How do you know you're in/out of ketosis?

MyriiStorm

I see people post things like, "I ate [high carb food] and it threw me out of ketosis." Or, "I'm back in ketosis now."

How can you tell? I'm still very new to LCHF, so I doubt I'll be in ketosis soon, but am curious what to expect and what to look for.

Sunny_Bunny_

You could literally start producing ketones within hours. We all go into mild ketosis with an 8 hour fast, like sleeping. So if you start your day right off eating very low carb, you should be making some ketones the first day.
People test using urine strips you can get over the counter at the pharmacy but they are often referred to as being unreliable. The strips themselves are not unreliable. It's the interpretation that's unreliable since our level of hydration can dilute the urine sample and show no signs of ketosis on the test. Thereby giving you a negative result when you are in fact producing ketones. It will never show you are producing ketones if you are not though.
Sometimes an assumption is made that ketosis has stopped because we simply know that eating a high carb food will produce insulin and stop the production of ketones. Other times people say it because a test has shown a negative.

jetsamflotsam

Good question! I've been wondering the same thing...

MyriiStorm

Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »

You could literally start producing ketones within hours. We all go into mild ketosis with an 8 hour fast, like sleeping. So if you start your day right off eating very low carb, you should be making some ketones the first day.
People test using urine strips you can get over the counter at the pharmacy but they are often referred to as being unreliable. The strips themselves are not unreliable. It's the interpretation that's unreliable since our level of hydration can dilute the urine sample and show no signs of ketosis on the test.

It sounds like testing the first pee in the morning would be the way to go, then. Overnight fast + lack of hydration for highest ketone levels?

dmariet116

I used the strips initially. They are a good indicator of one of the ketones that will spill over into the urine when you enter ketosis. As you become keto-adapted (3-4 weeks), you will excrete less ketone bodies via urine. Sometimes none. A blood monitor is most accurate as it shows all the ketones. But the downside is the cost. Each strip is like $5.

Just carefully log everything and double check the carb values listed on MFP against the actual label. Keep your carbs under 20mg and you will not be kicked out.

Check out ketopia.com why you need to stop worrying about the color of your ketostix for more detailed info

auntstephie321

You don't really need to be "in ketosis" we will all produce ketones at different levels. I understand why some people want to be in keto at all times, but for most of us it's but necessary to achieve our goals. I'm in and out all the time, adapted and then eat 300 carbs in a day. The only thing that affects with me is water weight, which I don't take care about. Like sunny said, after 8 hours or so of sleep you'll be producing ketones, your brain needs like 120 grams of carbs a day just for that, not to mention what the rest of your body wants. Eat 120 g of carbs a day and you'll be functioning off fat most of the time.

Sunny_Bunny_

MyriiStorm wrote: »

Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »

You could literally start producing ketones within hours. We all go into mild ketosis with an 8 hour fast, like sleeping. So if you start your day right off eating very low carb, you should be making some ketones the first day.
People test using urine strips you can get over the counter at the pharmacy but they are often referred to as being unreliable. The strips themselves are not unreliable. It's the interpretation that's unreliable since our level of hydration can dilute the urine sample and show no signs of ketosis on the test.

It sounds like testing the first pee in the morning would be the way to go, then. Overnight fast + lack of hydration for highest ketone levels?

That is what you'd think, however, with that full bladder comes a lot of water to the ketone ratio. You're more likely to test higher later in the day with a less full bladder.
Here's an example of a few days when I was testing and recording last year.

2Bhealthier2

I was curious about this subject too, thanks everyone for replying.

ladipoet

Some highly sensitive people can actually tell and/or feel when they are in or out of Ketosis. Unfortunately, most of us don't fall into that highly selected group of individuals. The test strips or breath test units are the easiest ways to tell for sure if you are in or out of nutritional ketosis.