measuring ketones
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totaloblivia
Posts: 1,164 Member
Hi, New to all this! Am on day 11 and feeling good. Have lost 9lbs water weight. I measured blood ketones for the first time today and got 0.5mmol per litre. It seems to be just in the ketones range - is that correct in your experience? How often do you test? Was a bit of a gaff, but I guess it will get easier? Grateful for any advice and comments from all you lovely low carbers.... I still feel hungry though despite eating tons of calories - any thoughts? Thanks again x
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Faff I meant, not gaff! My first was a gaff as didn't produce enough blood to measure and so wasted an expensive testing strip....curses0
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Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but as long as you're in ketosis you will get the benefits of being in ketosis. But you say you're still feeling hungry...you may still be transitioning as that is one of the benefits of ketosis...many people feel full longer.
I know measuring blood is the most accurate way, but I don't want to spend money on the strips. I test using just ketostix, but that is not accurate and varies on hydration, etc. I just do it to see if I'm in ketosis. It gives me motivation to keep going and not cheat.0 -
Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but as long as you're in ketosis you will get the benefits of being in ketosis. But you say you're still feeling hungry...you may still be transitioning as that is one of the benefits of ketosis...many people feel full longer.
I know measuring blood is the most accurate way, but I don't want to spend money on the strips. I test using just ketostix, but that is not accurate and varies on hydration, etc. I just do it to see if I'm in ketosis. It gives me motivation to keep going and not cheat.
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I bought Ketostix today after not using for a very long time.
Does the deeper the color indicate you are burning more fat than the lighter end of the range?
I am back tracking my daily intake and have found a few , ahem, flaws in carb intake which I shall correct. To early for nuts, and even one ounce is 5 carbs. Terrible
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annieboomboom wrote: »I bought Ketostix today after not using for a very long time.
Does the deeper the color indicate you are burning more fat than the lighter end of the range?
No. For what information they give (which is flawed), it is binary. You are either producing excess ketones or you're not. The color is more an indicator of hydration than it is of amount of fat being burned. Note, if you are fully keto-adapted, it is completely possible for the sticks to test negative even when you're in ketosis. So, they're not extremely useful for much of anything.
Ketostick changes color: You have excess ketones in your urine (you are/were in ketosis)... you have no idea what level of ketosis that is/may have been.
Ketostick doesn't change color: You may or may not be in ketosis... you can't tell.
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http://www.lowcarbluxury.com/ketostix.html
Found this article in our facebook group. I am considering getting the sticks.0 -
At .5 you are in ketosis so that is good in the short time you have been low carb.
Monday and Tuesday I went way over on carbs eating Christmas oranges there were starting to go bad. Today it was good size bag of black cherries so I have been measuring in at .2 blood ketones. Since I carb loaded on whole fruit this time unlike pasta a couple months ago I have not felt really bad as I did after pigging out on carbs. I am looking forward to getting back into the .5-3 range.
I still do not like the prick but testing the blood levels gives the most info on ketone levels.0 -
as always, good information. So helpful when the process is slower than I would wish. It helps keep me on the straight and narrow toward a longer range goal.0
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Measuring ketone/glucose levels helps me better understand the relationship to weight loss. As I mentioned before I went high fruit carbs (oranges that were getting over ripe Mon/Tue about 75g each day and a lot of cherries Wed). I was aware carb loading impacts my old body more than some report.
Ketone level was .2 last couple days and fasting blood was 110. Today fasting BG was 113 with .3 ketone level.
Now I have to really stay away from the carbs and see if I can return to Fasting reading of more like 80 BG and .9-3.0 ketone level range and how long it takes to do so. Jumping from carb burning to fat burning I do think takes more effort in my case. Last night I also sensed some carb cravings returned but I did not go into the kitchen but did hit the almonds which I have to watch. Oh I did get into a stash of macadamia nuts that I ate on from 2pm to 9 pm.
When I get low ketone readings I can mentally go back an find the 'carb'. My morning weight is up by 3 pounds after a few days on the carbs but I feel OK. When I did the carb loading (pasta and a milk shake) Thanksgiving the weight shot up 6 pounds and I felt very badly. In my case it seems fruit carbs have a less negative impact on my body and less water gain than from grain/pasta carbs. Another thing after three fruit high carb days (100+ grams when factoring in macadamia nuts eaten over the last 5 days) my arthritis pain as not returned like it did at Thanksgiving from a pasta/refined sugar carb load.
Until testing glucose and ketones over the past few days and doing some reading I did not know being in nutritional ketosis for three month had made me more Insulin resistant. When I was in ketosis my fasting blood glucose levels were often in the 60-80 range with ketone levels in the 1-2 range. I did not have a meter to test either before going low carb.
Clearing in my case I can not loose weight if I do not keep my peak (after meals) blood glucose at or below 100 (USA). This helps me to understand WHY I must stay far away from all sugars if I am going to lose any weight. Fat and moderate Protein are my healthy friends in my case.
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I use the ketostix because I like seeing the pretty colors...and it's affirmation that I am on track. There are day when I am tempted to test during every visit to the powder room (and drinking so much water means a lot of visits!). I know they are fallible, but not usually during the initial phases which is when we (newbies) need the external confirmation the most. I think as time goes on, or if I start processing more efficiently, I may stop. However, as long as they turn even pink then I will continue to use them. I know a lot of people like the reliability of the blood meters, and maybe some day I'll give them a whirl, but honestly, I'm rather not prick myself daily.
As far as the colors I get, usually I am only darker purple in the morning, just because I do drink so much water.0 -
I do not like the prick part either. For a quick and dirty test to see if I am ketosis at any level I use a $15 breath analyzer. I pull both a glucose and ketone level if I prick and record. While at $1.50 for ketone testing strips for my meter adds up I like the details. There is a bit of correlation with the breath analyzer and the meter but it is a very weak one. Basically if I get any readout on the breath analyzer I know I am OK ketone level wise.0
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If your breath stinks your in Keto
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GaleHawkins wrote: »I do not like the prick part either. For a quick and dirty test to see if I am ketosis at any level I use a $15 breath analyzer. I pull both a glucose and ketone level if I prick and record. While at $1.50 for ketone testing strips for my meter adds up I like the details. There is a bit of correlation with the breath analyzer and the meter but it is a very weak one. Basically if I get any readout on the breath analyzer I know I am OK ketone level wise.
Thanks for all your helpful advice - where did you get the breath meter? I am in the UK so obviously you can't advise on that, but maybe I could get it shipped from US.
I didn't really like the prick for blood ketone testing either, but am a bit of a wuss - and the strips are really expensive! Although, now i've invested in the blood meter, i should get the use out of it! I got "comfort" lancets, so the prick wasn't too bad due to thinner spike, but then I struggled to get enough of a blood drop for the strip. You live and learn I suppose.
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I use the ketostix because I like seeing the pretty colors...and it's affirmation that I am on track. There are day when I am tempted to test during every visit to the powder room (and drinking so much water means a lot of visits!). I know they are fallible, but not usually during the initial phases which is when we (newbies) need the external confirmation the most. I think as time goes on, or if I start processing more efficiently, I may stop. However, as long as they turn even pink then I will continue to use them. I know a lot of people like the reliability of the blood meters, and maybe some day I'll give them a whirl, but honestly, I'm rather not prick myself daily.
As far as the colors I get, usually I am only darker purple in the morning, just because I do drink so much water.
I used Ketostix the first week and I did find it helpful and motivating to see the change from pale to darker, but, as you say, i did read they become less helpful as you go on. I used comfort lancet for the "prick" for the blood meter and it wasn't too bad ( just not used to it so didn't like it), but as I said, i then didn't have a very big drop of blood.Thanks for your help.0 -
GaleHawkins wrote: »At .5 you are in ketosis so that is good in the short time you have been low carb.
Monday and Tuesday I went way over on carbs eating Christmas oranges there were starting to go bad. Today it was good size bag of black cherries so I have been measuring in at .2 blood ketones. Since I carb loaded on whole fruit this time unlike pasta a couple months ago I have not felt really bad as I did after pigging out on carbs. I am looking forward to getting back into the .5-3 range.
I still do not like the prick but testing the blood levels gives the most info on ketone levels.
Thanks again for your help - would you expect the .5 ketone level to increase over time spent in ketosis? Should I be restricting carbs further (aiming for 20g a day, but it's more like 30g by the time I've finished eating!) or will it just get stronger over time, do you think?
I am not missing fruit too much as it's winter where I am, but have started eyeing up my daughter's daily satsuma as it smells so lovely and refreshing. Ketogenic diet perfect for winter as full of comfort food, but not sure how it will be in summer!
Best wishes0 -
Christine_1085 wrote: »http://www.lowcarbluxury.com/ketostix.html
Found this article in our facebook group. I am considering getting the sticks.
that was a great article thank you0 -
annieboomboom wrote: »I bought Ketostix today after not using for a very long time.
Does the deeper the color indicate you are burning more fat than the lighter end of the range?
No. For what information they give (which is flawed), it is binary. You are either producing excess ketones or you're not. The color is more an indicator of hydration than it is of amount of fat being burned. Note, if you are fully keto-adapted, it is completely possible for the sticks to test negative even when you're in ketosis. So, they're not extremely useful for much of anything.
Ketostick changes color: You have excess ketones in your urine (you are/were in ketosis)... you have no idea what level of ketosis that is/may have been.
Ketostick doesn't change color: You may or may not be in ketosis... you can't tell.
that's very helpful - thank you0 -
Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but as long as you're in ketosis you will get the benefits of being in ketosis. But you say you're still feeling hungry...you may still be transitioning as that is one of the benefits of ketosis...many people feel full longer.
I know measuring blood is the most accurate way, but I don't want to spend money on the strips. I test using just ketostix, but that is not accurate and varies on hydration, etc. I just do it to see if I'm in ketosis. It gives me motivation to keep going and not cheat.
the motivation is important!0
