Original Research

Insulin, glucose and beta-hydroxybutyrate responses to a medium-chain triglyceride-based sports supplement: A pilot study

Thomas R. Wood, Christopher Kelly
Journal of Metabolic Health | Journal of Insulin Resistance: Vol 2, No 1, | a20 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/jir.v2i1.20 | © 2017 Thomas R. Wood, Christopher Kelly | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 14 November 2016 | Published: 31 March 2017

About the author(s)

Thomas R. Wood, Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, University of Washington, United States
Christopher Kelly, Nourish Balance Thrive, United States

Abstract

There is a current trend in endurance sports to move athletes towards a low-carbohydrate diet or use periods of low carbohydrate consumption to increase both health and performance. As a result, a market is developing for sports supplements to provide nutritional support during training and racing for athletes who follow a low-carbohydrate lifestyle. PHAT FIBRE (PF) is a powdered sports supplement that includes medium-chain triglycerides suspended in a digestion-resistant carbohydrate and is tailored to the needs of low-carb athletes. Eleven healthy participants were administered 25 g of PF after an overnight fast. After 30 minutes, median blood glucose increased by 6 mg/dl from 94 mg/dl to 100 mg/dl (p = 0.002). At the same time points, median blood beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) increased from 0.3 mmol/L to 0.5 mmol/L. The increase in BHB was significant (p = 0.02) after excluding one outlier who had elevated levels of fasting BHB. Insulin levels did not change significantly at any point during the study. In a single participant, a revised formulation of PF (PFv2) produced a 0.6 mmol/L increase in BHB with no effect on blood glucose. These data suggest that PF can provide a source of energy for the low-carb athlete by supporting ketone production without negatively impacting insulin or blood glucose levels.


Keywords

sport nutrition; low carbohydrate; ketogenic

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