
Ketones: The Fourth Fuel
Warburg to Krebs to Veech, the 250 Year Journey to Find the Fountain of Youth
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Buy for $19.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Madison Niederhauser
About this listen
In Ketones: The Fourth Fuel, science writer Travis Christofferson weaves a fascinating narrative of humanity's 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 listener 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 listener 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, easy-to-access hybrid metabolism that generates a different fuel - the fourth fuel - that “supercharges” our metabolism in a way that slows aging and bypasses the metabolic dysfunction that leads to the multitude of diseases that plague modern society.
©2020 Travis Christofferson (P)2020 Travis ChristoffersonListeners also enjoyed...
-
Mitochondria and the Future of Medicine
- The Key to Understanding Disease, Chronic Illness, Aging, and Life Itself
- By: Lee Know
- Narrated by: Madison Niederhauser
- Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Mitochondria and the Future of Medicine, naturopathic doctor Lee Know tells the epic story of mitochondria - the widely misunderstood and often-overlooked powerhouses of our cells. The legendary saga began over two billion years ago, when one bacterium entered another without being digested, which would evolve to create the first mitochondrion. Since then, for life to exist beyond single-celled bacteria, it's the mitochondria that have been responsible for this life-giving energy.
-
-
Fascinating
- By Robert Robinson on 12-18-19
By: Lee Know
-
Tripping Over the Truth
- The Return of the Metabolic Theory of Cancer Illuminates a New and Hopeful Path to a Cure
- By: Travis Christofferson
- Narrated by: Clay Lomakayu
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A masterful synchronization of history and cutting-edge science shines new light on humanity's darkest diagnosis. In the wake of the Cancer Genome Atlas project's failure to provide a legible road map to a cure for cancer, science writer Travis Christofferson illuminates a promising blend of old and new perspectives on the disease.
-
-
Non-fiction books - please include references
- By yaelb on 06-15-16
-
Curable
- The Story of How an Unlikely Group of Radical Innovators Is Trying to Transform Our Health Care System
- By: Travis Christofferson
- Narrated by: Madison Niederhauser
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Curable journalist and health care advocate Travis Christofferson looks at medicine through a magnifying glass and asks an important question: What if the roots of the current US health care crisis are psychological and systemic, perpetuated not just by corporate influence and the powers that be, but by you and me? Curable outlines the future of medicine, detailing brilliant examples of new health care systems that prove we can do better. It turns out we have more control over our health (and happiness) than we think.
-
-
Not bad for a light read, but not very insightful
- By Audiophile on 06-25-21
-
The Case for Keto
- Rethinking Weight Control and the Science and Practice of Low-Carb/High-Fat Eating
- By: Gary Taubes
- Narrated by: Holter Graham
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on 20 years of investigative reporting and interviews with 100 practicing physicians who embrace the keto lifetstyle as the best prescription for their patients' health, Taubes' book puts the ketogenic diet movement in the necessary historical and scientific perspective. It makes clear the vital misconceptions in how we've come to think about obesity and diet (no, people do not become fat simply because they eat too much; hormones play the critical role) and uses the collected clinical experience of the medical community to provide essential practical advice.
-
-
PDF found by clicking Chapters! 🎉
- By CG on 03-18-21
By: Gary Taubes
-
Ketocontinuum: Consistently Keto Diet for Life
- By: Annette Bosworth MD
- Narrated by: Annette Bosworth MD
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ketocontinuum shares David's ketogenic journey from failing health to vibrancy. Author and internal medicine physician, Annette Bosworth, M.D., (Dr. Boz), uses the steps outlined in the Ketocontinuum to improve her patients' health at her clinic, Meaningful Medicine, located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA. Ketocontinuum walks the listener through Dr. Bosworth's revolutionary protocol she practices at her medical clinic. Ketocontinuum combines the latest developments in brain research, sleep, and keto-chemistry's impact on health.
-
-
Confession of a Pastor
- By Mueller.Jason on 02-26-21
-
Metabolical
- The Lure and the Lies of Processed Food, Nutrition, and Modern Medicine
- By: Robert H. Lustig
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times best-selling author of Fat Chance explains the eight pathologies that underlie all chronic disease, documents how processed food has impacted them to ruin our health, economy, and environment over the past 50 years, and proposes an urgent manifesto and strategy to cure both us and the planet.
-
-
painfully political
- By jonathan blake on 06-06-21
By: Robert H. Lustig
-
Mitochondria and the Future of Medicine
- The Key to Understanding Disease, Chronic Illness, Aging, and Life Itself
- By: Lee Know
- Narrated by: Madison Niederhauser
- Length: 7 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Mitochondria and the Future of Medicine, naturopathic doctor Lee Know tells the epic story of mitochondria - the widely misunderstood and often-overlooked powerhouses of our cells. The legendary saga began over two billion years ago, when one bacterium entered another without being digested, which would evolve to create the first mitochondrion. Since then, for life to exist beyond single-celled bacteria, it's the mitochondria that have been responsible for this life-giving energy.
-
-
Fascinating
- By Robert Robinson on 12-18-19
By: Lee Know
-
Tripping Over the Truth
- The Return of the Metabolic Theory of Cancer Illuminates a New and Hopeful Path to a Cure
- By: Travis Christofferson
- Narrated by: Clay Lomakayu
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A masterful synchronization of history and cutting-edge science shines new light on humanity's darkest diagnosis. In the wake of the Cancer Genome Atlas project's failure to provide a legible road map to a cure for cancer, science writer Travis Christofferson illuminates a promising blend of old and new perspectives on the disease.
-
-
Non-fiction books - please include references
- By yaelb on 06-15-16
-
Curable
- The Story of How an Unlikely Group of Radical Innovators Is Trying to Transform Our Health Care System
- By: Travis Christofferson
- Narrated by: Madison Niederhauser
- Length: 8 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Curable journalist and health care advocate Travis Christofferson looks at medicine through a magnifying glass and asks an important question: What if the roots of the current US health care crisis are psychological and systemic, perpetuated not just by corporate influence and the powers that be, but by you and me? Curable outlines the future of medicine, detailing brilliant examples of new health care systems that prove we can do better. It turns out we have more control over our health (and happiness) than we think.
-
-
Not bad for a light read, but not very insightful
- By Audiophile on 06-25-21
-
The Case for Keto
- Rethinking Weight Control and the Science and Practice of Low-Carb/High-Fat Eating
- By: Gary Taubes
- Narrated by: Holter Graham
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Based on 20 years of investigative reporting and interviews with 100 practicing physicians who embrace the keto lifetstyle as the best prescription for their patients' health, Taubes' book puts the ketogenic diet movement in the necessary historical and scientific perspective. It makes clear the vital misconceptions in how we've come to think about obesity and diet (no, people do not become fat simply because they eat too much; hormones play the critical role) and uses the collected clinical experience of the medical community to provide essential practical advice.
-
-
PDF found by clicking Chapters! 🎉
- By CG on 03-18-21
By: Gary Taubes
-
Ketocontinuum: Consistently Keto Diet for Life
- By: Annette Bosworth MD
- Narrated by: Annette Bosworth MD
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ketocontinuum shares David's ketogenic journey from failing health to vibrancy. Author and internal medicine physician, Annette Bosworth, M.D., (Dr. Boz), uses the steps outlined in the Ketocontinuum to improve her patients' health at her clinic, Meaningful Medicine, located in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA. Ketocontinuum walks the listener through Dr. Bosworth's revolutionary protocol she practices at her medical clinic. Ketocontinuum combines the latest developments in brain research, sleep, and keto-chemistry's impact on health.
-
-
Confession of a Pastor
- By Mueller.Jason on 02-26-21
-
Metabolical
- The Lure and the Lies of Processed Food, Nutrition, and Modern Medicine
- By: Robert H. Lustig
- Narrated by: Charles Constant
- Length: 12 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The New York Times best-selling author of Fat Chance explains the eight pathologies that underlie all chronic disease, documents how processed food has impacted them to ruin our health, economy, and environment over the past 50 years, and proposes an urgent manifesto and strategy to cure both us and the planet.
-
-
painfully political
- By jonathan blake on 06-06-21
By: Robert H. Lustig
-
Ravenous
- Otto Warburg, the Nazis, and the Search for the Cancer-Diet Connection
- By: Sam Apple
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 12 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Nobel laureate Otto Warburg was widely regarded in his day as one of the most important biochemists of the 20th century, a man whose research was integral to humanity’s understanding of cancer. He was also among the most despised figures in Nazi Germany. As a Jewish homosexual living openly with his male partner, Warburg represented all that the Third Reich abhorred. Yet Hitler and his top advisors dreaded cancer, and protected Warburg in the hope that he could cure it.
-
-
Highly recommended, a must read.
- By Joerg on 06-10-21
By: Sam Apple
-
The Cancer Code
- A Revolutionary New Understanding of a Medical Mystery
- By: Dr. Jason Fung
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Our understanding of cancer is slowly undergoing a revolution, allowing for the development of more effective treatments. For the first time ever, the death rate from cancer is showing a steady decline...but the “War on Cancer” has hardly been won. In The Cancer Code, Dr. Jason Fung offers a revolutionary new understanding of this invasive, often fatal disease - what it is, how it manifests, and why it is so challenging to treat.
-
-
Not helpful for a cancer patient
- By KattyG on 11-25-20
By: Dr. Jason Fung
-
Lifespan
- Why We Age - and Why We Don't Have To
- By: David A. Sinclair PhD, Matthew D. LaPlante
- Narrated by: David A. Sinclair PhD
- Length: 11 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From an acclaimed Harvard professor and one of Time’s most influential people, this paradigm-shifting audiobook shows how almost everything we think we know about aging is wrong, offers a front-row seat to the amazing global effort to slow, stop, and reverse aging, and calls listeners to consider a future where aging can be treated.
-
-
Incredible
- By Nikolai B.G on 09-13-19
By: David A. Sinclair PhD, and others
-
End Your Carb Confusion
- A Simple Guide to Customize Your Carb Intake for Optimal Health
- By: Eric Westman, Amy Berger
- Narrated by: Brent Hirose
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Eric Westman, MD, has more than 20 years of experience as an internal medicine doctor and obesity medicine specialist. He's helped patients at his Keto Medicine Clinic at Duke University lose more than 26,000 pounds and reverse conditions like type 2 diabetes, PCOS, high blood pressure, and more. In End Your Carb Confusion, he shares his time-tested and science-backed strategy with you!
-
-
Logical Keto
- By gaming grandma on 03-30-22
By: Eric Westman, and others
-
Anyway You Can
- Doctor Bosworth Shares Her Mom's Cancer Journey: A Beginners Guide to Ketones for Life
- By: Dr. Annette Bosworth
- Narrated by: Annette Bosworth MD
- Length: 8 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Anyway You Can, Dr. Bosworth shares her "accidental" discovery of ketosis and its wide array of health benefits as she supplemented her mom's chemotherapy with ketones. Her story of courage, faith, and tenacity helps young and old achieve better physical, mental, and emotional health through ketosis.
-
-
Don't wait to buy this. Grab it today
- By Joann O on 12-21-18
-
Lies My Doctor Told Me
- Medical Myths That Can Harm Your Health
- By: Dr. Ken Berry
- Narrated by: Geoff Sugiyama
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This updated and expanded edition of Dr. Berry’s best seller Lies My Doctor Told Me exposes the truth behind all kinds of “lies” told by well-meaning but misinformed medical practitioners. Nutritional therapy is often overlooked in medical school, and the information provided to physicians is often outdated. However, the negative consequences on your health remain the same. Advice to avoid healthy fats and stay out of the sun has been proven to be detrimental to longevity and can wreak havoc on your system.
-
-
Weak Narrator
- By Josh Cecil on 10-10-19
By: Dr. Ken Berry
-
Brain Energy
- A Revolutionary Breakthrough in Understanding Mental Health—and Improving Treatment for Anxiety, Depression, OCD, PTSD, and More
- By: Christopher M. Palmer MD
- Narrated by: Christopher M. Palmer MD
- Length: 12 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
We are in the midst of a global mental health crisis, and mental illnesses are on the rise. But what causes mental illness? And why are mental health problems so hard to treat? Drawing on decades of research, Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Chris Palmer outlines a revolutionary new understanding that for the first time unites our existing knowledge about mental illness within a single framework: mental disorders are metabolic disorders of the brain. Brain Energy will transform the field of mental health, and the lives of countless people around the world.
-
-
Arguing brain health theory to medical profession
- By Maya H Saric on 03-10-23
-
Drop Acid
- The Surprising New Science of Uric Acid - The Key to Losing Weight, Controlling Blood Sugar, and Achieving Extraordinary Health
- By: David Perlmutter MD
- Narrated by: Peter Ganim
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
What do obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes, fatty liver disease, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, stroke, neurological disorders, and premature death have in common? All can be stoked by high uric acid levels. Our most respected scientific literature is bursting with evidence that elevated uric acid levels lie at the root of many pervasive health conditions, but mainstream medicine for the most part remains unaware of this connection.
-
-
Interesting Information
- By All for Him on 05-07-22
-
Good Calories, Bad Calories
- Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health
- By: Gary Taubes
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 25 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For decades we have been taught that fat is bad for us, carbohydrates better, and that the key to a healthy weight is eating less and exercising more. Yet despite this advice, we have seen unprecedented epidemics of obesity and diabetes. Taubes argues that the problem lies in refined carbohydrates, like white flour, easily digested starches, and sugars, and that the key to good health is the kind of calories we take in, not the number.
-
-
Long, Detailed, Useful
- By Ruby Spinner on 06-29-21
By: Gary Taubes
-
The Song of the Cell
- An Exploration of Medicine and the New Human
- By: Siddhartha Mukherjee
- Narrated by: Dennis Boutsikaris
- Length: 16 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the author of The Emperor of All Maladies, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and The Gene, a #1 New York Times bestseller, comes his most spectacular book yet, an exploration of medicine and our radical new ability to manipulate cells. Rich with Mukherjee’s revelatory and exhilarating stories of scientists, doctors, and the patients whose lives may be saved by their work, The Song of the Cell is the third book in this extraordinary writer’s exploration of what it means to be human.
-
-
Beyond Words Wonderful
- By Lynn on 11-27-22
-
Cancer and the New Biology of Water
- By: Dr. Thomas Cowan MD
- Narrated by: Madison Niederhauser
- Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In Cancer and the New Biology of Water, Thomas Cowan argues that this failure was inevitable because the oncogene theory is incorrect or at least incomplete and based on a flawed concept of biology in which DNA controls our cellular function and therefore our health. Instead, Dr. Cowan tells us the somatic mutations seen in cancer cells are the result of a cellular deterioration that has little to do with oncogenes, DNA, or even the nucleus.
-
-
A new way of looking at disease
- By Luis A on 09-30-19
-
Keto Clarity
- Your Definitive Guide to the Benefits of a Low-Carb, High-Fat Diet
- By: Eric C. Westman MD, Jimmy Moore
- Narrated by: Jimmy Moore
- Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Leading health blogger Jimmy Moore and researcher and internist Dr. Eric C. Westman join forces again to explain the powerful therapeutic effects of a ketogenic diet—one that combines a customized carbohydrate restriction, moderation of protein intake, and real food-based fats—which is emerging in the scientific literature as a means for improving a wide range of diseases, from Type 2 diabetes to Alzheimer's and more. Simply eating a low-carb diet alone isn't enough, and Moore and Westman tell you why. Have you looked at a low-carb diet simply as a means to lose weight? What if you learned that combining a low-carb nutritional approach with a high fat intake produces a powerful therapeutic effect on a wide variety of health conditions that most people think requires medication to control? That’s what Keto Clarity is all about. Jimmy Moore, a leading low-carb diet blogger and podcaster, has reunited with his Cholesterol Clarity co-author Dr. Eric C. Westman, a practicing internist and low-carb diet researcher, to bring you the crystal-clear information you need to understand what a ketogenic diet is and why it may be the missing element in your pursuit of optimal health. This book includes exclusive interviews from twenty of the world's foremost authorities from various fields bringing their depth of expertise and experience using this nutritional approach. Moore and Westman explain why ketosis is normal and how this nutritional approach is being used therapeutically by many medical professionals. You will find a step-by-step guide to help you produce more ketones and track your progress, real life success stories, and more. The solid evidence for nutritional ketosis in dealing with many of the chronic health problems of our day is presented, including but not limited to: epilepsy, Type 2 diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular disease, metabolic syndrome, polycystic ovarian syndrome, irritable bowel syndrome.
-
-
A life changing book for me...maybe for you too!
- By Paularado on 11-18-14
By: Eric C. Westman MD, and others
What listeners say about Ketones: The Fourth Fuel
Highly rated for:
Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Brian Corbin
- 01-14-21
Great history!
If you’ve read all the Gary Taubes stuff, it’s hard to imagine he did not cover this material. Super informative. If you like science and science that makes sense, this is an awesome book!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- dgv
- 08-12-23
Life-changing lessons for health and well-being.
I am a firm believer in intermittent fasting, ketosis, and this book has done an excellent job in explaining the benefits of this practice. The historical detail is mind blowing. There is an excellent review article in the New England Journal of Medicine published on December 26 of 2019 that validates the scientific concepts outlined in this book. Congratulations to the author. I encourage everyone to watch his YouTube interview as well.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Larisa Lee
- 11-27-23
Great info, story, and narration
I read and listen to a lot of nonfiction. Often the narrators try to “act” and it spoils it for me. The narrator has a pleasant voice and sounds genuinely interested.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Cindy Falteich
- 05-19-23
Finally the truth.
I've been on a journey to uncover the truths and myths behind true health, and this book is an integral part of the puzzle. Thanks for writing it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- Ron
- 02-17-21
Great History of Giants in cellular chemistry!
Excellent historical review of Giants in the field of cellular metabolism and the discovery of ketones and how they have been used to improve metabolic health. This book adds to a deeper appreciation and understanding for those interested in low carb lifestyle. Abosolitely loved it!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Frank in Va
- 02-17-22
Making science history engaging and fun!
Really a great book. The life history of these 3 men are amazing and Travis pulls it all together in a way that isn't too complicated.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- David Granz
- 02-04-23
Ketones - Much to Know!
This was an informative and exciting narrative which is worth rereading. I will research further.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Tom
- 01-26-21
Great! Very informative and easy to follow.
I loved this book. Lots of great information on the history of Ketosis. just makes me mad how long we have known this info and yet the world is still suffering metabolically!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
4 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Juan
- 02-05-21
awesome hx
very well informed and guiding for a novice willing to learn and implement the changes needed to live well
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- C. Beckom
- 02-23-24
Ketones and Fasting
I loved the science behind what I am doing by fasting, getting into ketosis, understanding my body with a CGM a
or a blood glucose monitor. I am doing it right. My HbA1C is 4.5 and this book verifies my Lifestyle.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!