Ask a Dietitian: Do Keto Diet Pills Actually Work?

Hi Charlotte, I've been hearing a lot about keto diet pills recently. Do you know if they actually work though?

If you’re a little unsure of what ketosis is, have a read of our guide to the keto diet before reading on.

If you’re a little unsure of what ketosis is, have a read of our guide to the keto diet before reading on.

Keto pills are marketed as being able to put you into a state of ketosis, or at least make getting there a little easier, and are therefore meant to aid weight loss by increasing the amount of fat the body metabolizes. Now, there’s two statements here to unpack.

Firstly, keto pills help put you into a state of ketosis. Keto pills contain ketones and/or MCTs so the idea is consuming these pills will increase your blood ketone level to a point where your body burns more fat. But do these pills actually do that? 

Sort of. What I mean is it appears keto pills can mimic ketosis by increasing blood ketone levels. However, this doesn’t actually cause the body to enter a ketogenic state any quicker, nor do they aid weight loss. Confusing I know, but the human body is a complex thing.

This brings us onto statement number 2: following a ketogenic diet leads to greater weight loss. 

We have several studies showing this isn’t true, both against higher carb, lower carb, and lower calorie diets. The key reason for this is burning more fat that’s eaten ≠ burning more body fat. 

Eating more fat (and calories) means the body will look to metabolize that extra fat before it gets to burning the fat that is stored in the body. In other words, because there is more fat going in, it’s balancing the extra fat that’s being burned. 

After all that, I think it’s pretty clear what I think. Keto pills aren’t great and they are sold on the misunderstanding of what ketosis is and what it can do for you, so stay well clear.  

TL;DR

Nope. Have a think as well about why you want to be in ketosis and if it’s actually helpful for your goals.

Written by: Dan Clarke, RNutr

Reviewed by: Charlotte Marie Werner, MS, RD, CDN