What are the ingredients?
A lot of ketogenic supplements are all-but jammed with ingredients, many of which have minimal effect on ketosis or weight loss. Keto Shred is a much simpler product and only contains two main active ingredients; exogenous ketones, and caffeine.
Exogenous ketones are ketones from an external source – that’s what exogenous means. They are chemically similar to the ketones your body produces during a low-carb ketogenic diet. Your body recognizes these ketones and takes them into its cells to use for energy and a host of other functions.
Keto Shred contains three types of exogenous ketones, which are:
- Magnesium Beta-Hydroxybutyrate
- Calcium Beta-Hydroxybutyrate
- Sodium Beta-Hydroxybutyrate
Known as BHB salts, these exogenous ketones digest at slightly different speeds to provide an immediate, medium, and longer-lasting effect.
Caffeine is the same stuff that gives coffee it’s energizing effect. It’s a stimulant that can increase alertness, stamina, and fat burning. The caffeine in Keto Shred is listed as caffeine anhydrous. This simply means caffeine that has been extracted and dried to form a powder.
As well as BHB ketones and caffeine, this product contains a couple of inert or inactive ingredients, including magnesium stearate and silicon dioxide. While these ingredients are essential, they do not affect fat burning or ketosis. Instead, they ensure that the other ingredients do not solidify into an indigestible pellet that would otherwise pass through your body without effect.
Unfortunately, it is impossible to say how much of each ingredient, active or inactive, are in Keto Shred. Each capsule contains 400 milligrams in total, but the exact ratios and quantities are not revealed. This is called a proprietary blend. Manufacturers use proprietary blends to keep their recipes secret, but it also means users don’t know how much of each active ingredient they are getting.
This could be a problem for some users because caffeine can have some unwanted side effects, and some people are more sensitive to it than others. It would have been useful to know precisely how much caffeine Keto Shred contains.
How does it work?
The ketogenic diet involves cutting your carb intake down to 50 grams per day. With no carbs to use for fuel, your body has to manufacture an alternative form of energy – ketones – from fat. This is what makes the ketogenic diet so good for fat and weight loss.
However, it takes time for your body to make the transition from using carbs for fuel to ketones, and during that time, you may feel unwell.
Exogenous ketones add to the ketones produced naturally by your body. More ketones will ultimately lead to faster fat loss and fewer unwanted keto diet side effects. Keto Shred contains the same type of ketones manufactured by your body so your body recognizes them and uses them the same way it would use the ketones it makes itself.
This leads to a faster entry into ketosis, a deeper ketogenic state, and fewer keto flu side effects. This all adds up to a more comfortable, more effective ketogenic diet.
The caffeine helps increase your energy, which, on a calorie-restricted diet, can be very welcome. Caffeine also speeds up fat burning by increasing the motility and availability of fat cells. This makes it easier for them to be used for energy. Caffeine also raises your metabolic rate, leading to more calories used per day and a more significant calorie deficit. The larger the calorie deficit, the faster you should lose weight.
Benefits of Keto Shred
Using Keto Shred should have the following benefits:
Faster descent into ketosis – after cutting carbs, it can take several days to two weeks to enter ketosis. Your body has significant carb reserves, and until they are depleted, ketones are only produced in relatively small amounts. Taking exogenous ketones will jumpstart ketone production leading to faster ketosis. The sooner you are in ketosis, the more quickly your diet will start working its fat-burning magic.
Shorter, less severe keto flu – the transition into ketosis is usually accompanied by some unpleasant side effects, including headaches, stomach upset, insomnia, muscle cramps and tremors, and brain fog. While not dangerous, these symptoms can be uncomfortable enough to put some people off keto for good. Exogenous ketone products like Keto Shred can help shorten keto flu and alleviate the symptoms by getting you into ketosis sooner. Keto flu will pass naturally, but taking exogenous ketones will make the process faster.
Greater fat loss – your body makes ketones from fat. Taking exogenous ketones increases natural ketone production too, and that means more fat used. This will enhance weight loss.
More energy – the combination of caffeine and exogenous ketones will boost your energy in two ways. Your body uses exogenous ketones for fuel during all types of activity, both mental and physical, whole caffeine is a low-grade stimulant that will also boost mental and physical energy.
A lot of dieters feel tired when they start to eat less. This often leads to difficulty exercising or staying active, which will slow down weight loss. The ingredients in Keto Shred will give you the energy you need to keep active and exercise regularly, leading to faster, more significant weight loss.
How to use it properly
Get the most from keto Shred, and any other weight loss supplement for that matter, by following the manufacturer’s directions. For this supplement, that means taking one capsule twice per day 20-30 minutes before meals and with eight ounces of water.
There are no recommendations regarding the timing of the doses but, because of the caffeine content, it might be best to avoid using this supplement too close to bedtime. Otherwise, you may find it interferes with your ability to sleep.
For this reason, you should probably take one dose first thing in the morning with your breakfast, and a second dose at lunchtime or in the middle of the afternoon. If you are not overly sensitive to the effects of caffeine, you could have your second dose of the day a little later, but not so late you are unable to sleep.
Side effects
Keto Shred should have very few side effects. Its ingredients are natural, which means it should be well tolerated by most people. That said, some sensitive users may experience the following side effects:
- Increased urine output and dehydration
- Increased blood pressure
- Muscle cramps
- Dizziness
- Diarrhea
- Constipation
- Palpations
- Anxiety
- Muscle tremors
- Insomnia
Users who experience any of these side effects should reduce their daily dosage from two capsules to one and also avoid using this product late at night. In most cases, side effects will disappear after 1-2 weeks of regular use.
Conclusion
Rather than use a kitchen sink approach, the makers of Keto Shred have zeroed in on just a couple of ingredients of exogenous ketones and caffeine to make this product. That’s a good thing because, with fewer things crammed into each capsule of Keto Shred, you get more of the active ingredients.
However, how much you get of those active ingredients is unclear because the exact amounts are hidden behind a proprietary blend. There could be a lot of caffeine, or not much – we just don’t know!
If that sort of thing matters to you, this product may not be the best one for you. For example, if you prefer to keep your caffeine intake low, you have no way of knowing how much you are taking with this product.
However, if you are happy to trust that the manufacturer has created an effective blend, and don’t really care exactly how much of each ingredient is in Keto Shred, this product could be right up your street. It’s well-priced, easy to use, and could make your entire ketogenic diet more comfortable and more productive.