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Nigel Colebrook

How do ketones cause metabolic acidosis if they are alkaline or neutral in nature?

Dompreh John  Follow

They are not. Two out of the three ketone bodies, beta-hydroxybutyric acid and acetoacetic acid, are acidic and the third, acetone, is volatile and may leave the body via the breath. Furthermore, the ketones are four-carbon acids made from longer fatty acids, so from palmitate which has one acidic group per molecule are made four ketone bodies, each with an acid group. Meanwhile the number of counter-ions, like sodium and potassium, stays the same. So during ketosis, your body is making acids de novo, largely from neutral material—the aliphatic parts of the fatty acids.

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