The ketogenic (keto) diet has gained immense popularity as a weight loss strategy. It involves drastically reducing carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat. This metabolic shift forces the body to enter a state of ketosis, where it begins to burn fat for energy instead of glucose. As a result, the market has been flooded with keto weight loss pills, promising to help individuals achieve or maintain ketosis and accelerate weight loss. But how effective are these pills, and are they worth the investment?
Understanding the Keto Diet and Ketosis
The keto diet is characterized by a high intake of fats, a moderate amount of protein, and very few carbohydrates. This dietary composition restricts the consumption of whole grains, fruits, and starchy vegetables like potatoes. The majority of calories should come from healthy fats, such as avocados and oils, while protein sources primarily consist of meat, fish, eggs, and cheese.
When carbohydrate intake is severely limited, the body enters a state of ketosis. In this state, the liver begins to break down fats into ketones, which serve as an alternative energy source for the brain and other tissues. Ketones are chemicals produced by the liver when it breaks down fats that can be used for energy. During ketosis, acetoacetate and beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) are the most abundant ketones produced, while acetone is the least abundant.
What are Keto Weight Loss Pills?
Keto weight loss pills are nutritional supplements designed to help the body achieve or stay in ketosis. These pills often contain exogenous ketones, which are ketones derived from an external source, as opposed to endogenous ketones, which are produced naturally by the body. These supplements are marketed as a way to bypass the strict dietary requirements of the keto diet and still reap its weight loss benefits.
However, it's important to note that the safety and efficacy of supplements, including keto weight loss pills, are not rigorously evaluated or approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The ingredients and dosages can vary significantly between brands, making it crucial to research and choose reputable products.
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Do Keto Weight Loss Pills Work?
One major misconception about keto weight loss pills is that by raising blood ketone levels, they help your body achieve ketosis and lose weight. While they do help you achieve ketosis, they don’t help you lose weight. Raising ketone levels in your blood doesn’t immediately translate into weight loss, but many ketone weight loss supplements make misleading claims that they melt off pounds without you having to follow a ketogenic diet. This simply isn’t true.
While exogenous ketones (ketones taken from supplements) have been shown in studies to increase blood ketone levels by up to 300%, they have not been shown to result in weight loss.
Forcefully elevating your blood ketone levels by taking a supplement isn’t the same as producing ketones naturally or being in a state of ketosis. When your body produces ketones in a state of ketosis in response to a ketogenic or low calorie diet, it’s reacting to a lack of available carbs to burn for energy. As a byproduct of your body breaking down fat, it produces ketones, which can then be used for energy. This is why ketones are associated with weight loss, but ketones have not been shown to directly cause weight loss in human studies - and only a small amount in mice possibly. The majority of studies that report a link between ketones and weight loss are referring to a ketogenic diet, but supplement companies extrapolate this to include ketone supplements. However, studies don’t support that ketone supplements cause weight loss in humans, at least not directly. They may help indirectly, such as by reducing appetite, which we’ll explore. On the converse, when you’re consuming plenty of calories and carbs, ketone-boosting supplements just raise your blood ketone levels without burning additional fat because artificially raising ketones in your blood isn’t the same as genuine ketosis brought on by carbohydrate restriction.
Taking keto weight loss pills, especially outside of a ketogenic or calorie-restricted diet, may inhibit some fat breakdown. While there are no studies on this matter specifically, they contain calories and could, in theory, inhibit fat breakdown. That’s because your body uses artificial ketones for energy before tapping into your fat stores. Supplements may also slow down the production of natural ketones. Your body always prioritizes using external energy sources over using its own body fat for energy. It’s a matter of survival. For ketosis to work, the research is clear that a calorie-restricted diet, which can include a ketogenic diet, is needed to lose weight. For instance, a study on ketogenic diets published in Frontiers of Nutrition showed that adding exogenous ketones to a ketogenic diet didn’t alter body composition any more than following a ketogenic diet on its own did.
Indirect Benefits of Keto Pills
While keto weight loss pills don’t melt fat to cause weight loss, they may help weight loss efforts in a minor, indirect way. Research is still being done and is far from conclusive, but some studies show that keto weight loss pills may help with weight loss indirectly.
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- Appetite suppression: A small study on ketones and appetite of 15 people showed a 50% reduction in perceived hunger and desire to eat following drinking a ketone ester beverage before bed compared to the placebo group who received a simple sugar drink. Participants who got the ketone drink also experienced a reduction in ghrelin levels, the body’s primary hunger hormone.
- Keto flu symptoms: Keto flu can happen as the body adjusts from burning carbs to burning fat at the start of a ketogenic diet. Symptoms include nausea or diarrhea, insomnia, headaches, dehydration, and feeling sluggish. Some dieters swear that taking keto weight loss pills reduces their keto flu symptoms. Research to prove this or identify a connection is sparse at best, But, if keto weight loss pills make the transition to a ketogenic diet easier, it may be worth trying, provided you consult with your healthcare provider before starting either.
- Controlling blood sugar: There’s some evidence to support that certain keto weight loss pills help with blood sugar fluctuations. For instance, a review of several studies on the effects of exogenous ketones on blood glucose (sugar) concluded that they increase blood ketone levels and reduce blood sugar levels. While lower blood sugar won’t directly cause weight loss, it’s thought that better blood sugar control may help with cravings and hunger, which can have a positive effect on weight management. Many popular drugs used for blood sugar control for type 2 diabetes, such as Mounjaro and Ozempic, were discovered to help people lose weight and have been rebranded or reformulated into prescription medications for weight loss.
Types of Keto Weight Loss Pills
If you want to try keto supplements, talk with your doctor and consider what’s available to you. There are a variety of keto diet pills for weight loss. The most popular types are covered here while the most popular brands are covered in the table below.
- Exogenous ketones: Exogenous simply means ketones that come from an outside source like a supplement, as opposed to endogenous ketones, which are the ones your body produces naturally. Most of the studies on keto weight loss pills that do show benefits, like appetite suppression, are done on exogenous ketones. There are two primary types of exogenous ketones: salts and esters. Ketone salts are far more common on the market and accessible to the public. They consist of synthetic ketones bound to an electrolyte, such as magnesium, sodium, or calcium. They come in many forms, including pills, powders, and drinks. Ketone esters contain beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), the most common ketone produced by the body. They’re considered more powerful, but are much more expensive and have a very strong, even revolting, taste.
- Medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil: MCT oil or MCTs are a type of saturated fat your liver quickly converts into ketones. In this way, they boost your body’s own endogenous ketone production. As with exogenous ketones, MCT oil alone won’t put you into ketosis the same way that diet will. You still need to follow a ketogenic diet to lose weight. MCT traditionally comes in an oil form, but there are also powdered products on the market and even MCT oil coffee creamers.
- Raspberry ketones: Raspberry ketones are the organic compound that gives raspberries their distinct smell. They’re commonly used in cosmetics and food flavorings. While a study published in the Journal of Berry Research showed a small effect on obesity in mice fed whole raspberries, raspberry juice concentrate, and a combination of the raspberry phytochemicals ellagic acid and raspberry ketone, no human studies are available. That means they haven’t been through clinical trials to prove their effectiveness or identify potential risks or side effects.
Safety Concerns
Before taking any new medication or supplement, talk to your healthcare provider. We do know that some keto weight loss pills can cause problems.
- The safety of ketone salts: Ketone salts contain a lot of salt and may pose a risk to those with conditions like high blood pressure or kidney disease. High amounts of sodium (salt) can be dangerous for those with hypertension. And people with kidney disease have an impaired ability to regulate their electrolytes, one of which is sodium, and have to be careful how much they consume. Even in healthy people, too many electrolytes and too much salt can lead to imbalances, which can affect vital functions like heart rhythm. Exogenous ketone supplements may also cause serious stomach upset. People with diabetes may be at risk for hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) due to the potential blood-sugar-lowering effects of keto diet pills. If you’re diabetic, always monitor your blood sugar and know how different food affects your blood sugar levels.
- MCT oil safety: MCT oil is a type of saturated fat. MCTs are different in chemical structure than standard long-chain triglycerides (LCTs). MCT though may pose some of the same risks as LCTs, like causing a small increase in triglyceride levels, which may lead to arterial and heart disease later.
- Raspberry ketone safety: A study on raspberry ketones published in Plants concluded that they “can be considered safe and efficacious with limited side effects as an alternative to modern medicines in the treatment of major lifestyle-based diseases.”
Alternative Weight Loss Strategies
If you’re wary of taking supplements or living the keto lifestyle, consider an in-home medical weight loss service. This type of service includes a tailored plan backed by medical professionals. These plans focus on healthy lifestyle changes such as diet, exercise, behaviors, and environment to help you reach your weight loss goals.
Other proven effective options for weight loss include obesity counseling or cognitive behavioral therapy, such as through a therapist found on Klarity Health. A therapist can help you identify emotional and mental triggers that lead to overeating. There are also a variety of other medical weight loss programs and medications. These programs and medications include the guidance of a healthcare provider and are proven to help people lose weight. And prescription weight loss pills are safer than supplements because any prescription medication your doctor prescribes is tested and FDA-approved for safety and effectiveness.
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