Poll: Do you monitor your ketones?
kshatriyo
Posts: 134 Member
Regardless of whether you use urine or blood, do you test for ketones regularly? Please elab.
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Replies
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No. I eat very low carb, can skip meals and don't get hangry...I'm fat adapted.1
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Nope. Never will, either. I chose this lifestyle not for specific medical reasons. Rather, I chose it for carb addiction/binge issues and for keeping my energy level throughout the day, while not feeling constantly hangry.
As long as I'm accomplishing those things, I figure I'm fat adapted; testing won't tell me anything of worth, personally.2 -
I have tested both urine and blood for several days at a time, several times a day just out of curiosity. I tested the urine strips to see how much water I drank affected things and before that, how the time of day would vary as well.
And I tested blood when I first started and a few other times over the last year and a half just to see how different things affect me.
I wasn't trying to achieve any greater ketone levels or anything like that, I'm eating this way for life but I love the information and having an understanding of how everything affects me. I actually think having that interest in learning the details is part of what always kept me from wandering off plan. I can't even look at something full of carbs and see it as food anymore. So there's never a temptation to eat off limits foods or me.3 -
I smell myself when deadlifting. It's free, and has 100% accuracy.6
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Yes, I do. I am considering purchasing a breath ketone analyzer in the future, although cost is prohibitive at this time. Checking helps me stay honest.2
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Nope. I 'm doing my part by not increasing demand and therefore hopefully keeping the cost of supplies down for those who have to use them for medical reasons. Trust I feel the same regarding Botox for cosmetic vs medical use.0
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I pee on a stick every so often. But I'll be going more by my glucose control since that is the marker I am interested in improving.0
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Have never checked. Never will either.
That said, eliminating 165 pounds successfully is proof enough for me that I'm producing ketones. Yay Keto! 11 -
I did at times the first month or so (almost a year ago).0
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Aside from losing weight each week and feeling good, I have no idea how to tell. I notice my breath is actually better than before, but don't know what it smells like.0
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Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »I have tested both urine and blood for several days at a time, several times a day just out of curiosity
Which blood ketone test did you use?
How good/bad was the correlation of ketone levels in blood vs. pee?1 -
I peed on a stick but I stopped. I know what I need to do to be in ketosis now. 0
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I do sometimes, maybe once a month?0
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Used to, several times a day, when I started (2 years ago). I used both in the beginning but then moved on to use only blood. I'm a T2D and it was more convenient to measure ketones and BG at the same time.
I still measure occasionally but it's more to check that everything is OK with BG, and plain curiosity re ketones. I'm not really sure why (too much protein, maybe) but even when I'm ZC my ketones are never high. I think the highest I ever had was 1.6 and that is uncommon, it is not unusual for me to be 0.1 or 0.2.
::flowerforyou::0 -
For right now I do. Since I'm new at it I urine test to see where I am at and how I feel compared to that, etc. I have one bottle of Ketostix and once I kind of determine where I can be and how much leeway my body allows that will probably be it. I doubt I'll see the use for it after. For myself anyway. ☺0
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Gallowmere1984 wrote: »I smell myself when deadlifting. It's free, and has 100% accuracy.
Me too - very easy to tell I'm in ketosis.1 -
Yes every morning I pee on sticks. I would like to get a blood ketone reader to be more accurate because sometimes it can be discouraging when it says no or trace ketones and I'm expecting it to be darker. But I'm learning what my carb limit is.0
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Gallowmere1984 wrote: »I smell myself when deadlifting. It's free, and has 100% accuracy.
Me too - very easy to tell I'm in ketosis.
This is my answer as well. I'm not even keto. I'm LCHF but at 100g. And at the end of a workout...yep...I'm definitely producing some ketones.
I was keto for over 1.5 years and never tested ketones once.
Edit: Because I shouldn't try to communicate before the coffee.0 -
I have, and sporadically still do. But not regularly.
TMI here: I live alone and am one of those "If it's yellow, let it mellow" people. The unique smell of ketone urine is noticeable even to my barely functional nose.3 -
No, I track measurements and the scale - see a lot more progress on the measurements than on the scale.1
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Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »I have tested both urine and blood for several days at a time, several times a day just out of curiosity
Which blood ketone test did you use?
How good/bad was the correlation of ketone levels in blood vs. pee?
I use Nova Max ketone/glucose meter. Here's an offer for a free one when you buy strips (probably US only).
https://storefront.novacares.com/storefront/specials.html
I did both types of testing quite a while ago and I don't know where/if I have that data saved anymore, but my urine tests are almost always dark to very dark. They have been from about 2 days into keto, so, while the blood meter would vary from about 1 to 2, the urine tests pretty much looked the same. And a more recent time I tested urine for a few days, I purposely tried to dilute my urine to see if I could lower the result on the strip and I could just by drinking a lot of coffee causing me to go the bathroom about every 1 to 1.5 hours. Having eaten zero carbs and fasting... I didn't test blood then because I don't have strips right now.3 -
No, I never felt the need to check. The wight and fat loss, appetite control, and overall health improvements are enough for me.1
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No, I don't. I can tell based on my appetite control and more that my body has switched from carb burning to fat burning. Because I don't have a health condition that makes it critical for me to stay in ketosis, I don't feel it's necessary for me to measure my ketone levels.1
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I test just because I have the pee strips, but I don't stress about the reading. I can tell by the smell of my urine even if the strips say trace. Just got the Nova max but haven't tried it yet.1
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I used to monitor my ketone levels religiously, quickly giving up on urine strips and turning to blood strips and the breath meter. I spent hundreds of dollars monitoring them. That's not an exaggeration, blood strips are expensive!
In the end, it didn't make a significant difference. The levels were higher sometimes and lower others, but it rarely strayed outside what I considered acceptable ranges. When things went outside the range I wanted, it was usually because I had eating higher carb foods. When I went carnivore, those foods were no longer a concern.
These days, I don't worry about ketone levels. High or low, I worry more about what goes into my mouth.3 -
I occasionally use the ketostix. Usually if I've eaten something like a quest bar and I want to check it hasn't thrown me out of ketosis. 4 years eating keto and I still like to check occasionally.2
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No. I live in Japan, have no meter. Not diabetic so no medical reason to get one. Have thought about it, but it is too much trouble and expense to do. I am lchf, maintaining weight and my blood markers have all improved. If that changes, I will probably start testing.0
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KetoGirl83 wrote: »Used to, several times a day, when I started (2 years ago). I used both in the beginning but then moved on to use only blood. I'm a T2D and it was more convenient to measure ketones and BG at the same time.
I still measure occasionally but it's more to check that everything is OK with BG, and plain curiosity re ketones. I'm not really sure why (too much protein, maybe) but even when I'm ZC my ketones are never high. I think the highest I ever had was 1.6 and that is uncommon, it is not unusual for me to be 0.1 or 0.2.
::flowerforyou::
Now that seems odd, unless, as you suggest, your protein intake significantly exceeds what your body needs.... ??
Suppose insulin resistance could also be keeping too much of whatever glucose is produced from protein in circulation?1 -
Gallowmere1984 wrote: »I smell myself when deadlifting. It's free, and has 100% accuracy.
Either you're good at yoga, or you bend differently than most people.....0 -
KetoGirl83 wrote: »Used to, several times a day, when I started (2 years ago). I used both in the beginning but then moved on to use only blood. I'm a T2D and it was more convenient to measure ketones and BG at the same time.
I still measure occasionally but it's more to check that everything is OK with BG, and plain curiosity re ketones. I'm not really sure why (too much protein, maybe) but even when I'm ZC my ketones are never high. I think the highest I ever had was 1.6 and that is uncommon, it is not unusual for me to be 0.1 or 0.2.
::flowerforyou::
Now that seems odd, unless, as you suggest, your protein intake significantly exceeds what your body needs.... ??
Suppose insulin resistance could also be keeping too much of whatever glucose is produced from protein in circulation?
Something is not going to plan but I don't know what it is or how to fix it. I've just had some lab work, I'm really interested in insulin values.
::flowerforyou::1
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