Ketone Supplements for Performance: What the Trials Show

Ketones got their sports reputation in 2016, when an Oxford paper showed trained cyclists going further after a ketone drink. Since then the supplement aisle has filled with BHB pre-workouts, and plenty of brands imply that ketone supplements for performance are a settled win. They aren’t, and if you train seriously you deserve to know what the trials found before you spend money.

I’ve worked with BHB for years and I sell it, so I’ll be upfront about where I land. The data on ketones as a direct performance booster is mixed at best, and the form and dose matter a lot. Below I go through the main human trials, show the results side by side, and explain where I think a 5 g serving of goBHB® fits in a training day.

The Trials Behind Ketone Supplements for Performance

Ketone esters: the study that started it

Cox and colleagues published five studies with 39 high-performance athletes in Cell Metabolism in 2016. The esters shifted fuel use: lower muscle glycolysis, lower lactate and more fat burned inside the muscle, even with normal glycogen. In one of those studies, cyclists covered about 400 m more in a 30-minute time trial after the ketone ester drink, roughly a 2% gain. The ester dose was large (573 mg per kg of body weight), and co-author Kieran Clarke’s company, TΔS, developed that ester.

Later ester results were less consistent. In a 2021 trial by Poffé and colleagues in Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise, nine well-trained cyclists took 65 g of ketone ester during a simulated 3-hour race. The ester alone pushed blood pH from 7.43 to 7.36 and did not improve the final 15-minute time trial, where power sat at about 255 W, the same as control. Adding sodium bicarbonate to offset the acid load raised time-trial power by 5% compared with control.

Ketone salts: smaller rises, mixed results

Salts are what most people actually buy, and they have a tougher record. O’Malley and colleagues (2017) gave 10 men 0.3 g of BHB salts per kg of body weight 30 minutes before cycling. Fat burning went up during exercise, but average power in the final time trial was about 7% lower than placebo, a drop of 16 W.

Prins and colleagues ran two runner studies in 2020. In the first, 10 recreational runners took 300 mg per kg of a BHB salt plus MCT product 60 minutes before a 5 km time trial. They finished in 1,430 seconds on average vs. 1,488 seconds on placebo, but that 58-second gap was not statistically significant (p = 0.10). In the second, 13 recreational male distance runners took one or two servings (22.1 g or 44.2 g) of a BHB plus MCT formula. 5 km performance, heart rate and perceived effort did not change, though the two-serving dose improved cognitive test scores before exercise. The second study was funded internally by Grove City College. In both studies, co-author Dominic D’Agostino disclosed ketone patents.

The Results Side by Side

Different trials measured different things (distance, power or time), so read this chart as a direction-of-effect summary, not a ranking.

Performance vs. control in four ketone trials

Percent change in the main time-trial measure. Blue = better than control; grey = not statistically significant; red = worse than placebo. The 3.9% is calculated from reported times.

Ketone ester + bicarbonate, power (Poffé 2021)+5%BHB salt + MCT, 5 km time (Prins 2020)+3.9% (faster)Ketone ester, distance (Cox 2016)+2%Ketone ester alone, power (Poffé 2021)about 0%BHB salts 0.3 g/kg, power (O’Malley 2017)-7%

Sources: Cox et al., Cell Metab 2016; O’Malley et al., Appl Physiol Nutr Metab 2017; Prins et al., J Hum Kinet 2020; Poffé et al., Med Sci Sports Exerc 2021.

A 2020 meta-analysis by Valenzuela and colleagues pulled 13 randomized trials together and found no overall effect on performance (Hedges g = -0.05) for events from sprints up to about 50 minutes. Splitting by form didn’t change the picture: g = -0.07 for esters and -0.02 for salts. If you want the format differences in more depth, see ketone salts vs. ketone esters.

Why the Results Are So Mixed

Three things keep showing up. First, dose and blood level: the positive ester work used very large doses, and salts at 0.3 g per kg mean more than 20 g of salts for a 70 kg athlete, along with a heavy mineral load. Second, acid-base balance: Poffé’s data suggest the ester’s acid load can cancel out any benefit unless something buffers it. Third, ketones lower glycolysis. That may suit long steady efforts but could cost you at the top end, which would fit with the O’Malley power drop.

Recovery is the open question. A 2021 review by Mansor and Woo in Frontiers in Physiology argued that ketones may matter more after training than during it, with a cumulative payoff over later sessions. The authors also note that the performance results so far are mixed. That’s a hypothesis built mostly on mechanism and small studies, not proof, and I’d keep it in that category.

Where goBHB Fits in a Training Day

Our position is simpler than the hype. We don’t sell goBHB as a replacement for carbohydrate in a race, and none of the trials above used it. A 5 g serving is a fraction of the doses in these trials. We position it as a stim-free source of BHB to support energy and focus, not as a race fuel. The result I find most relevant is the Prins cognition finding: the 44.2 g dose improved cognitive scores before exercise, though the 22.1 g dose did not, and nobody has tested 5 g.

Beyond Raw Chemistry Labs BHB Salts: 5 g of goBHB D-BHB per serving, sold at GNC.

Beyond Raw Chemistry Labs BHB Salts

If you want BHB on its own to stack with your carbs and caffeine, Beyond Raw Chemistry Labs BHB Salts at GNC is the simplest option. Each unflavored serving has 5 g of goBHB D-BHB (the D-form-only version of the ingredient) bonded to calcium, magnesium, sodium and potassium (210 mg of sodium per serving on the label), and a 30-serving tub runs $39.99 according to Stack3d’s launch coverage. I wrote about the launch in GNC adds goBHB to the Beyond Raw lineup.

CleanForm Birds of Prey

For people who train late or can’t handle stimulants, CleanForm’s Birds of Prey puts 5 g of goBHB next to 8 g of L-citrulline and 5 g of creatine, with no caffeine. The 5 g creatine dose matches the amount most creatine research uses. Full breakdown in our Birds of Prey review.

CleanForm Birds of Prey, a stim-free pre-workout in Watermelon Lemonade and Strawberry Lemonade.

Safety first: BHB salts deliver minerals, so add up your sodium if you also use electrolytes or a salty pre-workout. Large doses can upset the stomach. If you have kidney or blood pressure concerns, are pregnant or take medication, talk with your doctor first. More in our BHB salts side effects guide.

Where the Evidence Stands

Across the trials, ketone supplements have not reliably improved short or mid-length endurance performance, and one salt study found a drop in high-intensity power. The positive results came from large ester doses, sometimes only with bicarbonate added. The samples are small, often 9 to 13 people, and most studies were acute single-dose tests. Effects on recovery, perceived energy and focus around training are plausible but still need well-designed trials.

FAQ

Do ketone supplements improve endurance?

Not consistently. One 2016 ester study found about a 2% gain in a 30-minute cycling trial, but a 2020 meta-analysis of 13 trials found no overall effect. Results for BHB salts ranged from no change to about 7% lower power.

Should I take BHB before a workout?

If your goal is steady energy and focus without stimulants, a 5 g serving 30 to 60 minutes before training is a reasonable approach. Don’t use it in place of carbohydrate before a hard race or interval session.

Are ketone esters better than ketone salts for athletes?

Esters raise blood BHB much higher and produced the only clear wins, but they also lowered blood pH and cost far more. Even with esters, results without bicarbonate were often flat.

Can BHB help with recovery?

A 2021 review proposed that recovery may be where ketones matter most, but the human evidence is limited and mostly comes from ester studies. I’d file recovery under promising research, not a proven benefit.

The Bottom Line

If someone tells you ketone supplements for performance are a proven edge, ask which form, what dose and what blood level. My read of the trials is that esters at large doses can help in specific setups, salts mostly don’t move time-trial numbers, and I see a 5 g goBHB serving as a stim-free way to support energy and focus around training, not a proven performance aid. That’s how I use it, and that’s how I’d suggest you test it.

Sources: Cox PJ, et al. Nutritional Ketosis Alters Fuel Preference and Thereby Endurance Performance in Athletes. Cell Metab. 2016;24(2):256-268. Poffé C, et al. Bicarbonate Unlocks the Ergogenic Action of Ketone Monoester Intake in Endurance Exercise. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2021. O’Malley T, et al. Nutritional ketone salts increase fat oxidation but impair high-intensity exercise performance in healthy adult males. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2017. Prins PJ, et al. Effects of an Exogenous Ketone Supplement on Five-Kilometer Running Performance. J Hum Kinet. 2020. Prins PJ, et al. Dose response of a novel exogenous ketone supplement on physiological, perceptual and performance parameters. Nutr Metab. 2020. Valenzuela PL, et al. Acute Ketone Supplementation and Exercise Performance: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials. Int J Sports Physiol Perform. 2020. Mansor LS, Woo GH. Ketones for Post-exercise Recovery: Potential Applications and Mechanisms. Front Physiol. 2021. Product details from cleanformnutrition.com and Stack3d.