With more people with diabetes and pre-diabetes looking for strategies to help control blood sugar, new study suggests that ketone monoester drinks–a new food supplement–may help to it. “There is mounting evidence that a low carbohydrate ketogenic diet is very effective in controlling blood sugar and even reversing Type 2 diabetes,” said study lead author Jonathan Little, associate professor at University of British Columbia in Canada. Ketone supplements are proving fertile ground for research into Type 2 diabetes because ketones are the natural fuel source of the body when it’s in
ketosis–the metabolic byproduct of consuming a low carbohydrate, ketogenic diet.
To test the idea, the research team asked 15 people to consume a ketone drink after fasting overnight. After 30 minutes, they were then asked to drink a fluid containing 75 grams of sugar while blood samples were taken.”It turns out that the ketone drink seemed to launch participants into a sort of pseudo-ketogenic state where they were better able to control their blood sugar levels with no changes to their insulin,” Little explained.