Intermittent fasting, in which a human person drastically decreases their calorie intake semi-frequently, is a wellness trend that’s sweeping very specific pockets of the nation. Everybody from Silicon Valley founders to Silicon Valley employees seem to be doing it because of its manifold benefits: Increased metabolism! Regulated cholesterol! Reducing inflammation! It’s the very special kind of panacea that is free and easy if you possess the ounce of willpower required for it (and never have to lift heavy things for work). For everyone else, there’s HVMN’s Ketone Ester, a startup-backed elixir that mimics the effects of fasting on your body.

Here’s what happens on the cellular level when you’re fasting: Your body, desperate for fuel and depleted of its carbs and its glucose and its Cool Ranch Doritos, starts to break down fat and convert it into a useable energy source. This process, called ketosis, creates something called...you guessed it: ketones. HVMN is a nootropics company out of San Francisco—that means they make stuff like adorable coffee-flavored caffeine cubes. You know: stuff you can "hack" your body with. Now, HVMN has collaborated with a team of biochemists to create a new kind of supplement that lets a user forgo the fasting and ketosis thing, and skip right to the delivery of the alternative fuel source. They call it Ketone. (Subtitle: Human Performance Fuel.)

Ketone ester was originally developed for American soldiers as a performance boost that could be utilized during stressful missions. Then, it was given to cyclists to see if it affected athletic function. (According to HVMN’s founder Geoffrey Woo, it does: In a 30-minute race, a rider who ingested Ketone cleared 400 extra meters compared to their control performance. In trophy terms, 400 meters is the difference between 1st and 8th place in the Rio Olympics.) Now, it is marketed to civilians for any number of applications. But how does it work on somebody like me, a lover and civilian, not a fighter or a cyclist?

The answer is complicated. Ketone smells like fruit juice and tastes very, very, extremely bad. It tastes like a mixture of vodka, tequila, vegetable oil, and battery acid. It tastes like 2017 felt, with a garnish of 2016 and a dash of ballsweat. HVMN founder Woo told me, very casually, to down the whole thing before starting my day—instead, I sipped it over the course of an hour and tried not to vomit. It turns out that ketone, much like actual fasting, is not for the casual taste-tester looking to lose a few extra pounds. It is for the soldiers and the cyclists among us—or at least for the folks willing to stomach something pretty gross in the name of theoretical health benefits.

I am not sure if it was the concentrated dosage of usable energy or the fact that Ketone tastes like lukewarm liquid garbage, but I wasn’t hungry for hours. The fact that Ketone bills itself as “fuel” instead of as an energy drink or a supplement cannot be overstated—it is truly an energy source. I survived an hour-long morning swim and a full American workday on one bottle before I resumed craving human food. That is Ketone's greatest practical draw: As an apocalyptic meal replacement, in the vein of stuff like Soylent. In 2018, this may become especially useful.

The unobserved benefits of drinking Ketone are arguably more valuable. HVMN provided me with a Precision Xtra handheld blood testing tool that I was far too scared to operate, so I trusted Woo when he told me that drinking the sludge puts your ketone level between 3 and 5. But those are meaningless numbers! For context, this is what your ketone levels would be like on day seven of a fast. According to the Cleveland Clinic, fasting can lead to more robust heart health and decreased bodily inflammation (read: your body works better). Studies linking ketogenic diets to brain function are inconclusive. Some people have reported increased focus, but you’d have to try for yourself.

It should also be pointed out that while ketogenic diets boast weight loss as a benefit, drinking Ketone by itself does not. By putting ketones into your system, you’re skipping ketosis, which where the fat breakdown happens. If you came here looking for an easy way to shed your Holiday 15, I am very sorry. Allow me to direct you to actual fasting. It works—and it tastes much better.

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