Human Performance Optimization

During altitude-induced hypoxia, operator cognitive and physical capacity degrades, compromising individual and team performance. Cognitive degradation is linked to falling brain energy levels, increased reliance on anaerobic energy production and lactate accumulation. Ketones are the evolutionary alternative substrate to glucose for brain metabolic requirements; previous studies demonstrated that ketosis maintains brain ATP levels and reduces cerebral anaerobic glycolysis during hypoxia. Similarly, physical degradation is linked to a shift towards glycolysis and away from fat oxidation. Ketones can also be oxidized by skeletal muscle, and exogenous ketone ester (KE) drinks enhance endurance performance in normoxia. Ketosis can be achieved when fasting or following a ketogenic diet; however, these approaches are impractical for military operators. KE consumption results in a rapid and profound ketosis without dietary changes; so may mitigate effects of hypoxia. HVMN and the IHMC, recently demonstrated that KE-induced ketosis mitigated the hypoxia-induced decline in cognitive performance in a code substitution task. The team proposes to further investigate the potential of ketosis to augment operator cognitive and physical performance. Furthermore, HVMN will undertake advanced formulation R&D to improve the palatability of the KE drink to accelerate integration into existing SOF & military best practices.