Michael Brandt is the Founder-CEO of HVMN, a company that makes exogenous ketones. In this clip from our interview on the Singletrack Podcast, he talks about the founding story of HVMN.
Interested in using exogenous ketones to improve your nutritional strategy in training and racing? Use code Singletrack20 at this link (https://hvmn.com/ketone?rfsn=7023148.ebe5d8) to get 20% off your first order from HVMN.
Transcript:
Finn:
You are the founder of this company called HVMN and I'm sure you could talk for an entire podcast about the company itself, but what is the elevator pitch for why you started it?
Michael:
Yeah, it's, it's what I've been working on for a number of years here, and we have this amazing team around us here at HVMN and our flagship product called Ketone-IQ.
What we figured out is the most efficient way to make a ketone. A ketone is a form of fuel. So carbohydrates are a form of fuel - Maurten gels, GU gels - those are all fuels in the form of carbohydrates. Ketones are another form of fuel. They go through a different pathway. You can think about your body as having a carb system and then a fat system.
And when you're burning fat, you turn it into ketones. So in a sense, you're like a Prius where you have gas and you have electricity, and anyone who's really metabolically flexible, anyone in the community who's running races, you're doing both. There's no way to fuel on just carbohydrates alone if you're at any level of endurance fitness.
Your body is able to make and use ketones. You have enzymes present to make and use ketones. Some people in ultra distance community don't even touch the carb system and they actually, for a number of reasons, just do like the fat ketones type of fueling.
So in 2019 we got a $6 million contract with the Department of Defense Special Operations Command looking at exogenous ketones for special operator communities super interested in endurance. There were a lot of use cases there that we then extended out into endurance sports, pro sports in general.
And I always say, you know, everyone's doing metabolism all the time. Even I'm at my desk doing a podcast right now, like having a better form of fuel that is not spiking my blood sugar levels. That feels really nice. You feel that nice lift from it, uh, being able to bring that out into the world and make it accessible to everyone.
The dream is that ketones are as ubiquitous as anything - protein powder, carbs, electrolytes. With ketones, we've created a new nutritional primitive.
Follow Singletrack on Instagram:
www.instagram.com/runsingletrack/
Subscribe to Singletrack on Apple:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/singletrack/id1572382413
Subscribe to Singletrack on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/7jAsWCRNSCU8nh81vrAaC2?si=3ac02e4e32b946c4
