Top 5 Keto Supplements (and the Science Behind Them)

Are you ready to force your body into a metabolic state in which stores of fat are burned because no sugars are available? This is the essence of the ketogenic diet. The diet, developed based on the science of the body’s metabolic system, allows users to eliminate pesky stores of fat without suffering from hunger. However, this diet involves more than eating certain foods and watching what you eat. Keto supplements can play a major role in achieving weight loss through the diet. Whether you’re a novice to keto or you’ve already been following the diet for a while, you can kick your diet into high gear with quality keto products.

This diet has seen great growth in interest over the past number of years and so, naturally, many products have also appeared to meet the increased demand. This makes it hard to know what the best supplements for ketogenic diet users are. This article will explore the role that ketogenic diet supplements play, list some of the best and most popular products and discuss best practices for using these products to achieve weight loss.

What are Ketogenic Diet Supplements?

The keto diet is a fairly radical diet that forces your body to stop running on blood sugar and shift to running on ketones. The diet mostly consists of consuming healthy fats, some proteins and very few carbohydrates. Many people have had great success in weight loss while following this diet. However, keto diet supplements can boost your performance on the diet and also ensure that you’re healthy while following the plan. So, keto products can play several roles:

Nutrition:

The ketogenic diet involves a radical change in your eating habits. Rather than eating a carb-based diet, you’ll likely be ingesting 50 g or less of carbohydrates each day. That’s less than what you’d find in 2 apples! This great shift in your diet means that you’re essentially leaving out one of the major macronutrient groups: carbohydrates. Instead, you’re ingesting proteins and fats almost exclusively. Keto supplements can help replenish certain vitamins and minerals that you may no longer get from food sources.

Diet Boosters:

On the ketogenic diet, you want to reach a state of “ketosis”. This means that your body is using energy from fat instead of from sugars or carbohydrates (1). It can be tough to make sure that you’re getting enough energy from fats and proteins, so, if you go overboard with carbohydrates or you need a quick boost of energy, you can take exogenous ketones. Also known as ketone supplements, these keto supplements are ideal for anyone following this diet to have on hand.

As you can see, keto supplements can play an essential role in making sure you’re successful and healthy while on this unique diet. However, you have to make sure you take the right supplements that will give you what you need. Below, you’ll find some of the most popular and useful keto supplements that you can take while following the diet:

The Top 5 Best Keto Supplements

There are many different types of supplements to take on keto that serve different purposes. Here are some of the best supplements for keto diet, what they do and why they’re among the best:

1. Keto Drive: Revved by Zhou Nutrition

This all-in-one keto supplement offers essential electrolytes as well as an exogenous ketone complex to help you achieve ketosis. In addition, the product contains caffeine that will give you a boost of energy.

With this powerful mix of ingredients, you’ll make sure you’re meeting your nutritional needs while also giving your blood ketone level a boost. Following the keto diet requirements, this supplement doesn’t contain any sugars or carbohydrates. It’s sweetened with stevia, which is carb-free.

The powdered supplement comes in two flavors: black cherry with caffeine and matcha lemonade. Note that the lemonade flavor doesn’t contain caffeine.

This product has an excellent rating by real users, suggesting that it works well and has an acceptable taste.

Highlights

• Contains essential minerals: calcium, sodium and magnesium
• Contains exogenous ketones in the form of BHB salts
• Tastes good
• Can be mixed into water or shakes
• No carbohydrates
• No artificial colorants
• Only 5 calories per serving
• 16 servings per container

Who Makes It

Zhou Nutrition is a nutrition company based in Utah. Offering a wide range of supplements, Zhou is committed to achieving a high level of customer satisfaction. The company has achieved a 4.9-5 star rating. Offers a 60-day money back guarantee and is also highly rated on Trust Pilot.

The Bottom Line

This product seems to have everything you need in a keto supplement. Produced by a reliable company with impressive reviews, Keto Drive is definitely a product worth trying.

2. KEYTO + B12 by Preferred Elements

This powder-based supplement contains BHB exogenous ketones and essential electrolytes in its effective formula. In addition, this supplement also contains Vitamin B12 and Vitamin C. The ketones can help users achieve a ketogenic state quickly and easily while the vitamins boost your immune system and promote nervous system and metabolic health. 

Available in raspberry or orange flavor, the powder can be added to water or a shake depending on your preference. Users report that the powder tastes great and is effective in helping them achieve or maintain ketosis.

The product does not contain any carbohydrates and contains only 5 calories in each serving. Stevia is used as a sugar substitute. There’s no caffeine in the product either, making it ideal for dieters who prefer not to consume caffeine.

Highlights

• Contains essential minerals: calcium, sodium and magnesium
• Contains exogenous ketones in the form of BHB salts
• Contains extra vitamins: Vitamin B12 and Vitamin C
• 5 calories per serving
• No carbohydrates
• Natural flavors used
• Tastes good
• Can be mixed in water or shakes
• 17 servings per container

Who Makes It

Preferred Elements is a US-based company that produces keto supplements exclusively. The company offers a 60-day money back guarantee on its products, meaning you can buy with confidence.

The Bottom Line

This great product offers all of the basics of a keto supplement with a few bonus vitamins to boot. Based on the great customer reviews, you’ll likely be satisfied with the results you get from taking this product.

3. Keto BHB Salts Supplement by Zenwise Health

Another highly rated product, this is supplement is also an all-in-one keto supplement. It contains both electrolytes and BHB exogenous ketones to help you achieve ketosis. Reviewers report that they are able to achieve a great ketosis level measurement after using this product.

Although it does contain some calories (30 per serving), these are not from carbohydrate sources. The powder mixes in easily to water or shakes, making the supplement easy to take. Stevia is used to sweeten the powder, which is a carb-free option. Two flavors are available: raspberry lemonade and wild limeade.

This supplement is ideal for those who prefer to abstain from caffeine, as it does not contain any.

Highlights

• 30 calories per serving
• Contains essential minerals: calcium, sodium and magnesium
• Contains exogenous ketones in the form of BHB salts
• No artificial colors or flavors
• No Carbohydrates
• Can be mixed into water or shakes
• Tastes good
• 16 servings per container

Who Makes It

Zenwise Health offers a full range of different health supplements. You can find their products through the online platforms Walmart and iHerb. Based out of Delaware, this US-based company has achieved impressive reviews across its selling platforms.

The Bottom Line

This great keto supplement contains everything you need to achieve ketosis. Although it’s a bit high on the calories per serving, you can compensate your diet.

4. Keto Vitals High Dose Electrolytes

This keto supplement comes in pill form and contains only electrolytes. The product contains sodium, calcium, potassium and magnesium. These electrolytes are essential for keto dieters as without them, muscle cramping and fatigue can set in.

Highly rated, users find that the formula of electrolytes is helpful in managing the side effects of entering ketosis. However, recent reviews report that the supplement now contains a very small amount of rice flour, resulting in less than 1.5 grams of carbs per 2 pills.

Highlights

• Contains calcium, sodium, potassium and magnesium
• Pill form
• Contains 120 servings
• No artificial colors or flavors
• Gelatin capsule

Who Makes It

Keto Vitals is a small company based in Seattle. Dedicated to the keto diet, the founder created the company to help others survive keto flu and fatigue. The lack of a convenient supplement motivated the founder to create this winning product.

The Bottom Line

This product is ideal for individuals beginning the keto diet as it can help diminish the common side effects. Unique from other keto products, this supplement contains potassium which is a plus. Give this a try for easy, convenient relief from keto flu symptoms.

5. Electrolyte Salts by Vali

This electrolyte blend goes above and beyond the other keto electrolyte supplements to include complementary electrolytes so that you can get everything in one place. For example, it contains both calcium and vitamin D which boosts calcium absorption. In addition, it includes magnesium, chloride, sodium, potassium and zinc.

The supplement is made in pill form and each bottle contains 120 pills. Users offer great reviews of the products for a number of uses including boosting athletic performance, eliminating unpleasant symptoms from health conditions and of course, supplementing a keto diet.

Highlights

• Contain calcium, vitamin D, magnesium, chloride, sodium, potassium and zinc
• Low price
• Pill form
• Contains 120 servings
• No artificial flavors or colors
• Vegetarian capsule

Who Makes It

Vali offers a range of different supplements to improve your health. Sold exclusively through Amazon, this company is based in the USA. All of their capsules are vegetarian-friendly and are third-party tested. Products also come with a 100% money back guarantee.

The Bottom Line

This product offers a great range of essential vitamins and nutrients your body needs. Take this supplement to avoid symptoms of keto flu and to maintain your health while on this restrictive diet. The company’s great reputation and guarantee make the product easy to trust. It’s also a great choice for vegetarians given its composition.

How to Choose the Best Supplements to Take on Keto

When on the keto diet, it can be difficult to decide which of the available supplements to take. What you take will depend a bit on your approach to the ketogenic diet and any symptoms you’re experiencing. First, you need to understand how ketogenic supplements work:

How Keto Pills and Supplements Work: The Science

As you can tell from the above best keto supplements list, there are a few main types of supplements you can take to benefit your ketogenic diet. Here’s how each of them contribute to your health and maintaining ketosis:

• Electrolytes

You’ll notice that the main electrolytes included in supplements are magnesium, calcium, sodium and potassium. Why? These are sometimes hard to get enough of while following a keto diet. In fact, it’s so common that many people call the symptoms of the electrolyte imbalance that appears after starting this diet “the keto flu”. Symptoms include fatigue, sore muscles, dizziness, headache, difficulty sleeping, sugar cravings and more.

Why does this happen?

During the first while on the diet, your body uses stored up sugar. This releases water into your bloodstream that eventually gets passed when you urinate. Electrolytes or salts are also passed out of the body with your urine. Among these salts are potassium and magnesium (2).

Electrolyte products replenish your body with these essential salts. Especially if you’re feeling muscle cramps or heart palpitations, you may try supplementing potassium and magnesium, as both of these play a role in muscle function and magnesium also plays a role in normal heart rhythms. Of course, you should always consult with your doctor if symptoms are severe or don’t seem to subside.

Pro Tip: The symptoms are often temporary and you may only really need to supplement with electrolytes for a few weeks while your body makes the shift into ketosis.

• Exogenous Ketones

Your body runs on ketones once you’re established on the ketogenic diet. The most commonly used type are beta-hydroxybutyrate salts or BHBs, like those used in the recommended products above. What do they do? Essentially they provide your blood with a direct source of ketones instead of having your body break down ketones from fat stores (3).

If you’re thinking, “that doesn’t sound right for my diet,” it’s understandable. While you won’t want to use these keto supplements excessively, they do have their place. You can use them for a quick boost in energy without breaking your keto diet requirements. You can also take them to help you maintain ketosis after eating too many carbs. This can help avoid the fluctuation in your metabolism between relying on carbs and fats, which can be hard on the body and result in unpleasant symptoms. Research also shows that individuals whose bodies are more used to burning fat will get more energy from ketone sources regularly, even if they consume some carbohydrates. So, if you can get your body accustomed to mostly ketones, you’ll be better off in the long run because your body may continue to access fat stores, even after you go off the diet full-force.

Furthermore, ketones can help stabilize blood sugar when you do eat carbohydrates. A stable blood sugar can have many benefits including avoiding sugar crashes that result in cravings and overeating. For dieters and people who are prediabetic alike, maintaining blood sugar can be a major plus. This means that this supplement may also be useful for helping you as you transfer off a ketogenic diet to a more traditional and balanced diet.

• MCT Oils

You may have heard about MCT or Medium Chain Triglycerides are a type of dietary fat found in coconut products. The body can produce lots of ketones from this type of fat, making it an attractive choice for keto dieters. Taking these keto supplements can give you a boost in energy and may also help you maintain ketosis if you eat a few too many carbohydrates (3). It can be useful, but you can also simply use coconut oil and other coconut products such as coconut flour.

• Additional Supplements for Nutrition

Other keto dieters recommend taking fish oil supplements or keto greens to meet other nutritional needs. It’s really up to you to take a look at what your diet includes and ensure that you’re meeting your needs. With a varied diet, most people are able to meet their basic requirements.

Tips for Choosing the Best Supplements for Ketogenic Diet

Now that you know what role supplements play, here are our tips for picking the best supplements available. Choose keto supplements that:

• Have mostly good reviews. Two negative reviews in 100 is ok. However, you don’t want to see a large number of negative reviews about a product.
• Are made in the USA. Some countries don’t have very high production and manufacturing standards. Make sure you purchase from a trustworthy company.
• Don’t have lots of ingredients you can’t pronounce. Ketogenic supplements are for the most part, simple. You shouldn’t have to skim through a whole paragraph of ingredients of names you can’t pronounce. Most ingredients should be natural, especially the coloring and flavoring.
• Don’t have carbohydrates. This is the golden rule for keto diet followers. Don’t waste your valuable carbs on a supplement when you could be eating vegetables and fruits that will offer you many other benefits. There are plenty of carb-free supplements out there. Use those.

Best Practices for Taking Keto Diet Pills and Supplements

When taking any keto diet supplements, it’s important to make sure you follow the best practices so that you can achieve the most weight loss possible while still feeling great. Here are our top tips for taking ketosis supplements:

• Focus on the Diet

To make sure that you get the best results, you need to follow the best practices of a ketogenic diet. Rather than “hacking” your ketosis by taking lots of exogenous ketones, try to do it mostly through your diet and use the supplements only as needed. Your diet should do most of the work.

• Drink Plenty of Water

Even if you take electrolytes to replenish your salts, you’ll also need to make sure you’re getting enough water. In fact, any healthy lifestyle includes plenty of water. If you get bored of the flavor of water, try lemon water or cucumber water to spice things up.

• Monitor Your Ketosis Level

You can really boost your motivation and ensure that you’re following the diet correctly by measuring your ketosis level. You can do this with urine test strips, a breathalyzer machine or a blood test. The blood test is most accurate, but the urine and breathalyzer options are good enough for the average dieter and are also cheaper. (4)

• Fast Occasionally

You can use fasting to help your body stay in ketosis (5). Naturally, this happens anyway. Intermittent fasting means you don’t eat for a small period of time: typically 6-12 hours. So, it’s not a big commitment and most of us do this when we go to bed each night. Consider being more conscious about this to help your body achieve ketosis and stay in a ketogenic state.

• Talk to Your Doctor

As with any diet, it’s important that you consult your doctor before getting started. The same is true for any supplements. This is especially true for anyone with a chronic condition such as diabetes. While the ketogenic diet and related keto supplements can do amazing things for your health by helping you achieve weight loss, you have to make sure it’s right for you. Talk to your doctor before getting started and always let your doctor know about any symptoms you experience.

The best supplements for ketogenic diet enthusiasts may depend on the person and what stage of the diet they’re in. Electrolytes seem to be especially important for dieters as they’re starting out, while the BHB salts may be useful in moderation throughout following the diet.

For best results with keto supplements, make sure you put your diet first, eat a variety of foods and stay hydrated. While it’s not the perfect diet for everyone, it can help many people achieve amazing results when many other diet plans have failed.

Do you have experience with the keto diet and keto supplements? Tell us about your favorite products and your story with keto in the comments below! We’d love to hear from you.