BHB Ketones in Retride: What Exogenous Ketones Do and Do Not Do
BHB (beta hydroxybutyrate) is the main ketone your liver makes from fat when carbs drop below about 50 g a day. Supplements add it as salts or esters. Salt drinks of 12 to 24 g raised blood BHB to about 1 mM and did not add clear weight loss. Retride lists 60 mg of BHB salts per serving.
What are BHB ketones, and why are they in Retride?
A fuel your body makes, and a supplement you can buy.
BHB stands for beta hydroxybutyrate. It is one of three ketone bodies your liver makes from fat. The other two are acetoacetate and acetone. BHB is the main one in your blood.
Your body makes ketones when carbs are scarce, such as during fasting or a very low-carb diet. Cells in the brain, heart and muscles can then burn them for fuel.
Exogenous ketones are ketones you take in from outside, as a drink, powder or capsule. Retride uses three of them: magnesium, calcium and sodium BHB.
- Full name
- Beta hydroxybutyrate (BHB)
- Made by
- The liver, from fat
- Made when
- Carbs are very low
- In Retride
- 60 mg blend of three BHB salts
How does your body make ketones on its own?
Four steps from a low-carb plate to ketones in your blood.
Your body starts making ketones in large amounts when carbohydrate drops below about 50 g a day (StatPearls, Ketogenic Diet, 2023). That is about 20 to 50 g on a 2,000 calorie diet. Here is the route.
- 1
Carbs drop
You eat fewer than about 50 g of carbs a day, so stored sugar runs low.
- 2
Fat is released
Fat stores send fatty acids into the blood.
- 3
The liver makes ketones
The liver turns fatty acids into BHB and acetoacetate.
- 4
Cells use them
Brain, heart and muscle burn ketones as fuel. This is nutritional ketosis.
Keto diets usually get 70 to 80% of calories from fat, 5 to 10% from carbs and 10 to 20% from protein (Harvard Nutrition Source, Ketogenic Diet review, 2025). Our keto diet guide shows how that looks on a plate.
Ketone salts vs esters: what is the difference?
Same molecule, different carriers, different blood levels.
Exogenous ketones come in two main forms. Both deliver BHB, but they behave differently in the body.
Salts vs esters, from Stubbs et al., 2017
| Feature | Ketone salts | Ketone esters |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | BHB bound to a mineral | BHB bound to an alcohol-like molecule |
| Common form | Powders and capsules | Drinks |
| Peak blood BHB in one study | About 1.0 mM | About 2.8 mM |
| BHB form | About half L-BHB in the study | D-BHB in the studied ester |
| Extra load | 1.6 to 3.2 g of each mineral per drink | No mineral load |
| Used in | Retride and most keto pills | Research and sports drinks |
In that study, salt drinks of about 12 to 24 g of BHB were compared with an ester (Stubbs et al., 2017). D-BHB is the form your body makes. The salts in that study were about half L-BHB, the other form. Whether Retride uses D-BHB or a D/L mix is not published.
Our journal post on BHB salts vs ketone esters goes deeper.
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What blood ketone levels did the BHB studies reach?
Salts reached about 1 mM. Esters reached about 3 mM.
Blood ketones are measured in millimoles per liter (mM). The bars show the levels reported in the studies on this page.
Peak blood BHB reported (bar length = share of 3.3 mM)
The salt and first ester values come from Stubbs et al., 2017. The 0.2 to 3.3 mM rise comes from Stubbs et al., 2018 (ketone ESTER). These rises lasted hours, not days.
No study measured blood ketones after a 60 mg dose. The 10 g a day salt trial did not measure them either (Roeth et al., 2025).
Ketosis vs ketoacidosis: is BHB safe?
Same ketones, very different situations.
Nutritional ketosis and ketoacidosis both involve ketones, but they are very different. In ketoacidosis, ketones climb so high that the blood becomes acidic (StatPearls, Ketogenic Diet, 2023). It is a medical emergency.
Two states that are often confused
| Nutritional ketosis | Ketoacidosis | |
|---|---|---|
| Cause | Very low-carb diet or fasting | Lack of insulin, mostly in type 1 diabetes |
| Blood | Normal acidity | Acidic |
| Body control | Insulin keeps ketones in check | Ketones rise without a brake |
| Seriousness | A normal fuel state | Needs urgent care |
What did research find on BHB, weight, appetite and blood sugar?
Weight: no clear effect. Appetite: esters only. Blood sugar: short-term.
The evidence splits into four questions. Tap a tab to see each one.
Two trials tested BHB salts for weight. Neither found a clear benefit over placebo.
Ketone salt weight trials
| Study | Dose | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Buga et al., 2021 | About 24 g a day, 6 weeks, keto diet | 7.3 kg with salts vs 8.0 kg placebo; no difference |
| Roeth et al., 2025 | 10 g a day, 8 weeks, calorie deficit | 3.05 vs 1.51 kg; not significant (p = 0.09) |
The Roeth trial was funded by a ketone company and did not measure blood ketones.
One study gave a ketone ester drink to 15 normal-weight adults (Stubbs et al., 2018 (ketone ESTER)). Blood BHB rose to 3.3 mM. Ghrelin, hunger and the desire to eat fell for a few hours compared with a sugar drink.
Keep the limits in mind. It tested an ester, not salts. It did not measure weight. No salt study has shown the same effect.
A review of 43 trials found that a single dose of exogenous ketones lowered blood glucose by about 0.54 mmol/L (Falkenhain et al., 2022). Esters worked better than salts.
Evidence for longer use was limited. A short drop after one drink is not the same as long-term blood sugar control.
The keto diet itself has more data. Across 13 trials lasting a year or more, keto diets lost about 0.91 kg more than low-fat diets (Bueno et al., 2013).
Harvard's review says one-year results are not significantly different from conventional diets (Harvard Nutrition Source, Ketogenic Diet review, 2025).
Where does Retride's 60 mg of BHB sit?
Milligrams on the label, grams in the studies.
Put the Retride label next to the studies and the gap is large. One serving holds 60 mg of BHB salts. The salt studies used about 10 to 24 g a day.
The label dose next to studied doses
| Source | BHB per serving or day | Compared with 60 mg |
|---|---|---|
| Retride label | 60 mg | Baseline |
| Roeth et al., 2025 | 10 g a day | About 170 times more |
| Stubbs et al., 2017 | About 12 g per drink | About 200 times more |
| Buga et al., 2021 | About 24 g a day | About 400 times more |
Even at those doses, blood BHB rose only to about 1 mM, and weight loss did not beat placebo. So the honest view is simple. Retride's capsule is not what produces ketosis. A low-carb diet is.
The label says the same in its own way. It suggests a 70% fat, 25% protein and 5% carb diet for ketosis. See the Retride ingredients page for the full list.
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What are the side effects of BHB supplements?
Mild stomach upset at gram doses; tiny doses are a different picture.
In studies, ketone drinks mostly caused mild stomach symptoms, such as nausea and diarrhea. High-dose salt drinks caused a larger symptom load than low-dose ones, 13.8 vs 2.0 (Stubbs et al., 2019).
Large salt doses also bring grams of minerals. At 60 mg, the mineral load from Retride is tiny by comparison.
Dose and side effects
| Factor | Study-size salt doses | Retride serving |
|---|---|---|
| BHB | About 10 to 24 g | 60 mg |
| Minerals | 1.6 to 3.2 g of each per drink | Under 60 mg in total |
| Stomach upset | More common at high doses | Not studied at this dose |
The bigger change is usually the diet. Early keto can bring keto flu: headache, tiredness and nausea in the first weeks (StatPearls, Ketogenic Diet, 2023). Read Retride side effects for the full list.
What BHB can and cannot do, in one list
Two shown, two partly, two not shown.
- Your body makes BHB from fat when carbs are lowEstablished
- Gram doses of salts raise blood BHB for a few hoursShown
- Single doses lower blood sugar a little, mostly with estersShort-term
- Esters lowered hunger for a few hours in one small studyEsters only
- Salts add weight loss beyond dietNot shown
- 60 mg raises blood ketonesNot studied
The label claims are the brand's words: Advanced Weight Loss Support*; Supports Healthy Metabolism*; Promotes Fat Burning*; Helps Reduce Appetite & Cravings*. *These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
BHB ketones questions
What are BHB ketones?
BHB, or beta hydroxybutyrate, is the main ketone body your liver makes from fat when carbs are very low. Cells in the brain, heart and muscle can burn it for fuel. BHB taken as a supplement is called an exogenous ketone.
What are exogenous ketones?
Exogenous ketones are ketones that come from outside the body, as a drink, powder or capsule. The two main types are ketone salts, like the BHB salts in Retride, and ketone esters.
BHB salts vs esters: what is the difference?
Salts bind BHB to minerals such as sodium, calcium or magnesium. Esters bind it to an alcohol-like molecule. In one study, esters raised blood BHB to about 2.8 mM, while salts peaked near 1.0 mM.
Do BHB salts put you in ketosis?
Large doses raise blood BHB for a few hours, but that is not the same as diet-driven ketosis. Nutritional ketosis comes from eating fewer than about 50 g of carbs a day, which makes your body produce ketones itself.
Do exogenous ketones help with weight loss?
Studies so far say not clearly. With about 24 g a day of salts on a keto diet, weight loss matched placebo. With 10 g a day and a calorie deficit, the gap versus placebo was not statistically significant.
Do BHB supplements reduce appetite?
One study found a ketone ester drink lowered hunger and the hunger hormone ghrelin for a few hours. That was an ester at high blood levels, not BHB salts, and the study did not measure weight.
Is ketosis the same as ketoacidosis?
No. Nutritional ketosis is a normal state on a very low-carb diet. Ketoacidosis is a medical emergency where ketones build up so high that the blood turns acidic. It mainly affects people with type 1 diabetes.
What are the side effects of exogenous ketones?
Gram doses of ketone drinks mostly caused mild stomach symptoms such as nausea or diarrhea. High-dose salt drinks caused more symptoms than low-dose ones. At 60 mg, the Retride serving is far below those doses.
How much BHB do keto pills have compared with studies?
Retride lists 60 mg of BHB salts per serving. Human ketone-salt studies used about 10 to 24 grams a day. That is roughly 170 to 400 times more than the label dose.
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Keep reading
Ingredients
The three BHB salts, the capsule ingredients and how 60 mg compares with research doses.
Read more →Sodium BHB
BHB bound to sodium; at most about 11 mg of sodium per serving vs grams in study drinks.
Read more →Keto diet guide
How ketosis starts, the 70/25/5 ratio in grams, a sample day, keto flu and where a BHB capsule fits.
Read more →