Book

Ketones, The Fourth Fuel: Warburg to Krebs to Veech, the 250 Year Journey to Find the Fountain of Youth

Publish date:

August 13, 2020

Ketones, The Fourth Fuel: Warburg to Krebs to Veech, the 250 Year Journey to Find the Fountain of Youth

In The Fourth Fuel, science writer Travis Christofferson weaves a fascinating narrative of humanities quest to understand how our bodies produce energy—transporting us on a scientific expedition from the past to the present—across early modern Europe to modern laboratories spanning the globe. The reader is taken on a riveting and revelatory journey that follows Nobel Prize-winning scientists from the 19th and 20th centuries as they map the pathways and cycles that comprise human metabolism. The reader is left with a new and lasting appreciation for the silent chemical motion that keeps us alive and healthy. Ultimately, the narrative arrives at a remarkable discovery that rewrites everything we thought we knew about metabolism—with profound therapeutic consequences. Coming back to the present, Christofferson reminds us that Americans are sicker than they have ever been. Heart disease, cancer, dementia, obesity and type 2 diabetes are rapidly becoming the norm. Yet we are presented with a revelation: the realization that we all have a potent, and easy-to-access hybrid metabolism that generates a different fuel—the fourth fuel—that “supercharges” our metabolism in a way that slows aging and by-passes the metabolic dysfunction that leads to the multitude of diseases that plague modern society.

Authors

Image	Author	Author Website	Twitter	Author Location
	Travis Christofferson	https://foundationformetaboliccancertherapies.com/

Topics

	Ketone Bodies	Ketone bodies, also known as ketones, are a group of molecules produced by the liver during the breakdown of fatty acids. Ketone bodies are produced in the liver through a process called ketogenesis. This occurs when the body's carbohydrate intake is low, such as during periods of fasting, prolonged exercise, or when following a low-carbohydrate or ketogenic diet. The three main ketone bodies produced by the liver are acetone, acetoacetate, and beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB).
	Science
	History Book	Books primarily about history.
	Nutrition
	Cancer	Cancer is a metabolic disease where the mitochrondria are no longer able to burn fatty acids and instead rely on fermentation of glucose and glutamine. Ketogenic diets have been used to prevent and cure cancer, as they induce a metabolic stress on cancer cells who cannot use ketones as fuel.
	Sugar
	Ketogenic Diet	The ketogenic diet involves eating high fat, low carbs, and moderate protein. To be in ketosis, one must eat less than 20 grams of carbohydrates per day.