HVMN’s Ketone-IQ: A Complete Waste of Money
One of the biggest problems with the fitness & supplement industry is that it’s filled with great marketers who don’t know a thing about exercise science or nutrition.
Ketone-IQ is a prime example of such a company.
So, in this article, I’m going to provide a full breakdown why this product is a scam and why you should save your money.
What are ketones?
At rest, our bodies use a combination of carbohydrate & fat to fuel our bodies’ functions; such as breathing & our heart beating. In individuals with lower cardiovascular fitness, a greater percent of fuel is derived from carbohydrate. [1]
Under conditions of multiple-day starvation, carbohydrate stores become depleted. Carbohydrates are unique to fat for fuel because they can be turned into energy much more rapidly, and our brains cannot use fat for fuel. So, to replace their role, our bodies produce ketones to use as fuel. [2]
Carbohydrate stores also become depleted as a result of high-fat, very-low-carbohydrate diets. As a result, ketones are produced for fuel in our bodies under these conditions as well. [3] Such dietary conditions are now referred to as the ketogenic diet, due to the resulting production of ketones.
Ketogenic dieting’s effect on body composition, performance & health
Ketogenic diets have been claimed to be the superior than other dietary patterns for various situations, however evidence consistently falls short.
For weight loss, losses in fat are nearly identical ketogenic diets as they are in higher carbohydrate diets when overall calorie intake and overall protein intake is equated. [4] Some studies show greater weight loss with ketogenic diet, but this is usually due to losses in water weight, not body fat. [3] Furthermore, adherence to ketogenic diets tends to be more challenging than lesser restricted dietary patterns. [3]
For endurance performance, the research is mixed with the majority of data showing worsened performance in subjects following a ketogenic diet. [5,6] For strength & power performance, ketogenic dieting more clearly hampers performance. [7,8] What seems to be the case is that more trained individuals experience greater performance detriments as a result of ketogenic diets than more untrained individuals.
For type II diabetes & cardiovascular disease, ketogenic diets don’t seem to be more beneficial than isocaloric high carbohydrate diets. [3] What seems to be more important is the composition of the carbohydrates & fats within the diet (i.e. saturated vs mono- or polyunsaturated fat).
Exogenous ketone supplementation outside of ketogenic dieting
Exogenous = consumed; or not produced within the body.
Ketones produced inside the body as a result of ketogenic dieting are considered endogenous. Ketones taken as a supplement are considered exogenous.
Taking Ketone-IQ would be considered exogenous ketone supplementation.
A large systematic review of this subject was published in the Journal of Frontiers in Physiology in March of 2020. [9] They reviewed 10 different studies including 112 participants. They looked at a variety of ketone products such as ketone esters, ketone precursors, and ketone salts. The review included 16 different measurements for physical performance; 8 for lower body power & 8 for endurance.
The results showed that 13 of the performance measurements resulted in no change in performance, 3 of the performance measurements resulted in performance improvements, and 3 showed performance impairments. In other words, the data were perfectly equivocal.
Based on this systematic review of the available data, the evidence does not suggest any improvements in physical performance as a result of ketone supplementation. Based on this, there is no reason to take Ketone-IQ.
Claims made by HVMN’s Ketone-IQ
On their website, they have a sub-section entitled “science.” On this page, they cite no actual research in regard to ketones. All they do is note how many Americans are living with obesity and/or diabetes (true) and then go on to say the fix is as easy as drinking ketones (definitely not true).
On their product page, they do cite some research. In regard to athletic performance, here is what they claim:
Claim 1: “28% more efficient in generating energy than glucose alone”
Their source for this claim is a 1995 study done in rats: source.
The study gave insulin or ketone bodies plus glucose solution to rats with mitochondrial damage and measured the amount of ATP produced. The researchers did find that when the glucose was combined with insulin & ketone bodies, more energy was produced than with glucose alone. However, this isn’t at all relevant for three reasons:
You likely aren’t injecting insulin
You aren’t a rat with mitochondrial damage
You can’t draw conclusions for humans done off mechanism or rodent studies
Claim 2: “15% Mean power output improvement after recovery”
Their source for this claim is a 2019 paper published in the Journal of Physiology: source.
Previously, I cited and explained a systematic review of 10 studies examining ketone supplementation’s effect on power & endurance. This paper was included in that review.
The researchers recruited 20 healthy, recreationally active adults and had them follow the following training program on a stationary bike:
HIIT = High Intensity Interval Training
IMT = Intermittent Endurance Training
ET = Constant Load Endurance Training
This study and the program that the subjects underwent were meant to induce a state of functional overreaching, an early stage of overtraining. The subjects then wanted to see how a ketone ester supplement would affect subjects in this state.
All subjects were given a 500 ml protein-carbohydrate beverage after each training session. Half the group was given a 25 g ketone ester supplement immediately after each session and 30 minutes before bed. The other half, the control group, were given an isocaloric (same # of calories) drink containing medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs).
The subjects’ physical performance was tested before the program, on day 7, 14, and at the end of the program. In this test, the subjects performed a cycling 30 minute time trial, recovered for 15 minutes, and then cycled for 90 seconds as fast as they can. The subjects also performed this test 3 and 7 days after the program. They also performed a 120 minute time trial in the third week.
During the 120 minute time trial in the third week, the subjects in the ketone ester group had a 15% higher average power output than the control, which is where I assume they pulled this stat from.
This was a good study, but it doesn’t conclusively show that ketones are all high-and-mighty. Here’s why:
The study wasn’t looking to see if ketones improve performance, just how they impact markers of functional overreaching.
There was no baseline testing for the 120 minute test, and performance in various time durations are specific. So, you can’t really say whether or not the improvement was a result of the ketone supplements or inherent to the subjects.
The subjects in the ketone group had better average performances on the 30 minute & 120 minute trial, but the control group performed better on average in the 90-second sprints.
The ketone ester group consumed much more calories on average, which is also a big contributor to physical performance.
Across all the studies looking at mean or maximum power capacity with ketone supplementation, there are 4 showing improvements and 4 showing performance impairments. [9]
Bottom line: this study, and the research overall, does NOT conclusively show that ketones improve mean power production.
Claim 3: “2% improved athlete’s endurance”
Their source for this paper is a 2016 paper from the Journal of Cell Metabolism: source.
This paper was also reviewed in the larger systematic review I previously cited.
This study had multiple parts, most of which looking at changes on blood concentrations of various metabolites and substrate utilization (ie what their bodies used for fuel) as a result of ketone supplementation.
The final part of this study looked performance outcomes
The researchers had 8 highly trained endurance athletes take either a ketone + carbohydrate supplement or a carbohydrate supplement alone. The subjects then performed 60 minutes of steady state work at 75% of their maximum workload followed by a 30 minute time trial (a test to see how far they could pedal in 30 minutes).
They found that the group that took the ketone + carbohydrate supplement pedaled 2% farther than the carbohydrate alone group, a significant increase to be seen in advanced athletes.
This study sparked much of the initial interest in ketone supplementation, however other studies have yielded different results.
There are currently 8 studies looking at how ketone supplementation improves endurance performance. 5 of them show performance impairments, 3 of them show performance improvements.
So, although this study showed endurance performance improvements, the overall body of research shows otherwise.
The overall trend here…
Within exercise science & nutrition research, studies are rarely in perfect agreement. In other words, for a given intervention, not every study is going to show the same thing.
The cause for this can be a great many things. Examples of causes include inter-individual variance, unknown confounding variables, etc.
This is part of what makes interpreting this research difficulty, and it also provides an opportunity for predatory health/fitness companies.
What HVMN’s Ketone-IQ has done here is something many other snake-oil companies do: cherry-pick the studies that support their product while ignoring the rest of the research.
The systematic review I previously cited [9] reviewed all the available data including 16 different performance outcomes. 10 showed no effect, 3 showed performance improvements, and 3 showed performance impairments.
Based on this, you clearly can’t say for certain whether there’s a benefit to be had or not. If anything, ketone supplementation seems to be neutral in how it affects athletic performance.
However, what Ketone-IQ has done is only cite the 3 studies that show performance improvements while ignoring the 13 others that show otherwise.
Conclusion
The take-homes of this article are as follows:
Ketones are naturally produced compounds to be used as an alternate energy source during periods of starvation or extreme carbohydrate restriction (ketogenic dieting)
Ketogenic dieting is inferior to higher carbohydrate dieting for athletic performance and comparable to higher carbohydrate dieting for health.
The largest systematic review of ketone supplementation in people not under-going ketogenic dieting shows neutral effects of ketone supplementation on athletic performance.
HVMN’s Ketone-IQ cited the few data points that support their product, while ignoring the majority of data that goes against it.
All-in-all, this is not a product I would recommend to anyone.
