carb and do some calorie counting, you should manage to lose some weight.

Whatever you do, don't give up and stay away from empty carb-calories.

FIT_Goat

A second argued advantage is that ketones are inefficient, that you'll lose more fat for a given calorie deficit in ketosis than without. The mechanism given is that one pound of fat converted to ketones doesn't provide the same energy as one pound of fat burned directly. This may be somewhat true but the difference is minor, amounting to a few percentage points at most. As well, except in very obese individuals, most tissue of the body aren't using ketones past the first couple of weeks; they are using fatty acids. There is also a small loss of ketones in the urine but this also tends to amount to very little.

-The above is a quote from Lyle McDonald (author of "The Ketogenic Diet" -- basically, the book on ketogenic dieting). Although the quote is from a different book of his.

In short, the process of producing ketones does waste some extra calories, and you will also lose some extra calories through urine, but it's not enough to amount to anything significant. Your overall diet and caloric intake will have a much larger impact on your results. The impact of the small losses here will likely be indistinguishable when you factor in measurement errors and other imprecise things that accompany dieting.

asdowe13

I would disagree with fushigi's opinion above. If by ketones you mean the ketone bodies produced when the body is on a low-carb diet (LCD), then yes, that is usually a good way to lose weight. I have lost about 18 lbs in two months so far on a LCD, meaning that I keep my carb intake at between 50-100 grams per day. Here's some more info on LCDs:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_research_related_to_low-carbohydrate_diets#Meta-analytic_summaries

Basically, it's about keeping your insulin levels stable which also gets rid of the cravings that follow high-carb meals. If you get your carb intake down far enough, the body will start burning fats more intensely.

I'm no expert on this, and the science is not completely settled, but check out www.reddit.com/r/ketoscience . As long as you get less than 20% of your calories from carb and do some calorie counting, you should manage to lose some weight.

Whatever you do, don't give up and stay away from empty carb-calories.

I have a hard time believing it will burn fat more intensely.

Just eat fewer calories, and you will lose weight - you can do this with a low carb diet, you can do this with a high carb diet.

Calories in vs calories out for diet
Macros and micros for health

Find the diet that works for you meet your nutritional needs, eat at a caloric deficit, you will lose weight.