Ketone bodies can be utilized as a fuel in the heart, brain, and muscle, but not the liver. They yield 2 guanosine triphosphate (GTP) and 22 adenosine triphosphate (ATP) molecules per acetoacetate molecule when oxidized in the mitochondria. ATP (Adenosine triphosphate) produced by cellular mitochondria, is often described as the energy currency of the body. And, the more cellular mitochondria you have, the more energy you are able to produce. You don’t get ATP from a 5-hour energy shot as you may think. You must produce it within a cell through a process called the Krebs or citric acid cycle via Cellular Respiration. Ketogenesis is quite different than lipid production of the mitochondria and requires a reduction in carbohydrate intake.

This metabolite is also known as β-Hydroxybutyrate and produced in the liver. Simply put it is sugar made from fat then distributed in the blood to other parts of the body to be used a fuel. Glycogen is not as good for your body as Keytones because glycogen is fat-producing and a keystone is a byproduct of fat consumption. However, your brain will signal that it has a preference for sugar in relationship to ketones as a fuel source. The human brain is nearly 60 percent fat, and in recent years, scientific research revealed that fatty acids are among the most crucial molecules that determine your brain's integrity and ability to perform. (PMID: 20329590, 25339684, 26868600)

Without a good understanding of Ketone Body Metabolism, you can be easily misled to believe that sugar consumption is necessary for the body to function optimally, This is not only wrong but it should also be evident that it’s the most insidious key factor reducing your longevity. Excessive consumption of foods that tastes great but are nutritionally poor will cause an unhealthy increase in the triglycerides produced by your liver. As a result, this over-consumption eventually becomes a greater health issue such as heart disease or diabetes. When you concentrate on good gut health, as Hippocrates once did, you can fix many dietary diseases like diabetes, and start boosting your immune system to protect your body from those occasional unknown flu bugs.

Abstaining, from the sugary processed carbs and concentrating more on those which are prebiotic will not only allow your gut to produce the chemical butyrate, a short-chain fatty acid that assists in the production of ketones (PMID: 29805804, 30506389, 31237779), it also helps your gut to produce chemicals necessary for low inflammation and optimum immunity (PMID: 31430948). Fasting on sugary food and eating more fiber is known to boost longevity and good health. Ketones will feed your brain in a much better way, but you should know that sugar is an addiction and you must be nutritionally weaned off of this slowly. This reversal of an unhealthy eating habit can be a painstaking process, but if it’s not done in a nutritionally sound way, it’s almost certainly doomed to failure. The Wikipedia page on butyrate contains a plethora of eye-opening paradigm-shifting information that may lead you to see that eating more bulky prebiotic fiber is the key to the proper way of reducing your caloric intake and help you become Slim and Trim.