Nutricost Keto BHB Exogenous Ketones 4-in-1 (Unflavored) 30 Servings | 12g Beta-Hydroxybutyrate (BHB) Per Serving, Ketone Salts

First things first: I chose the Nutricost brand of ketone salts because it’s pure beta-hydroxybutyrate salts (Ca, Mg, K, Na salts). There is another brand (Perfect Keto), which is flavored. However, I highly recommend that you avoid all the other supposed ketone supplements, especially generic “raspberry ketones”. You can read online why the raspberry ketones are a waste of time and money. I have to warn you in case you don't know, these ketone salts are NASTY! It’s kind of like consuming solvents, so if you are taste-sensitive, maybe the Perfect Keto version is a better option for you. Humans are not designed to consume ketone salts directly; we are designed to create them endogenously from precursors that we consume. I would rather suffer the horrible taste of consuming pure ketone salts to avoid ingesting any unnecessary “natural flavors” but you may feel differently about this.Some background on why I decided to take these ketone salts: Years ago I experimented with eating a ketogenic diet to improve some of my health conditions, but unfortunately it didn't have a positive effect. In fact, over time, I actually started to feel worse. I have a poorly understood health condition and one hypothesis is that part of the issue is a defect in the glycolysis pathway (the pathway that results in energy production from carbohydrates). However, since I didn't have good results with a keto diet, it's very possible that my body also doesn't produce ketones efficiently.Since I already know that I likely also have a defect in my ketone pathway, rather than attempt a failed experiment in the exact same way, I decided to do something different. This time, I would supplement the ketone salts directly (since supplementing with pyruvate is impossible). I bought urine ketone test strips as a way to collect some data about my ketone levels and I took meticulous notes throughout the process.I tested my urine while still eating a relatively high level of carbs (before the experiment) to get a baseline. The strips showed a nonexistent level of ketones. The next day, on an empty stomach, I consumed ketone salts, followed by a keto lunch, snack and dinner. The afternoon and evening test strips showed moderate levels of ketones. The next two days I continued this protocol and the strips showed either a small (the third square) or a moderate (fourth square) level of ketones in my urine. After stopping the experiment and reverting to my regular diet, the levels slowly diminished, showing either trace or negative levels of ketones.My protocol: On the first day, on empty stomach, I took 16g of ketone salts on an empty stomach. Within 30 minutes, there was a noticeable stimulation that lasted for a few hours, but then I ended up getting diarrhea. I have a particularly sensitive GI system and am prone to diarrhea, so others may not get this effect from this amount.The next day I took half the amount (8grams) on empty stomach. The effect was milder but I didn't get diarrhea. Most importantly, when I attempted to perform some physical activity that would normally result in a flare up/crash, I felt ok.I tried various strategies, and ultimately the most effective for me was to take the first 8 g dose on an empty stomach, followed by boosters of 4g shortly before lunch and dinner (on empty stomach). I ate keto meals for lunch and dinner. Overall, taking the ketones in this way allowed me to perform some physical activity without my typical crash (full body pain, headache, exhaustion, muscle soreness, etc...).***You don't necessarily need to take this on an empty stomach, in fact, taking it with food is probably fine if you're goal is to transition into ketosis more quickly. Since I was not attempting to transition into ketosis (since I already know my body doesn't seem to produce ketones efficiently), I was taking the ketone salts as a way to directly give my body an energy source without it having to metabolize anything. For this purpose, taking it on an empty stomach seemed to make a huge difference in how I felt.I have every reason to believe these Ketone salts are high quality. Nutricost is one of the few companies (and depending on the supplement, sometimes the only company) to produce their products in the US. Other companies typically produce in China, then print that the product is 'packaged' in the US. Since regulation in China is virtually nonexistent, I feel much safer consuming something made in the US. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. If you found this review helpful, consider leaving me feedback to know that the time I spent writing this review is appreciated.

This stuff has been a lifesaver for recovering from mold toxicity which makes ketosis on a very low carb diet extremely difficult. Even though my body didn’t make these ketones I’ve started losing weight and feel better. The cure for the taste, which is absolutely awful, is mixing it with something that contains malic acid. Tart cherry juice does the trick, look for the concentrated version and add 1 or 2 tablespoons of concentrate.. Or if your keto like me you can buy malic acid on Amazon as a powder and add 1/4 teaspoon to your drink. Malic acid is what makes sour patch candy sour and it tricks your brain to focus on that and not the BHB salts. It’s also recommended to add some form of sweetener to counteract how very sour metallic acid is. I was skeptical this would work but it really does! Oh thank God!

Holding off on 5 stars until I've been on it longer. But so far it has definitely suppressed my appetite. Unfortunately usually my binges are due to my mouth being hungry instead of my stomach 😕.I have noticed that I don't crave sweets or carbs as much. Now if I can just control my protein cravings! I've also noticed that I don't have any symptoms of the dreaded Keto Flu. A coworker of mine did Keto earlier in the year and suffered horribly but didn't use any supplements.Due to some of the reviews about bathroom issues, I started with half a scoop. Over the last few days I have gotten to where I am doing one scoop up to 3 times a day. No stomach upset yet.I have just started trying to do keto, and have had trouble mostly with keeping my proteins down. But once I started doing one and a 1/2 to 2 scoops a day I'm starting to show anywhere from trace to 4 on the ketone strips within an hour. I am not as crazy strict as some people are, and I'm still adapting to the changes. But I can tell when I have taken the salts that with in an hour ketone start showing up on the test.I'm not currently working so I can't tell for sure that my mental clarity is better, but even with allergy pills I've managed to hold off not napping and that's a good thing.😂As far as taste goes, I have been putting it into a full bottle of water and it tastes pretty much like Seltzer water without the fizzies. If I add a packet of Crystal Light, I can barely detect it. It reminds me of gatorade in flavor.I will try to remember to come back and update my review after I've been on it for a while longer. I know it's supposed to help with mental clarity. Hopefully it helps with memory also!

This stuff works. I started ketosis about a week ago. I have generally hard time going much higher than 1mmol/L despite eating almost no carbs and very low protein. Unlike most people, I don't seem to have higher ketone trends into the evening. I purchased this to see if it would affect my ketone levels and to test it out during long slow heart rate runs (>15 miles).Ketone measurements (blood, precision xtra tester):6:30pm 0.8mmol/L6:30pm took one scoop of the supplement with water7:30pm 1.6mmol/L8:00pm 1.4mmol/L8:30pm 1.6mmol/L9:30pm 1.0mmol/LBe warned though. This is the most disgusting thing I have ever tasted if mixed with water. I'd put it on par with eating a gym sock. Holding your nose shut does help to lessen the taste while drinking. Sour pickles washed away any residual taste. I was only able to drink about 3-4 ounces at a time so it took three tries. Next time I'll make it with a little less water (maybe 8oz). I have not tried mixing it yet with anything. It does not mix well with a spoon but mixes fine in a shaker bottle. Surprisingly I didn't get an upset stomach or unpleasant burps. Next time I'll try a little lemon or something else to mask the taste.Update 1/24/17 (about a week later). Apparently this stuff doesn't taste the same to everyone. I had my girlfriend and 3 other friends try it. To my surprise, my girlfriend thought it didn't taste as bad as I described it - she described it as metallic. She didn't feel like she really needed a "chaser" after it. Out of my 3 other friends, one thought it was awful, two thought it was moderately bad. In terms of increasing ketones, one of my friends went from 0.3mmol/L to 5.3mmol/L in 10 minutes! I was really surprised at this. He became light headed for maybe two minutes (I'm guessing the bhb caused a spike in insulin which led to a low blood sugar, but who knows). None were on a keto diet. I doubt he would have had this reaction if he had been on keto. Rest of my friends went up 0.5 to 1.0 mmol/L on the blood stick test, more or less inline with my previous findings. I've been in keto about two weeks and my normal ketones seem to be around 1.0-1.2mmol/L. After taking this supplement, I can get myself to about 2.0 for a few hours.

Effective at raising blood ketone level - yes. But the following would cause me to NOT purchase this product again: causes stomach issues consistently; does not dissolve easily and leaves undissolved amount at bottom of glass no matter how much stirring, and HORRENDOUS SHARP BITTER TASTE. The description of "unflavored" implies lack of flavor but be aware that the natural flavor is strong and hard to take straight - we had to add something to try to make it drinkable.

I have purchased this product three times according to Amazon - I've always like Nutricost products and until my most recent purchase, this one was no different. In the past the product was a bit more granular and had a sort of sour/salty taste that wasn't too bad / easily masked by mixing with sports drink and easy enough to just drink quickly like taking a shot.My most recent order of this product is completely different - the powder is much finer, to the point that if you dig a spoon into it too quickly the powder will splash and end up all over your counter - this also makes it quite a bit harder to mix as it's much more hydrophobic now. All of this would be fine if it weren't for the taste - the taste of the powder in my latest order is almost unbearable - it's bitter to the point that I can't even choke it down in a couple of big gulps like I could with the previous product. Anything you mix it with also becomes unbearably bitter - the only way I can really get it down is to spread it across about 32oz of sqwincher (a sweet, zero calorie sports drink mix) - which dilutes it enough that it's tolerable (but still tastes pretty awful)- but mixing into something like a protein shake, pre-workout, or just trying to gulp it down quickly will make me gag.Very disappointing as this used to be a great product.

Good stuff. Speedy delivery

I’m having GI problems when I take the full scoop. Trying a smaller amount to see if it is better tolerated. The taste is not an insurmountable issue.

Mixes in easy. Can't tell you if it has given me any benefit due to only been taking it for 3 days