Why such low blood ketones?
ttw1211
Posts: 91 Member
So I got the blood ketone meter after getting low readings on the regular urine strips (I never had this problem before) and now my blood ketones only read at 0.5 or 0.8 (after I wake up and before bed) can someone look at my diary?
Would diet soda lower them, I did drink a few diet cokes this week and I started sugar free jello. I'm so annoyed!
I had 12 total carbs yesterday! Grrrr
I know I had some wine this weekend (I logged more than I drank, don't judge me lol) but i still had low carbs.
Thank you
Would diet soda lower them, I did drink a few diet cokes this week and I started sugar free jello. I'm so annoyed!
I had 12 total carbs yesterday! Grrrr
I know I had some wine this weekend (I logged more than I drank, don't judge me lol) but i still had low carbs.
Thank you
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Replies
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Your blood ketones change too frequently for something you did the previous day or even several hours ago to affect it.
It makes sense for them to be lower in the morning due to cortisol, which elevates to wake you and the glucose/insulin response associated with that.
It would also probably be lower if you're still digesting a meal. Even if it was a low carb meal.
It's definitely possible that any artificially sweetened foods and drinks could be affecting it as well. Even though they are sugar free, they often still produce an insulin response because they taste sweet. The tongue tells the body we are eating sugar... The body responds. Plus, some of the artificial sweeteners simply create a "sugar like" response on their own. Just much less than actual sugar.
But, .5 and .8 are solid numbers. You're definitely in ketosis.
What number are you hoping to see and what's the reason you want that number?0 -
Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »Your blood ketones change too frequently for something you did the previous day or even several hours ago to affect it.
It makes sense for them to be lower in the morning due to cortisol, which elevates to wake you and the glucose/insulin response associated with that.
It would also probably be lower if you're still digesting a meal. Even if it was a low carb meal.
It's definitely possible that any artificially sweetened foods and drinks could be affecting it as well. Even though they are sugar free, they often still produce an insulin response because they taste sweet. The tongue tells the body we are eating sugar... The body responds. Plus, some of the artificial sweeteners simply create a "sugar like" response on their own. Just much less than actual sugar.
But, .5 and .8 are solid numbers. You're definitely in ketosis.
What number are you hoping to see and what's the reason you want that number?
That's what I was thinking about the "sugar free" foods, I never had them before and I've never had a problem until now. So I'm thinking it's something to do with that.
I just know that .5 is barely in ketosis. I think "optimal" is 1.5 to 3 so I guess just to make myself feel better id like to see those types of numbers.
Should I test before bed, but a few hours after a meal?
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Some of the artificial sugars do seem to cause an insulin squirt. Try cutting them out and see what happens.
Here's a graph that gives you an idea of ketone level variation. Eating will cause them to drop. Exercise will cause a boost -- maybe test about 2hrs post exercise.
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Some of the artificial sugars do seem to cause an insulin squirt. Try cutting them out and see what happens.
Here's a graph that gives you an idea of ketone level variation. Eating will cause them to drop. Exercise will cause a boost -- maybe test about 2hrs post exercise.
Awesome! Thank you!
I noticed yesterday that i got good readings on the ketostix all day until I added a water flavor thing to my water and then I had a diet soda, then I came up no trace. I know they aren't reliable but I never had an issue before.
So today I'm gonna see what happens0 -
.5-.8 blood ketone levels may be just as good as 1.5-3.0. In my case I do not feel as well in the 2-4 range. The main thing I find is making sure gross carbs are < 50 grams daily and 80% of my calories are from fats.
It is not about blood ketone levels as in higher is better I find.0 -
GaleHawkins wrote: ».5-.8 blood ketone levels may be just as good as 1.5-3.0. In my case I do not feel as well in the 2-4 range. The main thing I find is making sure gross carbs are < 50 grams daily and 80% of my calories are from fats.
It is not about blood ketone levels as in higher is better I find.
Oh ok. I was wondering about that. I thought maybe .5 was barely doing anything.
I know they say with the ketostix, as long as you're pink then you're good but I didn't know about the blood testing.
And I hate how expensive these strips are!0 -
@ttw1211 the meter is good to use from time to time. I use the $15 breath analyzer off of eBay instead of ketostix so once to see some correlation between your meter and stixs you will not use your meter as much. However no meter one never knows their ketone levels. I pay about $1.50 per stick off of eBay typically and stock up. I am not concerned about the dates on the strips in my case.0
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GaleHawkins wrote: »@ttw1211 the meter is good to use from time to time. I use the $15 breath analyzer off of eBay instead of ketostix so once to see some correlation between your meter and stixs you will not use your meter as much. However no meter one never knows their ketone levels. I pay about $1.50 per stick off of eBay typically and stock up. I am not concerned about the dates on the strips in my case.
I've seen that you said before you use the breath analyzer. I'm gonna look into that also, I might as well at this point lol.
But I did just test again and I'm at 1.9
So it was def one of the sweeteners knocking my ketones down. So strange and interesting how everyone is so different.0
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