Those useless ketostix.... (or are they?)
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So yesterday, a friend and I had a big sushi lunch. We hadn't seen each other in about 4 months and we're both low-carb but it was a special treat. We didn't hold back, enjoyed all the maki and nigiri we could eat, white rice and all. And we had some of the hot selections too - general tsao chicken, beef & broccoli, complete with sugary sauces. I logged (after the fact) everything I could remember, and it came to over 130 grams of carbs at the end of the day. (Though I was still under-budget for calories.)
After the meal, we went for a 2km hike through the woods to atone for our carb sins.
No worries, I figured it was a science experiment. I wanted to learn a) how a big carb blow-out would feel, b) how long I'd feel it, and c) how long it'd take to get back into ketosis -- I planned to test myself with ketostix every day this week to see how long before I started showing positive again.
Today was back to business as usual, I had my morning coffee, an hour or so work-out on the bike, broke my fast a little later than usual, then tested an hour or two after eating. I got the 2nd darkest colour on the ketostix.
So I'm wondering, do ketostix do false-positives much? Or is it possible I'm already in ketosis again after eating a week's worth of carbs yesterday?
FWIW I don't feel any different today. I felt bloated immediately after we ate yesterday but that had passed by the end of our hike.2 -
Re: breathalisers: Are they the ones you can get on Amazon for checking blood-alcohol content....
https://www.amazon.co.uk/VicTsing-Breathalyzer-Semi-conductor-Background-Mouthpieces/dp/B017DDXYOU/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1494351756&sr=8-3-fkmr0&keywords=ketosis+breathalyser
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I have (oddly perhaps) never used them. I weigh every day and check my bg about 5 times a day. I keep the carbs under 20 net per day, and I figure if I am not in ketosis, I never will be. I just don't need any external validation on that particular metric.1
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Steph_Maks wrote: »So yesterday, a friend and I had a big sushi lunch. We hadn't seen each other in about 4 months and we're both low-carb but it was a special treat. We didn't hold back, enjoyed all the maki and nigiri we could eat, white rice and all. And we had some of the hot selections too - general tsao chicken, beef & broccoli, complete with sugary sauces. I logged (after the fact) everything I could remember, and it came to over 130 grams of carbs at the end of the day. (Though I was still under-budget for calories.)
After the meal, we went for a 2km hike through the woods to atone for our carb sins.
No worries, I figured it was a science experiment. I wanted to learn a) how a big carb blow-out would feel, b) how long I'd feel it, and c) how long it'd take to get back into ketosis -- I planned to test myself with ketostix every day this week to see how long before I started showing positive again.
Today was back to business as usual, I had my morning coffee, an hour or so work-out on the bike, broke my fast a little later than usual, then tested an hour or two after eating. I got the 2nd darkest colour on the ketostix.
So I'm wondering, do ketostix do false-positives much? Or is it possible I'm already in ketosis again after eating a week's worth of carbs yesterday?
FWIW I don't feel any different today. I felt bloated immediately after we ate yesterday but that had passed by the end of our hike.
False positive is impossible. Ever.2 -
Sunny_Bunny_ wrote: »False positive is impossible. Ever.
Thanks @Sunny_Bunny_ that's good to know.
I was at the 2nd darkest on the stick again today so I figure my 'carb tolerance' must be pretty high. Not gonna keep pushing it just in case, but maybe one "treat" day a month like that will be ok.0 -
I have (oddly perhaps) never used them. I weigh every day and check my bg about 5 times a day. I keep the carbs under 20 net per day, and I figure if I am not in ketosis, I never will be. I just don't need any external validation on that particular metric.
I've been doing low carb (off and on, and various forms) for about 5 years. So I really don't get any of the associated changes most people do when they go in. I remember when I started I used to have "sweet saliva", but even that i don't notice anymore.
I use them more or less to double check, right now I'm doing a little higher carbs (<50g/day) so use them to kind of find where my threshold is.0 -
Wish I had seen this thread before buying keto strips. Been low carbing for a month and went keto a week ago. Currently dealing with a bad virus and had 120g worth of carby comfort foods yesterday. Tested this morning and it showed the 2nd to darkest purple, while all the other days showed only pink. Makes no sense to me. I should've spent my money on extra beef sticks. 😂3
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Jabba2Hans wrote: »Wish I had seen this thread before buying keto strips. Been low carbing for a month and went keto a week ago. Currently dealing with a bad virus and had 120g worth of carby comfort foods yesterday. Tested this morning and it showed the 2nd to darkest purple, while all the other days showed only pink. Makes no sense to me. I should've spent my money on extra beef sticks. 😂
@Jabba2Hans
Actually, it makes a lot of sense. When you use the strips, you are really looking at the amount of ketones that your body is discarding (you ARE checking your urine). In the example that you have given, you just ate a bunch of carbs, and your body will ALWAYS prioritize carbs as an energy source over any other available energy source. So, since your body wasn't using the ketones for energy, it was discarding more of them giving you the darker color on the strip.
That is the basic problem with the strips - they can only measure the amount of ketones that your body is getting rid of, not the amount that your body is creating and/or using for energy. Any color on the strip indicates that your body is creating ketones, but the darkness/lightness of the strip is basically meaningless, except in very specific examples like the one given here.1
