Summary
Leanne Vogel reconsiders her earlier stance against exogenous ketones after meeting dozens of users on her book tour who reported significant benefits. She identifies the ideal candidates: people stuck in prolonged keto flu, low-carb dieters who cannot go fully ketogenic due to health conditions, those needing therapeutic ketone levels, and people wanting to extend intermittent fasting. The episode also addresses sugar and carb cravings on keto, explaining how carb-ups can reset leptin and satisfy cravings without derailing fat adaptation. Leanne discusses building a healthier relationship with food, moving away from obsessive tracking, and the importance of listening to hunger signals rather than relying on apps to dictate eating patterns.
Key Points
- Exogenous ketones help people overcome persistent keto flu lasting more than three days
- Low-carb dieters with thyroid or adrenal dysfunction who cannot go fully keto can benefit from therapeutic ketone supplementation
- Exogenous ketones strongly suppress appetite and can extend fasting windows, but this may trigger disordered eating in susceptible people
- Taking exogenous ketones alongside excess carbohydrates is potentially unsafe due to simultaneously elevated blood sugar and ketones
- Carb-ups can reset leptin levels and resolve persistent cravings that last beyond four weeks of keto adaptation
- Fat-adapted individuals burn through carb-ups quickly during sleep and return to fat burning by morning
- Obsessive food tracking with apps like MyFitnessPal can perpetuate food anxiety; transitioning to intuitive journaling builds body awareness
Key Moments
Reconsidering exogenous ketones: Leanne changes her mind after book tour
After meeting many successful users on her book tour, Leanne reverses her earlier position that exogenous ketones are bad, acknowledging they have a legitimate place for keto flu, therapeutic ketosis, and diet transitions.
"I'll be the first to admit that I'm human and I make mistakes. And one of those mistakes has definitely been saying that exogenous ketone products are bad and you shouldn't use them."
The fasting extension effect: appetite suppression from ketones
Leanne describes how exogenous ketones dramatically suppressed her appetite, enabling extended fasting, but warns this can trigger restrictive eating behaviors in people with a history of eating disorders.
"it totally killed my appetite. Like, I probably could have fasted the entire day and into the second day, and maybe even the third day because there was a whole day where I didn't eat, and I was just drinking that."
Safety concern: combining exogenous ketones with high-carb meals
Leanne raises a safety concern about the practice of taking exogenous ketones alongside excess carbohydrates, arguing that simultaneously elevating blood sugar and ketone levels may be unsafe.
"my major concern also is that if it's being used in conjunction with excess carbohydrates or with a carbup, logically to me, that's still unsafe."
