BHB is found in nature in many foods including eggs and milk. Salts are acids and bases bound by ionic bonds. Salt is a chemistry term used to describe a specific type of chemical compound. Technically, they are defined as ionic compounds formed by the neutralization of an acid and a base. They consist of positively charged and negatively charged components, which typically dissociate in water or water-based solutions (such as blood). In lay terminology, we call table salt, which is actually sodium chloride (NaCl) “salt,” but it is just one of many chemical compounds which are defined as salts.

The “BHB salt” is simply a compound that consists of sodium (Na+), potassium (K+), and the ketone body β-hydroxybutyrate. In the Keto OS product package, these individual components are being held together by ionic bonds; however, when you eat the product, it is absorbed into the blood where it dissociates into free Na+, K+, and BHB since it is a water-based solution. Thus, consuming the product directly and immediately puts ketones into your blood.

Ketones are naturally slightly acidic, so the combination of BHB with sodium acts as a bit of a buffer to this acidity. Ketones will also naturally act as a diuretic, so you lose salt, potassium calcium and magnesium, and it is generally encouraged to increase sodium intake with ketones. The addition of sodium to the product will replenish this salt loss.