I did a Pruvit review in 2017, and to be honest, I can’t believe this stuff is still on the market. If only because the last time I tasted it, it was like drinking a cup of death.
Chances are, nobody has improved the taste of ketones since then.
The keto diet is still hot, and so are exogenous ketones, because everyone loves a shortcut. Pruvit knows this, which is why they market their product as ‘a modern health revolution’ that gets you into ketosis ‘without having to follow a restrictive ketogenic or low carb diet.”
Their words, not mine.
Pruvit also says that its ‘NAT’ – Nutritionally Advanced Technology (very original) formulation, “supports healthy cell function, rapidly repairs DNA, supports healthy immune function, and elevates essential amino acids necessary for optimizing body composition.”
What are Pruvit exogenous ketones?
You probably know already that ketones are what our bodies use as energy when we deprive it of carbohydrate. We make ketones endogenously, meaning, in our own bodies, by breaking down fatty acids.
Exogenous ketones, like Pruvit, are ketone bodies – generally, b-hydroxybutyrate with salts added (aka ketone salts) – that we can consume. They’re sold in packets meant to be added to and dissolved in water.
It’s probably safe to assume that people who choke down Pruvit or any other exogenous ketones are taking them because of the following claims that the product makes:
Puts you into ketosis for weight loss without a keto diet.
This claim is basically the lifeblood of the Pruvit brand.
The definition of ‘nutritional ketosis’ is having ketones in your blood that are equal to or more than 0.5mmol/L. But is achieving this with Pruvit going to help us with weight loss?
Probably not, and here’s why.
Ketosis that is achieved through a very low carb diet, uses your fat stores as energy. This happens with a physiological process – lipolysis – in order to provide the body with energy from fat in the absence of carbohydrate.
Also, with true ketosis, blood glucose lowers while blood concentration of free fatty acids increases.
Just seeing ketones in your urine doesn’t mean you’re ‘in ketosis.’ Ketones in the urine is normally a side effect of turning fat into ketones for fuel. And it goes without saying that a lot of people following a keto diet think they’re in ketosis, but actually aren’t.
With Pruvit, you’re not forcing your body into lipolysis. If you’re not on a ketogenic diet, your body uses the Pruvit ketones for energy (as long as they last), while leaving your own fat stores intact.
Even if you are on a ketogenic diet, the Pruvit ketones are just adding calories. What’s the point?
With Pruvit, you’ll pee ketones most definitely, but that’s because you’ve just consumed them.
I did a test with Pruvit in 2017, for my last Pruvit review. I actually drank their ketones, then measured my urine over time.
Once I had finished each Pruvit drink, I peed ketones – but the level of ketones in my urine was just ‘moderate,’ around 1.5mmol/L. Some experts believe that ketone levels need to be at least 3.0mmol/L for weight loss.
That level diminished sharply over the course of a few hours, meaning that these ketones were going in, and going right out (I wasn’t on a ketogenic diet when I was doing this test).
In other words, Pruvit ketones were never building up in my blood high enough or long enough to really achieve any sort of effect. My body was still burning carbs for energy. And so will yours, if you use Pruvit and eat a regular diet.
Helps with weight loss.
While the ketogenic diet has been associated with weight loss (no greater over time than other diets, however), exogenous ketones have not. They might have a suppressing effect on appetite (probably because they taste awful), which I suppose may indirectly lead to weight loss.
But really, do you want to gag on a disgusting and expensive supplement twice daily for that?
And the calories from Pruvit are being consumed on top of what you’re already eating. In my case, Pruvit made me hungrier. It didn’t blunt my appetite at all. So I was taking in more calories, in the end.
‘Erases carbs.’
This claim was not made by Pruvit; rather, it was apparently put out there by one of the product’s devotees.
Let me put this simply: nothing ‘erases’ carbs. Nothing ‘erases’ any food, nor should that be the way you see food and eating.
You can’t just eat carbs and drink Pruvit and expect to be in ketosis. That’s not how any of this works.
Pruvit exogenous ketones research.
Pruvit makes a lot of big claims. Just like a lot of other nutrition supplement companies, they seem to have some science to to prove everything.
That is, until you look closer.
Pruvit contains a proprietary blend called C-Med 100, which contains the herb Cat’s Claw, as well as ‘aqueous extracts,’ a term that means absolutely nothing.
Extracts of what? The word ‘aqueous’ simply means, ‘containing water.’
The only other ingredients in the blend are taurine and leucine, two amino acids. Nothing spectacular.
Yet Pruvit says they have pages and pages of research that proves C-Med’s efficacy in DNA repair, concentration, and anti-aging.
I couldn’t let Pruvit make these claims without looking at their research, so I went through each and every ‘study.’ You’re welcome.
Pruvit has two volumes of C-Med research. Let’s sum it all up:
Volume 1:
27 entries.
One study suggests that supplementation with a 250-350mg tablet of C-Med led to less DNA damage. Another suggests that supplementing with 700mg C-Med daily after receiving a pneumococcal vaccine showed ‘immune enhancement.’ Pruvit’s dose of C-Med only has 12.6 grams (126 mg). Even twice a day, Pruvit doesn’t measure up to these amounts.
One study was about DNA repair with a different product. Another is about serum thiol levels in chiropractic patients, which is completely unrelated.
Other entires appear to be pages in textbooks or research papers, not actual studies. There’s also a ‘certificate of analysis’ from a lab in 2010, which was totally random.
Volume 2:
12 entries.
The first few are skin-lightening research by the cosmetics company Estee Lauder, using C-Med topically. So odd.
A couple were articles in magazines.
A few more were studies done on human cells showing how a different product, applied topically, helps prevent sunburn and DNA damage.
Totally bizarre.
Also, out of 39 entries, only one was as recent as 2012. Most were done in the 1990’s and early 2000’s.
If C-Med is so amazing, why hasn’t there been more recent human research on it?
All in all, completely worthless. But to the layperson, it’s ‘pages of research.’
Don’t be fooled. C-Med has no convincing evidence behind it to validate the immunity, anti-aging, or concentration/focus claims, and neither does Pruvit (this small independent study from 2017 found that exogenous ketones actually impair focus)
In reality, research on exogenous ketones is lacking. A study from 2017 found that exogenous ketone supplements actually inhibited lipolysis (aka burning fat stores for energy).
And why wouldn’t they? Like I said before, why would your body burn its own fat stores to make ketones, if you’re giving it ketones by drinking them?
Pruvit also provides some articles and research on the keto diet. While it’s true that this diet has research behind it, remember that Pruvit isn’t selling a keto diet. It’s selling an alternative (or adjunct) to it.
There’s some that suggests that exogenous ketones may have some good effect on performance in athletes, but nothing for weight loss, ‘fat burning,’ and getting you into ketosis without a keto diet.
Do Pruvit exogenous ketones work?
Exogenous ketones have no convincing evidence behind them for ketosis and weight loss.
Pruvit’s ‘research’ is garbage.
Exogenous ketones don’t put you into nutritional ketosis like a ketogenic diet.
No food ‘erases carbs.’
They probably won’t help you lose weight.
They taste horrible.
I don’t recommend the keto diet because it’s, well, a diet. It’s also unsustainable over the long-term for most people.