The Limitations of Ketosticks
Azuriaz
Posts: 785 Member
I had a long weekend involving alcohol, half a bag of popcorn, a Kind bar, and a few bites here and there of chocolate. My ketosticks assured me I never went fully out of ketosis. Then I got on the scale.
I didn't overindulge to the tune of ten pounds gained, so I'm pretty sure the sticks are wrong. I'm guessing I filled up those glycogen reserves again.
Unless there is some other possible explanation for it? Does anyone know? For now, I'm thinking never trust the ketosticks fully when alcohol was involved!
I didn't overindulge to the tune of ten pounds gained, so I'm pretty sure the sticks are wrong. I'm guessing I filled up those glycogen reserves again.
Unless there is some other possible explanation for it? Does anyone know? For now, I'm thinking never trust the ketosticks fully when alcohol was involved!
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A 10lb gain over a weekend is definitely water, but it's definitely not due to glycogen. Your liver stores about 100g of glycogen, and water binds at around 3:1, so that'd be a max difference of about 400g or around 1lb.
Alcohol is generally dehydrating, so I don't think it could account for that gain.
Did you eat a ton of salt with the popcorn? The only time I had a gain like that was due to a hypertonic saline IV -- i.e., a lot of salt.0 -
A 10lb gain over a weekend is definitely water, but it's definitely not due to glycogen. Your liver stores about 100g of glycogen, and water binds at around 3:1, so that'd be a max difference of about 400g or around 1lb.
Alcohol is generally dehydrating, so I don't think it could account for that gain.
Did you eat a ton of salt with the popcorn? The only time I had a gain like that was due to a hypertonic saline IV -- i.e., a lot of salt.
I thought glycogen stores with water, though, meaning every pound is 3x that in water. I tend to lose 10 pounds of water weight during the first two weeks of ketosis anyway, so that's why I figured it was the problem.
I did eat a lot of salt, though, and the roast beef was salted. I guess that could do it.0 -
I tend to retain water only when I don't get ENOUGH salt...so folks go both ways on that aspect, too.0
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I thought glycogen stores with water, though, meaning every pound is 3x that in water. I tend to lose 10 pounds of water weight during the first two weeks of ketosis anyway, so that's why I figured it was the problem.
Yes, 3 parts water to 1 part glycogen. But your max glycogen gain/loss is about 100g, so less than 1lb in total.
It's mostly about sodium, and unfortunately nobody told the internet how it really works, so the glycogen myth lives on.
Edit: there's about a 4-day lag between sodium intake and when the kidneys dump the excess, so expect the weight to be gone in about 4 days assuming your sodium intake returns to normal.0 -
I thought glycogen stores with water, though, meaning every pound is 3x that in water. I tend to lose 10 pounds of water weight during the first two weeks of ketosis anyway, so that's why I figured it was the problem.
Yes, 3 parts water to 1 part glycogen. But your max glycogen gain/loss is about 100g, so less than 1lb in total.
It's mostly about sodium, and unfortunately nobody told the internet how it really works, so the glycogen myth lives on.
Edit: there's about a 4-day lag between sodium intake and when the kidneys dump the excess, so expect the weight to be gone in about 4 days assuming your sodium intake returns to normal.
Odd, what about glycogen stored in muscles? Surely that regular as clockwork 10 pound drop in the first two weeks can be attributed to something to do with using glycogen stores?
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There is glycogen stored in muscles, but it's only available to muscles. So unless you ran a marathon over the weekend, those stores weren't a factor.
The initial water weight loss associated with low-carb diets is due to, you guessed it, sodium losses.
It's counter-intuitive, so I guess that's why it hasn't really caught on as a meme. But most of the sodium is lost due to ketones lost in the urine. The ketones are negative ions and they need to be covered by positive ions. Initially, that's sodium. As you adapt, ammonium ions take over somewhat, and the sodium losses aren't as great.0 -
There is glycogen stored in muscles, but it's only available to muscles. So unless you ran a marathon over the weekend, those stores weren't a factor.
The initial water weight loss associated with low-carb diets is due to, you guessed it, sodium losses.
It's counter-intuitive, so I guess that's why it hasn't really caught on as a meme. But most of the sodium is lost due to ketones lost in the urine. The ketones are negative ions and they need to be covered by positive ions. Initially, that's sodium. As you adapt, ammonium ions take over somewhat, and the sodium losses aren't as great.
Okay, thanks! I didn't read, or more likely didn't understand the process at the level of ions. Guess I should do some more reading. That also clears up what I was wondering about water weight gain for muscle repairs, since I do still seem to have that happen when I intensify or start up a new workout routine, and wondered how, because I didn't realize plenty of glycogen was still available for my muscles to use and use to repair with. This subject gets more complex the more I study it.0
