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The ketogenic diet is a popularfad dietthat gained popularity for its purported ability to help its followers lose weight and achieve mental clarity. Several years ago, it also garnered support in the athletic community as a way to increase performance, particularly in endurance situations. This led to it being used as apre-workout supplementwith the goal of achieving better performance. New research published in theInternational Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism, however, suggests the opposite—that ketone supplementation might actually worsen performance.
Does a Healthy Keto Diet Plan Even Exist?
What Are Ketones?
What Is Ketosis?
Ketone supplements, in that regard, have been thought to provide a “loophole” for athletes who typically would not be eating a low-carbohydrate diet. Using this strategy, athletes could still eat a balanced diet and use the supplements to get into ketosis, giving the body access to an additional source of fuel. The idea is that the body would be able to switch between fats and carbs as its energy source the same ways as a hybrid car engine can switch between gas and electricity.
What Did This Exercise Study Find?
Researchers from McMaster University enlisted highly-trained endurance athletes who cycled at least five or more hours weekly and whose “athletic performance [was] consistent from day to day,” according to a press release inScienceDaily. The research was structured as a triple-blind study, where neither the participants, the researchers who interacted with the participants, or the researchers who did the data analysis knew whether the ketone supplement or the placebo was provided, ensuring a significantly lower likelihood of bias affecting the outcome.
Participants were required to commit to 4 lab visits. First, to assess the highest amount of oxygen consumed at peak exercise (VO2 Peak), then for a familiarization trial where they learned what the process would be like, and finally for the 2 experimental phases. Participants were asked to maintain their regular nutrition and exercise habits throughout the study and to prepare for a cycling competition as they normally would.
The experiment itself had participants engaged in two separate in-lab cycling exercises that were 7 days apart, structured to mimic race conditions. Each separate “race” accounted for other distinct variables that could have introduced bias, like bike handlebar and seat configuration as well as fan speed and location. They even accounted for the energy changes that could have affected female participants at different phases of their menstrual cycles and ensured that the two experimental races were performed in the same phase of their cycle. The only difference between each race was that the “drinks contained either a ketone supplement or a similar-tasting placebo.”
So, Were the Ketones Helpful?
Researchers think this may be due to how ketone ingestion affect pH balance of the blood, heart rate and how tired the cyclists felt during the exercise. It is still not clear how the ketone dose and the corresponding rise in BHBs would affect performance in other endurance tests that require longer exercises at a moderate to high intensity level.
The Bottom Line
More research is needed to fully understand how the body reacts to taking ketone supplements and how these reactions can changes in a person’s ability to exercise. But for now, it’s safe to say that it’s probably not going to improve your workout and it might even make it worse! Instead, focus on fueling your body with whole foodsbefore, during and after a workoutto get the most science-backed bang for your buck.
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