Is there risk in using exogenous ketones for people who aren’t yet into ketosis? 

I know how you feel about stress and being a caregiver I am in pain everyday and mycortisol levels very high. I have high BP and BSugar even on doing keto and intermittent fasting 18/6 because of stress don't know what to do or take to bring down stress!

Thanks for your kind comment, Kim.

Thanks for taking your time to comment.

Check these two papers and one article: 1. Stubbs BJ, Cox PJ, Evans RD, Santer P, Miller JJ, Faull OK, Magor-Elliott S, Hiyama S, Stirling M, Clarke K. On the Metabolism of Exogenous Ketones in Humans. Front Physiol. 2017 Oct 30;8:848. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2017.00848. PMID: 29163194; PMCID: PMC5670148. 2. Cuenoud B, Hartweg M, Godin J-P, Croteau E, Maltais M, Castellano C-A, Carpentier AC and Cunnane SC (2020) Metabolism of Exogenous D-Beta-Hydroxybutyrate, an Energy Substrate Avidly Consumed by the Heart and Kidney. Front. Nutr. 7:13. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2020.00013 3. How does Ketone-IQ compare to other Ketone Supplements (Ketone Esters and Ketone Salts)? help.ketone.com/article/f1qg9hefji-how-does-ketone-iq-compare-to-other-ketone-supplements

MCTs, especially C8, are readily converted to ketones in the liver

Check this paper Lin TY, Liu HW, Hung TM. The Ketogenic Effect of Medium-Chain Triacylglycerides. Front Nutr. 2021 Nov 18;8:747284. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2021.747284. PMID: 34888335; PMCID: PMC8650700. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8650700/

It's an interesting question. Based on the paper below by George Cahill, one of the founding fathers of starvation research BHB ketone has 4.69 Kcal/g (or 5 Cal), while glucose has 3.72 Kcal/g (or ~ 4 Cal). It means that ketones have more energy per gram than carbs. First, you'd have to go with exogenous ketone esters, since drinking ketone salts won't be practical due to mineral content. Second, for example, H.V.M.N. Ketone-IQ ester drink contains 70 Cal per 35 ml (and has 350 ml in one bottle), so to get 2000 Cal, you need to drink about 3 bottles of such ester drink. They sell 3 bottles for 120 USD. So theoretically, you can do it, but it's very expensive and impractical. You'd better off with endogenous ketones, unless you have less than 5 % of body fat, which is unlikely to happen to an average person. Cahill GF Jr. Fuel metabolism in starvation. Annu Rev Nutr. 2006;26:1-22. doi: 10.1146/annurev.nutr.26.061505.111258. PMID: 16848698.

@ScienceAppliedForGood nice 👌 thank you fellow human! Hopefully you don't mind me asking. When consuming say potassium bhb, How much of a 10gram serving is potassium and how much of that is BHB? It's a wonder 🤔 are we getting half and half? 25% potassium 75% bhb? Also. This would vary ( assuming , I'm not a chemist) depending on the bound minerals. Potassium may not bind as much bhb v.s. calcium and so on? Not to make you do the searching but if you have it on the top of your head , thanks 😃

@@ScienceAppliedForGoodSo, then, for those of us lurking under the 5% body fat mark, what might be your suggestion of optimal exogenous ketones, to keep brain healthy if not able to constantly refuel/prone to high cortisol (and insomnia) with anti-inflammatory-low carb eating. Thank you . . . and specifics highly valued. (65 yrs 105 lbs, ideally wishing to gain weight of any type)

Thanks for sharing your story. Sorry that you are struggling. You may want to consider joining our community to get a little more support and some ideas from our coaching team and from other like-minded people working on their metabolic health. You can do a 10-day trial at no cost: www.insuliniq.com/insulin-iq-community-membership-signup