Ketone ester ingestion during recovery enhances carbohydrate storage🔋

Ketone supplements for recovery.

Ketone ester ingestion increases exogenous carbohydrate storage and lowers glycemia during post-exercise recovery: a randomised crossover trial

Study Details

This new study recruited 13 endurance trained men to complete two separate conditions (ketones vs control) 🏃‍♂️

For each condition participants performed two exhaustive running tests separated by 4-hr recovery ⏰

During the recovery period participants consumed either…

1️⃣ Ketones (1 g/kg sucrose + 0.4 g/kg whey + 0.29 g/kg ketone monoester)

2️⃣ Control (as above with isoenergetic dietary fat)

Here is what they found ⬇️

Key Findings

Compared to control, ketone ingestion during recovery led to significantly…

🩸 Increased blood β-hydroxybutyrate

🔋 Increased retention of ingested sucrose

📉 Lowered glycaemia

With no difference in gastrointestinal symptoms, apart from a mild increase during the second run 🔍

There were no differences in performance between ketones or control ❌

Conclusion

Ketone ingestion during recovery periods after exhaustive exercise increases retention of of ingested carbohydrates ✅

Although this did not appear to lead to improved exercise performance in subsequent exercise sessions…

…there may be benefits to recovery and endurance performance under specific conditions 🧐

Reference

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00394-025-03784-w

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