Keto diet pills may help boost your weight loss, give you more energy, and make it easier to stick to your keto diet. Some contain exogenous ketones — which is the fuel that your body burns instead of carbs when you’re on keto, while others contain other ingredients that may help give your metabolism a little boost or supply you with vitamins, minerals, and electrolytes you need on the keto diet. Looking to augment your body’s fat burning on keto? Here are our top ten keto diet pills on the market right now.
Research
Rankings
1. HerbTonix Apple Cider Vinegar+ Keto
This supplement from HerbTonix contains ketone salts, but it also contains other potentially weight loss boosting ingredients: apple cider vinegar and MCT oil. This makes it a great addition to your routine, as it provides both ketones and some other beneficial ingredients. Its versatility for keto dieters of all stripes makes it our top overall pick.
2. Purely Optimal Keto BHB
Purely Optimal Keto BHB focuses on delivering keto salts to keep you in ketosis. They’re great to keep handy if you have “cheat” foods, as they can keep your body in ketosis even in the face of higher-than-optimal amounts of carbs.
3. Zeal Naturals Maximum Keto Electrolytes
If you’ve got ketosis down cold and just want to keep your electrolyte levels high, Zeal Naturals is our recommendation. It contains both staple electrolytes (sodium and potassium) as well as trace minerals like calcium, magnesium, and zinc. On top of that, you get vitamin B6 and B12, which can sometimes be lacking in aggressive keto diets.
4. Sports Nutrition MCT Oil
Sports Nutrition MCT oil is a great pick if you are specifically looking to boost your MCT oil intake with a keto diet pill. Unlike other keto diet pills that merely augment or sustain ketosis, this supplement directly boosts your fat intake with medium-chain triglycerides or MCTs. If you don’t get enough MCTs in your keto diet, this is the pill for you.
5. Toplux Ketoburn
This keto diet supplement from Toplux actually doesn’t contain ketone salts, but is a blend of other ingredients that may help boost your weight loss or make it easier to stick to your diet. It contains raspberry ketones, African mango, caffeine, green tea extract, apple cider vinegar, kelp, and grape seed extract.
6. Key Nutrients Electrolyte Recovery Plus
Key Nutrients makes a pretty substantive electrolyte tablet that’s popular with keto dieters and includes a nice range of core electrolytes and trace elements like zinc, magnesium, and phosphorus. It’s a solid pick if your keto diet is a bit short on electrolytes.
7. Tune Your Keto
Tune Your Keto provides a blend of MCT oil, vitamins, and trace minerals designed to replace many of the key micronutrients you’d be getting in a non-keto diet. While these vitamins and minerals are great to see, some of the key ingredients are included only as part of a proprietary blend, which makes their dosage difficult to determine, which costs this supplement a few points in our rankings.
8. Trace Minerals Keto Electrolyte Tablets
Trace Minerals makes a pretty basic keto electrolyte tablet. It’s got the essentials you need, like sodium and potassium, but it doesn’t quite measure up to the competition when it comes to trace elements and other nice-to-have extras in a keto pill.
9. Purely Optimal Keto + Apple Cider Vinegar
In addition to its BHB supplement, Purely Optimal has a more comprehensive keto diet pill that combines ketone salts, electrolytes, apple cider vinegar, and a range of weight loss supplements including garcinia cambogia, green coffee bean extract, and raspberry ketones, to name just a few. Unfortunately, these extras are locked up in a proprietary blend, making the dosage and efficacy of these extras very difficult to judge.
10. Amplicell Keto Max
This supplement is made from a proprietary blend of BHB ketone salts. Ketone salts also contain some electrolytes you need while on keto, like sodium, magnesium, and calcium. The primary downside is that there isn’t much in the way of added perks or extras.
Category winners
Best keto diet pills overall: HerbTonics Apple Cider Vinegar + Keto
HerbTonics combines the fat burning properties of apple cider vinegar, complete with the prebiotic ‘mother’ residue, with ketone salts that elevate your body’s ketone levels. This combination helps accelerate fat burning and makes it our top overall recommendation.
Best keto diet pills with electrolytes: Zeal Naturals Maximum Keto Electrolytes
When it comes to variety and dosage, Zeal Naturals tops the rest when it comes to electrolyte contents. It also gives you an added energy boost via its high dosage of vitamins B6 and B12, making it an excellent keto diet pill if you want a focused, targeted intervention.
Best keto diet pills for men: HerbTonics Apple Cider Vinegar + Keto
For men having a tough time in ketosis, HerbTonics Apple Cider Vinegar + Keto is a great way to sustain ketosis even if your diet isn’t perfect. Even if you have a bit too many carbs, the ketone salts in this keto diet pill can tide you over until you get back to your typical low-carb, high-fat keto diet.
Best keto diet pills for women: Sports Nutrition MCT Oil
Women on the keto diet often have trouble getting enough medium chain triglycerides. One way to fix that? Take a high-quality keto pill that’s loaded with MCT oil. Sports Nutrition MCT Oil is our pick for that use case, which is why it’s our recommended keto pill for women.
Best keto diet pills with MCT oil: Sports Nutrition MCT Oil
Unlike many of the lower-quality MCT-based keto pills out there, Sports Nutrition MCT Oil is sourced from 100% pure coconut oil. It delivers a high dose in a rapidly-absorbed softgel capsule, making it the perfect addition to your keto routine.
Best keto diet pills for rapid weight loss: Toplux Nutrition Keto Burn
Keto Burn is a potent fat burner that works best to accelerate the weight loss of the keto diet. It uses proven fat burners like green tea extract and caffeine, plus a few added extras like grape seed extract, to crank up your body’s rate of fat oxidation.
How we ranked
We ranked these supplements based on two main factors: third party testing or certification, and whether or not the supplement contained ingredients that are scientifically linked to weight loss.
Although medications go through rigorous testing and verification to ensure their safety, dietary supplements are actually not regulated by any governmental body. Because of this, there is little oversight for supplement manufacturers and therefore, what’s advertised on a supplement label may not be what’s actually in the bottle.
There are several third-party testing organizations that offer testing and verification to help consumers find trustworthy supplement companies that produce high quality supplements and adhere to honest labeling practices. Some of these third party organizations include United States Pharmacopeia (USP), GMP, and NSF International.
Ideally, the supplement you choose should be third-party tested. This is a service that the supplement company has to pay for themselves, but it goes a long way to help establish trust and prove that they are a reputable manufacturer. If you can’t find a product that is third-party tested, you should at least choose supplements that were manufactured in GMP- or FDA-certified facilities.
Next, we ranked based on the inclusion of weight loss boosting ingredients. In some high-quality clinical trials, MCT oil has been linked to increased weight loss, so the products containing added MCT oil ranked higher (1).
Additionally, some of the other ingredients included in these keto diet pills have been linked to weight loss as well, including piperine, caffeine, green tea extract, and L-theanine. Products containing these ingredients also ranked higher (2, 3).
Finally, although researchers theorize that exogenous ketones may help with weight and fat loss, only one clinical trial has found a link between exogenous ketones and appetite suppression in humans. More research is needed. For this reason, although we still featured many products containing only ketone salts on the list, they were ranked lower (4).
Benefits
Keto diet pills can help you get into ketosis faster. Supplements that contain exogenous ketones may help you get into ketosis faster, if you’re a keto beginner. Ketosis is the state in which your body is burning fat instead of carbs for fuel, and it typically takes a few days to get there. You have to burn through all of your body’s carbohydrate stores, and then your body shifts into breaking down fat, converting it to ketones, and using those for energy.
When you’re first starting keto, taking these exogenous ketones may help your body get used to burning ketones as it’s making the transition from burning carbs to burning fat – therefore potentially helping your transition into ketosis go more smoothly.
Additionally, some of the other ingredients in keto diet pills — like caffeine and MCT oil — may help boost your body’s fat burning potential, helping to kickstart your transition into ketosis.
Keto diet pills can help you have more energy. Some of the ingredients in keto diet pills may help you feel more energetic, which can help you with workouts and physical endurance.
Exogenous ketones are being studied for their role in athletic performance, with some promising results. They can potentially serve as an alternative fuel source for athletes to carbs — even if they’re not in ketosis. Additionally, exogenous ketones may help athletes conserve their carbohydrate stores and replenish them more quickly after an event. Although this research is very promising, more high-quality trials are needed before there’s a full understanding of how ketones can help with athletic performance (5).
Additionally, many of the keto diet pills we recommend contain some other potential energy-boosting ingredients. Caffeine, for instance, is a known stimulant that can help you feel more energetic. Additionally, green tea extract, piperine, L-theanine, and green coffee bean extract may help give you an energy boost.
MCT oil may also increase your energy levels. One study in 12 adults found that those who ate a breakfast containing MCT oil actually had a higher resting energy expenditure — or amount of calories burned while at rest — than those who ate a similar breakfast containing vegetable oil. However, more studies are needed to confirm this effect (6).
Keto diet pills can help you stick to your diet. Taking a keto supplement may help you be able to stick to your diet better. The keto diet can be hard, especially if you’re used to eating carb-heavy, sugary foods. Taking these supplements — especially the ones that contain exogenous ketones — may help make your transition into ketosis go more smoothly, helping you to get past the first couple of difficult weeks when your carb cravings are the strongest.
Many people agree that the hardest part about the keto diet is sticking to it, so a supplement that may help you be more successful and make your adjustment period easier may be a wise investment.
Additionally, it may be encouraging to see your positive results, which can help you stick to your diet too. Although most of the results come from the hard work that you do to change your eating habits, you may get some small benefits from taking a supplement that’s formulated for weight loss.
Keto diet pills can help you lose more weight. Keto diet pills may give you that extra boost you need to lose just a little bit more weight than through diet and exercise alone. Although lifestyle changes are going to be the main driver behind your weight loss success, taking a supplement may provide that little something extra that helps you be a bit more successful.
You may want to consider taking a supplement that contains MCT oil, as it appears — at least in some studies — to help people lose more weight faster. In one study of 49 overweight people, researchers noted that those who consumed MCT oil daily for 16 weeks lost more weight and body fat than those who consumed olive oil for the same period. This promising research highlights the benefit of MCT oil for people who are on keto for weight loss (1).
Keto diet pills can help you get enough electrolytes. Electrolytes are an important consideration on the keto diet. When you first start keto, you will rapidly burn through your body’s carbohydrate stores. These carbs that are stored in your liver and muscle are also bound with water, so when you burn through them, your body gets rid of this water too. You may notice that you have to urinate more often.
Unfortunately, this water that you lose also contains electrolytes — like sodium, potassium, and magnesium. If you’re losing a lot of electrolytes and not replenishing them through your diet or supplements, you can feel extremely tired, and you may also have headaches, muscle cramps, or nighttime leg cramps. This is sometimes called the “keto flu.”
It’s wise to take an electrolyte supplement, which can help you avoid the keto flu altogether as your body makes the transition into ketosis. However, ketone salts actually contain small amounts of important electrolytes as well, like magnesium and sodium. Although the electrolytes in ketone supplements probably won’t be enough to meet your needs on their own, they can give you an electrolyte boost.
Side effects
Keto diet pills may cause digestive issues. There’s a risk of any new supplement causing some gastrointestinal discomfort, but there are actually some ingredients in keto diet pills that are known to cause digestive issues. One of these ingredients is MCT oil, which can cause stomach discomfort and diarrhea if you take a large dose before you’re used to it. When using MCT oil, you need to start small and work your way up gradually.
Additionally, keto diet pills may cause discomfort when taken on an empty stomach. If this is the case for you, try taking them with food or decreasing your dose and working your way up gradually to the recommended daily dose.
Finally, some of these diet pills may also contain caffeine. Caffeine is a diuretic, meaning it pulls fluid out of your cells. This can lead to increased urination and even diarrhea, if you’re taking in a large amount of caffeine.
Keto diet pills may contain ingredients that you’re allergic to. Some supplements may contain ingredients that you’re allergic to. If that’s the case, you should avoid them. For instance, one of the supplements we recommend contains mango as an ingredient, which some people may be allergic to. Coconut is another one to be careful of, as many times MCT oil is derived from coconut. It’s important to carefully review the ingredient labels to ensure that a supplement doesn’t contain anything you’re allergic to.
If you begin a supplement and have an unexpected reaction to it, you should discontinue using it immediately and follow up with a medical professional — whether or not you think it may be an allergy.
Keto diet pills may not work for you. Although it is tempting to add a diet pill to your daily routine in the hopes that it will help you lose weight, it’s really unlikely that a diet pill alone will help you lose weight.
Successful weight loss requires a lifestyle change that allows you to comfortably eat at a caloric deficit. One of the benefits of keto is that it can help keep you full while you’re losing weight and eating fewer calories than you burn.
A diet pill may give your metabolism a boost, helping you lose weight a little bit more quickly than through diet alone. However, you still have to make the changes to your diet to see success, and to ensure that you can keep your weight off over the long term.
Recommended usage
It’s important to follow the dosage instructions included on the product packaging for keto diet pills.
These diet pills can contain ingredients that may cause complications at high doses, like caffeine or MCT oil. High doses of caffeine can cause you to become jittery, have trouble sleeping, and have increased blood pressure, and heart rate. High doses of MCT oil — especially when you’re not used to it — can cause upset stomach and diarrhea. When using MCT oil, it’s important to start small and gradually increase your daily dose. Some other ingredients in these supplements may cause complications at high doses as well, which is why it’s important not to overdo it.
Additionally, if you’re aiming to lose weight, there doesn’t appear to be a huge benefit to using exogenous ketone supplements. Although there’s one clinical trial to indicate that exogenous ketones may reduce appetite, some researchers and health professionals theorize that exogenous ketones could actually slow down your weight loss. This is because — if you’re taking in ketones through supplements — your body will burn these first, instead of breaking down your stored body fat to convert to ketones and burn for energy.
Most of these supplements have a recommended dose of 2 pills per day. Be sure to ready the packaging closely.
FAQ
Q: Do I need keto diet pills on the keto diet?
A: No, you don’t need diet pills or supplements to be successful on the keto diet. Keto is an effective weight loss diet because it allows you to burn your stored body fat for energy instead of carbs. In addition, many people report feeling more full and having fewer cravings on keto, while still maintaining a calorie deficit that allows them to lose weight.
However, a diet pill may give you a small advantage in that it may slightly boost how quickly you can lose weight. Exogenous ketones may help keep you full, and MCT oil can boost your energy expenditure. These small improvements may add up to some benefits for you. Just know that you don’t have to take any supplements to successfully lose weight on the keto diet.
Q: Do the exogenous ketones in keto diet pills have any benefits?
A: Exogenous ketones may have a number of therapeutic benefits. According to some research, they can help balance your hunger hormones — potentially helping you stay fuller for longer.
In athletes or people who are very physically active, exogenous ketones serve as a source of energy that allows them to maintain their carbohydrate stores and replenish them more quickly after events or competitions.
Ketones may help people manage their blood sugar levels as well, and some research shows that it has promising potential in the field of neurological conditions — including migraines, epilepsy, and Alzheimer’s disease (7, 8).
Q: Do the electrolytes in keto diet pills have any benefits?
A: Yes, electrolytes are very beneficial — especially on keto. In fact, your electrolyte needs increase on keto because they are flushed out of your body more rapidly, along with water that is usually bound to stored carbs in your muscles and liver.
On keto, you will need more sodium, potassium, and magnesium. Although it’s possible to meet these needs through diet, supplementing is a much easier and more convenient option.
However, a keto diet pill typically does not contain enough electrolytes to meet your electrolyte needs. The supplements that contain ketone salts contain the electrolytes sodium, magnesium, and calcium, as they are part of the ketone salts.
If you’re looking for an electrolyte supplement, then you should buy one that’s clearly and specifically labelled as an electrolyte supplement. Although many of these keto diet pills contain electrolytes, that’s not their main use.
Q: Should I take other supplements in addition to keto diet pills?
A: Most people actually don’t need supplements on keto, but certain supplements may help you be more successful on your keto diet. These include electrolyte supplements, which can help prevent keto flu, headaches, and muscle cramps — especially when you’re first starting the diet.
A general multivitamin may also help you make sure all of your nutritional bases are covered, especially if your diet doesn’t include a large variety of keto friendly vegetables. Some of the nutrients that it may be difficult to get enough of on the keto diet are B-vitamins and selenium. These nutrients are often found in grains, which are off-limits on the keto diet.
Q: Will keto diet pills help me lose weight?
A: It’s possible that these supplements can help you lose weight in combination with healthy lifestyle changes, like diet and exercise. The ingredients in many of these supplements do have some research-backed benefits for weight loss.
For example, exogenous ketones may help balance your hunger hormones and keep you feeling full. MCT oil has been shown to boost weight and fat loss compared to other oils, like olive oil. Caffeine, green coffee bean extract, green tea extract, and piperine may help boost your energy expenditure too, which can translate into weight loss if you maintain a calorie deficit.
However, it’s important to remember that by far the most important ingredient for successful weight loss is eating in a way that induces a calorie deficit, but that is also sustainable and easy for you to stick to. For a lot of people, that makes the keto diet a perfect choice.
Q: Will keto diet pills give me more energy?
A: It’s possible that keto diet pills can give you more energy or help you feel more energetic throughout the day. Exogenous ketones — which are in many of our recommended keto diet pills — may serve as a great energy source, especially in athletes or people who work out regularly.
Additionally, MCT oil has been shown to boost energy expenditure — or the amount of calories you burn at rest.
Some of the other ingredients in keto diet pills, like caffeine or green coffee bean extract, are known to increase energy levels and your energy burn, at least in the short term.
Q: Can I take keto diet pills even if I’m not on the keto diet?
A: Yes, you can take these supplements even if you’re not doing a keto diet. Many people who are not on keto take exogenous ketone supplements so that they can reap some of the benefits of ketones without having to follow the diet or make the transition into ketosis, which can be difficult. Even if you’re on another diet, the ingredients in these supplements may help give you an energy boost, help keep you feeling full, or help you be more successful with your weight loss.
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Recap
Keto diet pills can be used to potentially help boost your weight loss and energy levels. Most of them contain ketone salts, but some may contain other potentially metabolism-boosting ingredients like MCT oil, caffeine, or green tea extract.
Although keto diet pills may help you be more successful with your weight loss, they’re only one small part of the equation. You also need to stick to your diet and make other healthy lifestyle changes to be successful.
For BodyNutrition’s #1 recommended keto diet pills, click here.
