Ketosis

rainman3k

Two quick questions

1) When time do most people test using ketostix? Morning or night? I didn't ask my doctor, but I have tried both and notice I am spilling more ketones at night than morning, which I would guess is normal.

2) I am using a stick of gum to handle the weird taste I have right now, but is it just me or is a horrible smell while sweating normal?

Thanks in advance

ahjenny

When I was pregnant, I had to check for ketones, and I did it in the morning (1st pee). No answer for the second question.

Tkwild

I figure out which gives me a higher result and then test at that time, odd-smelling breath is normal but I only get odd-smelling sweat if I'm unwell. Perhaps there's something else going on at the same time?

agentscully514

I always tested in the morning. As for odd smells, I never noticed funny smelling sweat, but I'm a chick!

shopper46

Only weird smell is usually breath. Maybe you are dropping too fast. I do my sticks at night but before exercise. You can read lower numbers because ketones come out as you sweat. So what you ask makes sense. Your ketones might coming out in sweat.
I did atkins years ago and dropped like 60 pounds but I need to do it now for eating reasons. I am insulin resistance and can not drop weight any other way unless under min. carbs. I even tried like 900 cal a day etc.

KavemanKarg

Ketones concentrate in your bladder as you sleep, thus testing as you wake up can produce false positives meaning the reading is higher than what you are at.

It is suggested you test randomly throughout the day, but not on your first urination in the morning.

If you drink a lot of water it will dilute the results.

You can also test negative and still be in ketosis. Many report that after the first bottle of stix, they are useless. You will reach a point where your body is balancing your ketones and muscles are using them up like crazy.

Ketones, unusued, can never be converted back to fat. They always get burned up, and then leave the body by sweat, saliva, breathing, and finally urine and excrement. If you are keto-adapted there is a chance that there will not be enough in your urine to be positive.

Sticks are a rough guide but hardly exact.

Goodluck!

tecallahan

Never heard of weird smelling sweat? Are you drinking a lot of water? At least 1/2 your body weight in ounces?

busywaterbending

hi,

test strips are a great way to see if you are burning fat. It is important to realize that you will go into ketosis at night, normally. So, testing in the am will be fine and is a good way to mark your "start" for the day. The goal is to get to that score or even better after your workout!

Also, make sure you are not in starvation mode before bedtime. Have a tiny bit of animal protein before bed to ensure that your body will have complete proteins to feed the muscles with. This will also reduce any insulin in the blood.

You will test positive for ketones in the urine only if you are: 1. in starvation mode and burning body fat 2. digesting fruit juice, fruit sugars, or alcohol 3. when you get up in the am if you went into starvation mode during sleep.

The key is to make sure you are in fat burning mode in the most active part of your day. So you should test after your workouts to see if you have made it to fat burning mode.

As for funky smells: adding more zinc, sulpher, magnesium to your diet will help eliminate body odor. MOuthwash with zinc in it, like 12 hour fresh breath mouthwash, is perfect for eliminating the bad bacteria that causes odor.

Also, if your oozing funky odors it could be because you are eating unclean meat. Try Raw milk dairy for your cheeses and creams instead of "organic" dairy creams. Grass fed natural beef, and unprocessed halall chicken is good, and stay away from pork for awhile. Your body is shedding some toxins and bad bacteria. If you are not clean smelling, and odor free, after a 30 day low carb lifestyle then you may have an internal fungal infection like a yeast overgrowth.

TXHunny84

bump

Akimajuktuq

I test in the morning usually (because that's the easiest time for me to remember) but also random times throughout the day (not every day). There is validity to what other people are saying regarding it being higher in the morning, and I had mistakenly thought that made it the best time to test.

I have been in ketosis, with the exception of two weeks, for about 5 months. I don't seem to have the problems with bad breath that some other people experience. I don't chew gum because I avoid artificial sweeteners. I think I would chew a mint leaf if I had that problem. lol

wildfirediva

Too much protein for your body to handle can give you the whole keto breath thing.

How many grams of protein are you getting daily? You may have to drop a few grams and the smell will usually subside.
(1g protein /lb of lean muscle mass usually is a good rule of thumb)

What are your Macro % at right now?

Remember with ketosis you are burning off the fat, which holds a lot of toxins. Some may excrete themselves through the sweat. Make sure you are drinking plenty of water and getting plenty of fiber (psyllium is best as it 'exercises' the intestines) to pass the toxins through your system more efficiently.

Also include a good digestive enzyme supplement. It will help to break down and process what you eat more efficiently and give you the most out of your nutrition.

Chechamoneta

I am fresh on my second run of Low carb, but I used to test on the SECOND pee of the day, because the first one has the results of 8 hours of fasting. So you could not really tell if your body is in ketosis during your fat burning hours or not.

In regards to the smell, our bodies have to utilize extra enzimes to brake down the huge amount of protein you are consuming. Either through sweat, burp, or other... our bodies need to release the bi-products of this process.

Drink more water, but make sure that you are compensating on minerals because you don't want your muscles to cramp.

Good luck, to us all