Alex Buga

Alex Buga
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Alex verified their affiliation via an institutional email.
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Alex verified their affiliation via an institutional email.
The Ohio State University | OSU · Department of Human Sciences

Doctor of Philosophy

About

24
Publications
10,992
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438
Citations
Introduction
I'm a post-doctoral scholar in the Volek Lab. My current research efforts aim to elucidate the mechanism by which ketosis countermeasures can augment tactical performance in response to sleep deprivation. Specifically, I'm interested in ballistic virtual reality performance to measure military-relevant marksmanship, decision-making, and reaction time. I also currently serve as a guest editor for a MDPI Nutrients Special Issue: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/nutrients/special_issues/PA4KMDRT94
Education
August 2021 - December 2024
The Ohio State University
Field of study
  • Exercise Science
August 2019 - May 2021
The Ohio State University
Field of study
  • Exercise Science

Publications

Publications (24)
Article
Full-text available
Rucksack marches (‘rucks’) are strenuous, military‐relevant exercises that may benefit from pre‐event fuelling. The purpose of this investigation was to explore whether acute ingestion of carbohydrate‐ or lipid‐based nutritional bars before rucking can elicit unique advantages that augment exercise performance. Recreationally active and healthy mal...
Article
Full-text available
Purpose Ketogenic diets may positively influence cancer through pleiotropic mechanisms, but only a few small and short-term studies have addressed feasibility and efficacy in cancer patients. The primary goals of this study were to evaluate the feasibility and the sustained metabolic effects of a personalized well-formulated ketogenic diet (WFKD) d...
Article
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Purpose of Review Considering the high prevalence of obesity and related metabolic impairments in the population, the unique role nutrition has in weight loss, reversing metabolic disorders, and maintaining health cannot be overstated. Normal weight and well-being are compatible with varying dietary patterns, but for the last half century there has...
Article
Buga, A, Decker, DD, Robinson, BT, Crabtree, CD, Stoner, JT, Arce, LF, El-Shazly, X, Kackley, ML, Sapper, TN, Anders, JPV, Kraemer, WJ, and Volek, JS. The VirTra V-100 is a test-retest reliable shooting simulator for measuring accuracy/precision, decision-making, and reaction time in civilians, police/SWAT, and military personnel. J Strength Cond R...
Article
Very-low-carbohydrate diets (LCHF; <50g/day) have been debated for their potential to lower pre-exercise muscle and liver glycogen stores and metabolic efficiency, risking premature fatigue. It is also hypothesized that carbohydrate ingestion during prolonged exercise delays fatigue by increasing carbohydrate oxidation, thereby sparing muscle glyco...
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Weight loss can positively alter female physiology; however, whether dietary carbohydrate- or fat- restriction confer unique effects is less studied. Precisely designed, hypocaloric well-formulated ketogenic diets (KD; ~75% energy for weight maintenance) were compared to isocaloric/isonitrogenous low-fat diet (LFD) on self-reported menses in pre-me...
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Rural residents experience higher rates of obesity, obesity-related chronic diseases, and poorer lifestyle. Promoting physical activity and healthy eating are critical for rural residents; however, lack of resources and access barriers limit the feasibility of in-person lifestyle interventions. There is a need to design and deliver remotely accessi...
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High carbohydrate, low fat (HCLF) diets have been the predominant nutrition strategy for athletic performance, but recent evidence following multi-week habituation has challenged the superiority of HCLF over low carbohydrate, high fat (LCHF) diets, along with growing interest in the potential health and disease implications of dietary choice. Highl...
Article
Background: Single doses of exogenous ketone salts (KS) transiently increase circulating beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) (∼1 mM; 1-2 h) regardless of starting levels of ketosis; however, no studies have explored how sustained use of KS influences measures of ketonemia and glycemia. Objectives: To determine the response to a hypocaloric, well-formulated...
Article
Context: Ketogenic diets (KDs) and low-fat diets (LFD) result in similar weight loss, but differential cardiometabolic effects on lipids and insulin. Generally, weight loss decreases renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) activity. Objective: Investigate the effects of KDs with varying sodium content versus LFD on RAAS in overweight and obe...
Article
Full-text available
Background Ketogenic diets are a commonly used weight loss method, but little is known how variations in sodium content and ketones influence cognition and mood during the early keto-adaptation period. Objectives To investigate the effects of an exogenous ketone salt (KS) as part of a hypocaloric KD on mood and cognitive outcomes in overweight and...
Article
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Brain-Derived Neurotropic Factor (BDNF) expression is decreased in conditions associated with cognitive decline as well as metabolic diseases. One potential strategy to improve metabolic health and elevate BDNF is by increasing circulating ketones. Beta-Hydroxybutyrate (BHB) stimulates BDNF expression, but the association of circulating BHB and pla...
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Background: Ketosis has been reported to benefit healthspan and resilience, which has driven considerable interest in development of exogenous ketones to induce ketosis without dietary changes. Bis hexanoyl (R)-1,3-butanediol (BH-BD) is a novel ketone di-ester that can be used as a food ingredient that increases hepatic ketogenesis and blood beta-...
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A growing number of endurance athletes have considered switching from a traditional high-carbohydrate/low-fat (HCLF) to a low-carbohydrate/high-fat (LCHF) eating pattern for health and performance reasons. However, few studies have examined how LCHF diets affect blood lipid profiles in highly-trained runners. In a randomized and counterbalanced, cr...
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Background: Foods rich in saturated fatty acids (SFAs) have been discouraged by virtue of their cholesterol-raising potential, but this effect is modulated by the food source and background level of carbohydrate. Objective: We aimed to compare the consumption of palm stearin (PS) versus butter on circulating cholesterol responses in the setting...
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Background: Ketogenic diets ( KDs ) that elevate beta-hydroxybutyrate ( BHB ) promote weight and fat loss. Exogenous ketones, such as ketone salts ( KS ), also elevate BHB concentrations with the potential to protect against muscle loss during caloric restriction. Whether augmenting ketosis with KS impacts body composition responses to a well-formu...
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Ketogenic diets (KDs) often contain high levels of saturated fat, which may increase liver fat, but the lower carbohydrate intake may have the opposite effect. Using a controlled feeding design, we compared liver fat responses to a hypocaloric KD with a placebo (PL) versus an energy-matched low-fat diet (LFD) in overweight adults. We also examined...
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Introduction: A ketogenic diet improves type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and cardiovascular disease. Weight loss studies using caloric reduction have demonstrated a decrease in aldosterone, but there is limited data on the effect of a ketogenic diet on aldosterone. Thus, we evaluated the impact of a ketogenic diet on aldosterone in overweight o...
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Background: Acute ingestion of ketone supplements alters metabolism and potentially exercise performance. No studies to date have evaluated the impact of co-ingestion of ketone salts with caffeine and amino acids on high intensity exercise performance, and no data exists in Keto-Adapted individuals. Methods: We tested the performance and metabolic...
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Excess visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and VAT volume relative to subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) are associated with elevated health risks. This study compares fat measurements by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). In total, 21 control subjects (Control) and 16 individuals with metabolic syndrome (MetSyn)...
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Full-text available
BACKGROUND Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is highly correlated with obesity and cardiovascular risk, but the importance of dietary carbohydrate independent of weight loss in MetS treatment remains controversial. Here, we test the theory that dietary carbohydrate intolerance (i.e., the inability to process carbohydrate in a healthy manner) rather than ob...
Article
Full-text available
Introduction Ketogenic diets (KDs) that elevate ketones into a range referred to as nutritional ketosis represent a possible nutrition approach to address the emerging physical readiness and obesity challenge in the military. An emerging body of evidence demonstrates broad-spectrum health benefits attributed to being in nutritional ketosis, but no...

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