Brett Melanson, a PhD Candidate in Behavioural Neuroscience, describes how exogenous ketone supplementation, precisely in the form of ketone esters, can enhance performance and possibly reduce anxiety-like state. Combining ketone esters with ketone-salts or MCTs may also enhance motor performance. The addition of keto esters to a ketogenic diet may also provide benefit in reducing the long-term elevations in lipid and cholesterol that can arise from a persistent ketogenic diet alone.
Nowadays, the idea of ketone ester diet has already been utilised by nutritional companies like Ketone Aid, which received positive feedback from athletes claiming a boost to their typical performance compared to training without the ketone ester supplementation.
Glucose or Ketones? Carbs or fats? Carbohydrates have been a staple part of meals for centuries, but there is evidence that ketones produce more energy per mole of substrate than glucose, while optimising body composition, cognition and sports performance.
Brett Melanson, a PhD Candidate in Behavioural Neuroscience, talks about how following a ketogenic diet allows our body to tap into fat stores to produce energy during extended periods of low glucose availability. He explains that burning ketones instead of glucose preserves carbohydrates in muscle. Therefore transitioning the body’s energy dependence from glucose to ketones could be beneficial in the long run, both mentally, and physically.
Medium Chain Triglycerides (MCT Oil) have dramatically gained in popularity in Australia. MCTs are a subset of saturated fatty acids that, when used appropriately, have unique biological effects ranging from enhanced cognitive performance to accelerated weight loss. MCTs can be found in coconut and palm oil, dairy products, Bulletproof XCT oil and Bulletproof Brain Octane oil. Note that Bulletproof MCT oils are 100% derived from coconut oil. Some other brands may still source from palm oil.
