$10m funding from US Army

THEY fuelled Team GB’s Olympians at London 2012, but what are ketones?

The use of ketones drinks in professional cycling has been a constant source of speculation since 2012. After all, their biggest potential benefit is seen in endurance events.

Ketones are produced naturally by the liver and are understood to provide the body with an energy source that is more efficient than carbohydrate. In states of fuel shortage, like fasting, the body converts fat into ketones in order to meet the energy needs of the brain, which is unable to utilise fat when carbohydrate levels are low. Ketones can provide a rapid and efficient alternative energy supply to the heart and muscles.

In the 2000s, this energy source was of interest to the US Special Forces who gave $10m to Oxford

University to develop an edible form of ketones that could be consumed in a drink for use by soldiers.

A UK Sport Board presentation, obtained by The Mail on Sunday, detailed how during a trial involving elite British rowers in 2011 over a 30-minute effort, ketones enhanced performance by one to two per cent — one world record and six personal bests were set.