Summary
HVMN founder Michael Brandt explains how exogenous ketones work as a fourth macronutrient alongside carbs, fats, and protein, offering endurance athletes a parallel energy pathway that doesn't compete with glucose metabolism. He covers the history from DARPA's Operation Metabolic Dominance through HVMN's $6 million Department of Defense contract to today's consumer Ketone IQ product. The conversation dives into practical applications for trail and ultra runners, including glycogen sparing during long efforts, the 15% power output improvement seen in a Belgian cycling recovery study, and the cognitive benefits that keep athletes mentally sharp late in races. Brandt also shares his personal fueling protocol for zone two long runs and explains the differences between ketone salts, esters, and HVMN's newer ketone diol technology.
Key Points
- Ketones are a macronutrient that generates ATP through a separate metabolic pathway from carbohydrates, requiring less oxygen per unit of energy
- HVMN secured a $6 million DARPA/SOCOM contract studying exogenous ketones for military performance in hypoxia
- A Belgian cycling study showed 15% higher power output after three weeks of daily ketone supplementation vs placebo
- Exogenous ketones spare glycogen stores, allowing athletes to maintain higher intensity for longer during endurance events
- Ketones cross the blood-brain barrier and may delay central governor fatigue, keeping athletes mentally sharp late in races
- Ketone IQ uses a diol molecule that is cheaper and better-tasting than earlier ester products while still elevating blood ketones effectively
- Recommended dosing for runners: one shot of Ketone IQ every hour during activity, stacked alongside normal carb fueling
- Type 1 diabetics should avoid exogenous ketones due to ketoacidosis risk, but the product has a low side effect profile for most people
Key Moments
Ketones as a fourth macronutrient: parallel energy pathway to carbs
Michael Brandt explains that ketones contain seven calories per gram and feed directly into the Krebs cycle, qualifying them as a macronutrient alongside fats, proteins, and carbohydrates.
"It's a macronutrient. When we think about the macronutrients, fats, proteins, carbohydrates, they all contain calories as opposed to micronutrients, which are your vitamin B, vitamin D. Those are a caloric. They do not contain calories."
DARPA's Operation Metabolic Dominance: the origin story of drinkable ketones
The history of exogenous ketones traces back to DARPA proving the concept in the early 2000s at $20,000-$30,000 per dose before HVMN made it commercially viable.
"DARPA had a program called Operation Metabolic Dominance, where they proved out this proof of concept that, hey, you could make an exogenous ketone."
Belgian cycling study: 15% power output boost from daily ketone supplementation
A double-blind placebo-controlled study with cyclists showed that three weeks of daily ketone supplementation led to 15% higher power output on the final time trial compared to placebo.
"higher power output in the final time trial. And again, this double blind placebo control, people didn't know that if they were drinking ketones or drinking the water that was made to taste like ketones, all that they saw in the research was that the ketone group was, had been able to essentially recover faster. And so there's a couple of different hypotheses that follow from there on why is it that having ketones habitually over many weeks helps your body to"
Brain fuel: ketones cross the blood-brain barrier for mental clarity
Ketones readily cross the blood-brain barrier to fuel neurons, which is particularly relevant for ultra runners who need sustained mental focus late in races.
"is 5% of our body weight and uses 25% of our energy. And ketones are really good at getting through to your neurons. Ketones cross the blood brain barrier. A lot of the reason that we've even evolved the ability to make and use ketones is because humans have this large brain. We have the largest brain relative to our body mass of any species. And"
Protocol for zone two long runs: fasted plus ketone IQ
For zone two Maffetone-style runs, Brandt skips carbs beforehand to train fat adaptation but takes Ketone IQ to upregulate ketone-metabolizing enzymes while training the fat-to-ketone energy system.
"I'm not going to eat carbs beforehand because I want my body to be able to practice using the fat into ketone energy system. I want to intentionally be Doing that run at a lower intensity."
