Why aren't my ketostrips working?
edurham79
Posts: 21
I purchased some ketostrips a few weeks ago, the first time I used them they showed light purple. This week I have been very low carb. To be exact 23 grams Sunday and Monday, 17 grams Tuesday and 16 grams yesterday. I am diligent to log everything I eat down to my vitamins so I know I'm not missing anything yet all week my ketostrips are showing "trace". I do drink between 8 and 16 cups of water a day. What am I doing wrong?
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One of two possibilities: either you haven't been on the diet long enough to be in ketosis yet, or you've been on the diet long enough to be adapted to the point where you are no longer kicking out more ketones than your body will use.
Either possibility is perfectly normal. You may want to pick up Jimmy Moore's book "Keto Clarity," which provides a better explanation.0 -
Perhaps....because Keto strips are sucky?
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They only measure ketonuria (ketones in uring) not ketonemia (ketones in blood). And those that are present in urine are a waste product.0
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from /r/keto:They measure excess ketones and only measure one of two major ketones and thus are unreliable for measuring whether you are in ketosis or not. You cannot use them to titrate your carbs.
Dilution - drink more water, the ketostix level changes and if you drink enough it will read negative...false negative result
Excess ketones - only measure excess, if you're using them all you won't have any excess excreted. When you first start keto, your body overproduces ketones but with time and adaptation you produce just enough for your brain and thus no longer spill them into the urine, ketostix will be negative...false negative result; eat 400 g carbs, immediately inhibits ketosis and you return to glucose-based metabolism and thus your body has no use for ketones in circulation and you excrete them, many then check ketostix and get a false security that they are in ketosis because they get a false positive result
Only measure acetoacetate - there are two major ketone bodies acetoacetate and beta hydroxybutyrate, ketostix only measure the former; the longer you're in ketosis the more of the latter you have in circulation so if you are spilling excess ketostix can't detect it and you get a false negative
They are intended for diabetic ketoacidosis, not nutritional ketosis and are a waste of time and money and only seem to cause confusion, frustration and false security because people don't know how they work and yet continue to use them in a way that they hope they work. Follow your macros and you're in ketosis. Focus on how you feel rather than a ketostix.0 -
Thank you all for your informative answers. I am new to the keto diet and had never heard of keto strips until reading about them on a post here. I ordered them along with my almond and coconut flour in hopes of transitioning into a keto diet with ease. The coconut and almond flour haven't been all that they were cracked up to be either so I guess I should have expected the same from the ketostix. I will just keep on keeping on and try my best to stay under my carb goal in hopes of losing more. I lost several lbs the first week, but nothing since then. Thanks again.0
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from /r/keto:<snip>negative
They are intended for diabetic ketoacidosis, not nutritional ketosis and are a waste of time and money and only seem to cause confusion, frustration and false security because people don't know how they work and yet continue to use them in a way that they hope they work. Follow your macros and you're in ketosis. Focus on how you feel rather than a ketostix.
Well said, and in other words, they suck.
Dan
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Also be sure that your protein is not too high, and you are eating enough fat.
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If you keep them in the bathroom where steam occurs during your showers/baths, it will render them useless. Also they are not a good gauge as they measure acetoacetate in the urine, this is the ketone you aren't burning, thus flushing through urine. As you are in ketosis for a longer period, your body burns most of the ketones and you do not flush them, thus showing a very light purple or no purple at all.
Don't use them, keep your carbs at or under goal, hit your protein daily, eat fat to satiety, take measurements(every 2 weeks), don't weigh too often(once per week), weigh/measure what goes in your mouth, recalculate your daily goals every month as you continue to lose.
You'll be fine.0 -
Ugh... glad I read this. I just bought a box of strips yesterday. $7. Not a lot of $$, but I suppose I may as well just return them? I haven't opened them yet.0
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Thank you all for your informative answers. I am new to the keto diet and had never heard of keto strips until reading about them on a post here. I ordered them along with my almond and coconut flour in hopes of transitioning into a keto diet with ease. The coconut and almond flour haven't been all that they were cracked up to be either so I guess I should have expected the same from the ketostix. I will just keep on keeping on and try my best to stay under my carb goal in hopes of losing more. I lost several lbs the first week, but nothing since then. Thanks again.
What were you expecting from almond and coconut flour? They can actually be extraordinarily useful for when you want a low-carb or grain-free treat. However, they are by no means a 1-to-1 replacement for wheat and other starch-based flours, and they behave much differently. This often requires recipes designed for them and making substitutions in wheat-based recipes will end up hit or miss.0 -
I dipped egg washed fish and chicken in Almond flour and baked it. It was very good. Especially drizzled with butter part way through cooking.0
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Best almond flour "bun" recipe:
http://cavemanketo.com/faux-bread-quest-holy-grail-almond-buns/
I make these in a muffin top pan; they come out like flat, buttery cornbread. Great for sopping up things and stuff like eggs, etc. and with low/no sugar jam. My non-LC mama loved them, and is baking them for her friends.0 -
Couldn't agree more. You can't just replace wheat flour with almond/coconut flour and expect the same results. Look up some low carb/keto baking recipes and try some of them out. Two of my favourite blogs for LCHF foods are:Dragonwolf wrote: »What were you expecting from almond and coconut flour? They can actually be extraordinarily useful for when you want a low-carb or grain-free treat. However, they are by no means a 1-to-1 replacement for wheat and other starch-based flours, and they behave much differently. This often requires recipes designed for them and making substitutions in wheat-based recipes will end up hit or miss.
ibreatheimhungry.com/
alldayidreamaboutfood.com/
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oyadancing wrote: »Best almond flour "bun" recipe:
http://cavemanketo.com/faux-bread-quest-holy-grail-almond-buns/
I make these in a muffin top pan; they come out like flat, buttery cornbread. Great for sopping up things and stuff like eggs, etc. and with low/no sugar jam. My non-LC mama loved them, and is baking them for her friends.
What? You don't just like your bowl/plate when you're done with the forkable stuff?
I found awesome biscuits here -- http://www.foodrenegade.com/grain-free-biscuits-served-with-bacon-egg-and-cheese/ They are fantastic straight out of the oven and topped with butter, and even good the next morning under sausage gravy.
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Dragonwolf wrote: »What? You don't just like your bowl/plate when you're done with the forkable stuff?
That made me snort laugh! Licking the plate: Only when noone's looking! And even then, I know my mama can see...
Now I'm gonna have to find a country gravy recipe! LOL
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plate licking (the new desert) 0
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Like everyone else said ketostix arn't great, I have them and use them occasionally when I get worried... of course, they can make me more worried. I event quit the keto diet once because I didn't think it was working.
I have noticed when I test in the morning it is always very light pink or possibly neutral. In the evening sometimes it borders on purple.0 -
a few days before your period you wont see Ketones in your urine.0
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Previous posters have already mentioned 2 important factors - keeping your sticks in the bathroom, which damages them via moisture, or keto adaption.
Or, too much protein and not enough fat (that's a big thing to watch out for.)
I've heard of people getting the cheap breathalyzers to see if they're in keto (they pick up acetone,) but then there is this post that apparently the guy found one he ordered online just for measuring acetone in breath for keto purposes, and that they are made in Sweden.
http://bjjcaveman.com/2014/03/01/review-ketonix-acetone-breathalyzer-initial-impressions/
This guy links to another guy who actually logged blood, keto stick, and the breath meter readings for around 12 days. If you're not feeling like looking, I will copy and past what he says about it:
"Conclusions. Breath testing for ketones has a high sensitivity and specificity and appears to be a noninvasive, convenient, and repeatable method for the diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring of diabetic ketosis."
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DAM5412 : I was listening to a podcast yesterday with a woman (I forget her name now) on the living la vida low carb show with Jimmy Moore. She worked with Dr Atkins for 30 years. she dealt with a lot of patients in his office, and said that in the 80s the only used urine strips to test for ketones. She said that a few days before menstuarting, a womans body can stops producing ketones.0
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oh here we go...
http://www.thelivinlowcarbshow.com/shownotes/10741/859-jackie-eberstein-keto-clarity-expert-interview/
right at the 21:00 mark0 -
oh here we go...
http://www.thelivinlowcarbshow.com/shownotes/10741/859-jackie-eberstein-keto-clarity-expert-interview/
right at the 21:00 mark
Thank you so much for sharing this! I personally haven't had this experience, yes the bloat and craving, but I use ketostix and never noted a drop around TOM, but I will be sure to really monitor this month.
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