When to measure blood keytones?

norcogrrl

Hi folks.

I'm just wondering what the best time to measure blood keytones is, to ensure that I'm in ketosis. I don't want to measure more than once a day. A pack of ten strips costs $25. Ideally, I'd rather not measure everyday.

Right now, after a sedentary day (I've been processing hockey photos all day), and after my afternoon snack, my blood ketones are 0.6. The last time I measured them was after my afternoon snack on a high activity day. They were 0.8.

I'm not concerned about having a high level, I just want to ensure that I'm staying at the at the bare minimum at the least (though higher would be awesome).

Thx.

wabmester

Eating will cause them to drop. They seem to peak 2-4 hours after exercise.

Are you trying to become fat-adapted for endurance events? (I'm guessing from the bike in your avatar.)

Honestly, I wouldn't sweat the levels and wouldn't even poke myself for curiosity's sake. Trust your physiology. Restrict carbs to under 50g/d, and you'll make plenty of ketones. Do hard exercise while restricting carbs, and you will grow some cool new mitochondria that will help you fuel your rides with fat.

norcogrrl

Thanks, @wabmester. I'm trying to become fat-adapted to work off the spare tire of blubber that has found it's way to my midsection and to stabilize my blood sugar levels.

My physician has put me on a no grain, no starch, no added sugar, no legumes, no beans, limited fruit, low carb, only high fat dairy diet. He is NOT happy with me right now. I've gotten over being not happy with him.

I'm adapting pretty well to the diet. I can definitely see myself staying on it. I've seen many, many unexpected benefits.

I'm not sure how well this is going to work for endurance events. I've always carb loaded in the past and carried gels. I've got one century this next year, and perhaps the 24 Hours of Adrenalin (team is on the fence about entering) in Canmore. I have no idea how to fuel mid-ride now.

For casual rides or commuting I've always been a big fan of PBJ or PB, Nutella, and banana sandwiches, but those are out now too.

It is a very new world for me! I'm recovering from surgery right now. But, it will be very interesting to see how my training progresses once I'm back on my bike.

I need to read up on these mitochondria.

wabmester

@norcogrrl, check out Peter Attia if you don't know of him already. This article in particular would be appropriate:
http://eatingacademy.com/sports-and-nutrition/ketones-carbohydrates-can-co-exist

@tsazani, you'll continue to dump some ketones in the urine. I forget the level, but around 10% of your production, so exercise = more in the urine.

The first week or so is highest. I'm not sure anybody has a good handle on why it happens, but I think it's at least partly for acid/base balance in the blood.

GaleHawkins

@norcogrrl if you are going to be doing a lot of ketone testing take a look at eBay. I just bought 30 for $39.99 or $1.333 each 5 minutes ago.

Things to watch for is expiration date. These were short dated at Oct 2016. In my case I have no issue using ones out of date. My current stock expires Feb 2016.

Another thing I look for are the unboxed ones because the prices are much better.

So far all the ones that I have purchased at a steep discount arrived as described. I measured twice a day for the first to months before I got tired of the $$$ and pricks.

If one wants the ten packs in a box then $25 is about right. I could have got 10 for $17.99 with free shipping which is still a good price. Normally I only test every couple months because daily I check acetone ketone level with my $12 meter off eBay for my acetone ballpark levels. Never tried the non digital urine strips due to fear of making a mess.

ebay.com/itm/LCD-Digital-Police-Breath-Alcohol-Tester-Analyzer-Detector-Breathalyzer-Advanced-/311159276709?hash=item487289c4a5:g:F1EAAOSwcF9UV1aL

Sunny_Bunny_

I typically only check if I ate something questionable and want to try to figure out if it maybe had more carbs than I thought or just out of curiosity because I'm feeling really really good and alert or really really slow and lagging. I do seem to notice my numbers are higher when I'm feeling my best. But I average less than 30g carbs consistently so there's never a question of if I have ketones... Just how much.

lithezebra

You can get much cheaper strips. Also, if you cut your strips in half lengthwise, you'll have twice as many functional strips.

norcogrrl

@tsazani . . . I've read up on them now too . . . I want midichlorian growth! Err . . . mitochondria.

Whoever understands that reference must "friend" me. 38 more sleeps!

@wabmester . . . That was a truly fascinating read. Thank you for sharing. A trip to the lab might be in my future.

@GaleHawkins . . . I will keep my eyes on Ebay. I found a bulk lot in Oz for a good price, but that included the meter as well. I'll keep checking to see if I can find a lot of just the strips (note that I'm in Canada, and many Ebay sellers won't ship to Canada). I think I'll pick up the breath meter, too.

@Sunny_Bunny_ . . . That is probably good practice. I know I'll be consuming something questionable (okay, not questionable at all . . . I KNOW it is terrible for me and full of carbs and sugars) on Saturday. And, I suspect my soon-to-be-seven-years-old son's birthday cake will launch me right out of ketosis. I honestly don't feel like I can refuse his birthday cake.

@lithezebra . . . We're discussing the blood strips not the urine strips. The blood strips go in digital meters and can't be cut. Like @GaleHawkins, I'm afraid of the mess I might make with the urine strips (and of one of my kids walking into the bathroom while I try to pea in a cup).

GaleHawkins

It is my geek streak I guess that drives me to measure. As others have mentioned if we are eating <50 grams of carbs daily and our health markers are improving we really know keto is helping us reach our health goals.

KnitOrMiss

norcogrrl wrote: »

@tsazani . . . I've read up on them now too . . . I want midichlorian growth! Err . . . mitochondria.

Whoever understands that reference must "friend" me. 38 more sleeps!

@wabmester . . . That was a truly fascinating read. Thank you for sharing. A trip to the lab might be in my future.

@GaleHawkins . . . I will keep my eyes on Ebay. I found a bulk lot in Oz for a good price, but that included the meter as well. I'll keep checking to see if I can find a lot of just the strips (note that I'm in Canada, and many Ebay sellers won't ship to Canada). I think I'll pick up the breath meter, too.

@Sunny_Bunny_ . . . That is probably good practice. I know I'll be consuming something questionable (okay, not questionable at all . . . I KNOW it is terrible for me and full of carbs and sugars) on Saturday. And, I suspect my soon-to-be-seven-years-old son's birthday cake will launch me right out of ketosis. I honestly don't feel like I can refuse his birthday cake.

@lithezebra . . . We're discussing the blood strips not the urine strips. The blood strips go in digital meters and can't be cut. Like @GaleHawkins, I'm afraid of the mess I might make with the urine strips (and of one of my kids walking into the bathroom while I try to pea in a cup).

My opinion on cake, unless it is a fudge or cream cheese frosting, take that sucker (aka small piece of cake) and flip it upside-down, then eat down to the frosting (leave that frosting on the plate). The cake itself is unlikely to kick you out of keto unless you're teetering at the edge, you eat the frosting and lick the plate, you eat a million other bad things, or you binge on a larger than expected piece. Honestly I enjoy a small bit of frostingless cake. If it's the frosting that's tempting you, make a low carb version..

Sunny_Bunny_

lithezebra wrote: »

You can get much cheaper strips. Also, if you cut your strips in half lengthwise, you'll have twice as many functional strips.

That would be for urine test strips, not blood meter strips.