Novel ketone diet enhances physical and cognitive performance.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Preclinical animal (rat) interventional study
PubMed 27528626 · doi:10.1096/fj.201600773R
What was done
Rats were fed an isocaloric diet supplemented with 30% of calories as a novel ketone ester ((R)-3-hydroxybutyl (R)-3-hydroxybutyrate) or control diets supplemented with corn starch or palm oil. The authors evaluated blood ketone and lipid levels, 5-day treadmill endurance performance, cognitive function in an 8-arm radial maze test, and cardiac energetics via [31P]-NMR spectroscopy in isolated, perfused hearts under increased workload.
What was found
The ketone ester diet elevated blood ketones and reduced circulating cholesterol and triglycerides. Rats fed the ketone diet ran 32% further on a treadmill over 5 days than controls on either corn starch or palm oil diets (P < 0.05). In the 8-arm radial maze, ketone-fed rats finished 38% faster and made more correct choices prior to making an error (P < 0.05). Isolated hearts from ketone-fed rats exhibited greater free energy from ATP hydrolysis during increased workload compared to control diets.
Why it matters
These findings show that oral ketone ester supplementation can enhance physical endurance, spatial cognition, and myocardial energy efficiency in rodents without inducing the hyperlipidemia associated with conventional high-fat ketogenic diets.
Limits
The study was conducted entirely in rats, so findings cannot be directly applied to human performance or clinical disease without human trials. Exact animal sample sizes, absolute lipid and ketone concentrations, and specific effect sizes for the cardiac energetic measurements are omitted from the abstract.
Cited by
- supports Lactate and ketone bodies are thermodynamically favorable energy sources that require less oxygen and fewer ATP molecules to produce energy.