Growing interest in the metabolic state of ketosis has driven development of exogenous ketone products to induce ketosis without dietary changes. BH-BD was originally developed as Metabolic Switch®, a food ingredient to induce ketosis in humans.
Bis-octanoyl (R)-1,3-butanediol (BO-BD) is a novel, palatable ketone ester that, when consumed, is hydrolyzed in the gastrointestinal tract into octanoic acid (OCT) and (R)-1,3-butanediol (BDO) which are subsequently metabolized into beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB). Metabolism of BO-BD is hypothesized to be similar to bis-hexanoyl (R)-1,3-butanediol (BH-BD), apart from release of octanoic acid instead of hexanoic acid (HEX).
As part of the safety assessment for BO-BD a randomized, cross-over, open-label study in middle-aged, healthy adults (n = 12) was undertaken to provide a qualitative comparison of plasma BHB, OCT, HEX and BDO concentrations for 8 h following consumption of 12.5 or 25 g of BO-BD and 12.5 g of BH-BD.
Given the similar ketone delivery with greater acceptability, the results demonstrate that BO-BD in Cognitive Switch® may offer a more broadly translatable tool to induce physiologic ketosis than BH-BD.
View the full peer-reviewed scientific paper at Sage Journals.