Ketone Testing
bethany4health
Posts: 8 Member
Does anyone swear by a certain method for testing ketosis levels? Most seem to trust macros and bodily symptoms.
• Does anyone rely on the glucose/ketone blood monitors?
• Has anyone had longterm response to the urine sticks (it seems those are faulty the longer you stay in ketosis... seems that the ketones in your urine deplete after the initial phase of entry)?
I am growing concerned that I’m kicking myself out of ketosis too frequently and have no true way of collecting my data. Insights, anyone?
Thanks!
• Does anyone rely on the glucose/ketone blood monitors?
• Has anyone had longterm response to the urine sticks (it seems those are faulty the longer you stay in ketosis... seems that the ketones in your urine deplete after the initial phase of entry)?
I am growing concerned that I’m kicking myself out of ketosis too frequently and have no true way of collecting my data. Insights, anyone?
Thanks!
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Replies
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From what I understand it’s the blood meters that are most accurate but the breath ones can be mostly trusted as well. Certainly for your purposes of just verifying anyway.
I’ve been keto for 5 years and while I don’t often turn the sticks dark anymore every time I bother to check, it at least shows trace even now.2 -
bethany4health wrote: »Does anyone swear by a certain method for testing ketosis levels? Most seem to trust macros and bodily symptoms.
• Does anyone rely on the glucose/ketone blood monitors?
• Has anyone had longterm response to the urine sticks (it seems those are faulty the longer you stay in ketosis... seems that the ketones in your urine deplete after the initial phase of entry)?
I am growing concerned that I’m kicking myself out of ketosis too frequently and have no true way of collecting my data. Insights, anyone?
Thanks!
I don't test ketones but blood is the most accurate. Let me ask this though, does it matter if you are getting kicked out of ketosis? Are you currently losing weight? Is your appetite suppressed? Do you feel good? If yes to all of those, it doesn't matter unless you have a big insulin problem or you are just a data nerd.1 -
I test my blood. I have a keto mojo. It is helpful when I want to test a food item I’m unsure about. I also have epilepsy so knowing my kgi is important. In the beginning of your low carb journey you will be peeing out a lot of ketones and make that strip super dark. Once your body starts making and using the ketones effectively, your strips will be lighter in color. Many people see this as a failure or bad sign, but it is actually what you want to see around maintenance level. If you still have a lot of weight to loose and you are seeing this, this may mean you need to slightly reduce the level of fat you are consuming or implement intermittent fasting to get your body to consume your stores fat instead of dietary fat.0
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By the way, DONT BUY YOUR KETONE STRIPS from a third party store. I bought some from a vitamin/supplement store because it was just convenient to pop on and buy them. Little did I know, that bottle had sat on their shelf a year and the strips expired shortly after I bought the bottle. Always buy from the meter manufacturer, because the freshness of the strips matter!0
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Sorry for the disjointed comments.
Strips are useful in the beginning to show your body is make ketones... it basically just lets you know you are eating low enough carbs to start making the ketones. But after you are fat adapted, it isn’t a good measure. If you drink exo-ketones or those ketone products, measuring pee is wildly inaccurate and will show false positives. Those ketone products just create expensive pee for most people. (People with health issues might be instructed by a doctor to consume these but that is a whole other ball game!)
Measuring your blood can help you know that you are in ketosis and your ketone to glucose ratio - which will tell you what type of Ketosis you are in (optimal, weight loss, therapeutic, etc)
Feel free to pm me. I’ve been using my mojo for 2 years now.1 -
I test my blood. I have a keto mojo. It is helpful when I want to test a food item I’m unsure about. I also have epilepsy so knowing my kgi is important. In the beginning of your low carb journey you will be peeing out a lot of ketones and make that strip super dark. Once your body starts making and using the ketones effectively, your strips will be lighter in color. Many people see this as a failure or bad sign, but it is actually what you want to see around maintenance level. If you still have a lot of weight to loose and you are seeing this, this may mean you need to slightly reduce the level of fat you are consuming or implement intermittent fasting to get your body to consume your stores fat instead of dietary fat.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but once you’re keto strips start becoming lighter, that means you’re fat adapted and that is when you will start losing weight due to the fat burn....not just during the maintenance phase. Correct?
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erincatherinet47 wrote: »I test my blood. I have a keto mojo. It is helpful when I want to test a food item I’m unsure about. I also have epilepsy so knowing my kgi is important. In the beginning of your low carb journey you will be peeing out a lot of ketones and make that strip super dark. Once your body starts making and using the ketones effectively, your strips will be lighter in color. Many people see this as a failure or bad sign, but it is actually what you want to see around maintenance level. If you still have a lot of weight to loose and you are seeing this, this may mean you need to slightly reduce the level of fat you are consuming or implement intermittent fasting to get your body to consume your stores fat instead of dietary fat.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but once you’re keto strips start becoming lighter, that means you’re fat adapted and that is when you will start losing weight due to the fat burn....not just during the maintenance phase. Correct?
Being fat adapted doesn't have anything to do with losing body fat but rather your body prefers fats as fuel instead of glucose. You can be fat adapted and gain weight. You would burn fat when you are in a calorie deficit.4 -
erincatherinet47 wrote: »I test my blood. I have a keto mojo. It is helpful when I want to test a food item I’m unsure about. I also have epilepsy so knowing my kgi is important. In the beginning of your low carb journey you will be peeing out a lot of ketones and make that strip super dark. Once your body starts making and using the ketones effectively, your strips will be lighter in color. Many people see this as a failure or bad sign, but it is actually what you want to see around maintenance level. If you still have a lot of weight to loose and you are seeing this, this may mean you need to slightly reduce the level of fat you are consuming or implement intermittent fasting to get your body to consume your stores fat instead of dietary fat.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but once you’re keto strips start becoming lighter, that means you’re fat adapted and that is when you will start losing weight due to the fat burn....not just during the maintenance phase. Correct?
Being fat adapted doesn't have anything to do with losing body fat but rather your body prefers fats as fuel instead of glucose. You can be fat adapted and gain weight. You would burn fat when you are in a calorie deficit.
Makes sense! Thank you!!
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erincatherinet47 wrote: »I test my blood. I have a keto mojo. It is helpful when I want to test a food item I’m unsure about. I also have epilepsy so knowing my kgi is important. In the beginning of your low carb journey you will be peeing out a lot of ketones and make that strip super dark. Once your body starts making and using the ketones effectively, your strips will be lighter in color. Many people see this as a failure or bad sign, but it is actually what you want to see around maintenance level. If you still have a lot of weight to loose and you are seeing this, this may mean you need to slightly reduce the level of fat you are consuming or implement intermittent fasting to get your body to consume your stores fat instead of dietary fat.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but once you’re keto strips start becoming lighter, that means you’re fat adapted and that is when you will start losing weight due to the fat burn....not just during the maintenance phase. Correct?
Being fat adapted doesn't have anything to do with losing body fat but rather your body prefers fats as fuel instead of glucose. You can be fat adapted and gain weight. You would burn fat when you are in a calorie deficit.
What organ uses a calorie? I have never understood where calories go when they enter the body0 -
walker1world wrote: »erincatherinet47 wrote: »I test my blood. I have a keto mojo. It is helpful when I want to test a food item I’m unsure about. I also have epilepsy so knowing my kgi is important. In the beginning of your low carb journey you will be peeing out a lot of ketones and make that strip super dark. Once your body starts making and using the ketones effectively, your strips will be lighter in color. Many people see this as a failure or bad sign, but it is actually what you want to see around maintenance level. If you still have a lot of weight to loose and you are seeing this, this may mean you need to slightly reduce the level of fat you are consuming or implement intermittent fasting to get your body to consume your stores fat instead of dietary fat.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but once you’re keto strips start becoming lighter, that means you’re fat adapted and that is when you will start losing weight due to the fat burn....not just during the maintenance phase. Correct?
Being fat adapted doesn't have anything to do with losing body fat but rather your body prefers fats as fuel instead of glucose. You can be fat adapted and gain weight. You would burn fat when you are in a calorie deficit.
What organ uses a calorie? I have never understood where calories go when they enter the body
A calorie is a description of the energy contained in your food. All of your cells use that energy in one form or another. Since your organs are composed of those cells, all of your organs use the energy as well.1 -
walker1world wrote: »erincatherinet47 wrote: »I test my blood. I have a keto mojo. It is helpful when I want to test a food item I’m unsure about. I also have epilepsy so knowing my kgi is important. In the beginning of your low carb journey you will be peeing out a lot of ketones and make that strip super dark. Once your body starts making and using the ketones effectively, your strips will be lighter in color. Many people see this as a failure or bad sign, but it is actually what you want to see around maintenance level. If you still have a lot of weight to loose and you are seeing this, this may mean you need to slightly reduce the level of fat you are consuming or implement intermittent fasting to get your body to consume your stores fat instead of dietary fat.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but once you’re keto strips start becoming lighter, that means you’re fat adapted and that is when you will start losing weight due to the fat burn....not just during the maintenance phase. Correct?
Being fat adapted doesn't have anything to do with losing body fat but rather your body prefers fats as fuel instead of glucose. You can be fat adapted and gain weight. You would burn fat when you are in a calorie deficit.
What organ uses a calorie? I have never understood where calories go when they enter the body
A calorie is a description of the energy contained in your food. All of your cells use that energy in one form or another. Since your organs are composed of those cells, all of your organs use the energy as well.
To elaborate and be nerdy, a "calorie" is a unit of measurement that describes heat and energy consumption or release during chemical reactions. It is used most commonly in chemistry and sometimes physics. In biology, it describes energy potential of food and how much energy it generates to run our human machine. It takes energy to run all the body processes (including digesting food) as well as expending energy in physical activity. Through experimentation, science as determined how much energy each food contains and how much energy it takes to fuel a human of certain stats. Since energy eaten but not used is stored as fat for later, this is of particular interest to us to help us in weight management. No matter what "diet" you use as a tool in that pursuit, the body is doing these calculations behind the scenes.
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baconslave wrote: »walker1world wrote: »erincatherinet47 wrote: »I test my blood. I have a keto mojo. It is helpful when I want to test a food item I’m unsure about. I also have epilepsy so knowing my kgi is important. In the beginning of your low carb journey you will be peeing out a lot of ketones and make that strip super dark. Once your body starts making and using the ketones effectively, your strips will be lighter in color. Many people see this as a failure or bad sign, but it is actually what you want to see around maintenance level. If you still have a lot of weight to loose and you are seeing this, this may mean you need to slightly reduce the level of fat you are consuming or implement intermittent fasting to get your body to consume your stores fat instead of dietary fat.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but once you’re keto strips start becoming lighter, that means you’re fat adapted and that is when you will start losing weight due to the fat burn....not just during the maintenance phase. Correct?
Being fat adapted doesn't have anything to do with losing body fat but rather your body prefers fats as fuel instead of glucose. You can be fat adapted and gain weight. You would burn fat when you are in a calorie deficit.
What organ uses a calorie? I have never understood where calories go when they enter the body
A calorie is a description of the energy contained in your food. All of your cells use that energy in one form or another. Since your organs are composed of those cells, all of your organs use the energy as well.
To elaborate and be nerdy, a "calorie" is a unit of measurement that describes heat and energy consumption or release during chemical reactions. It is used most commonly in chemistry and sometimes physics. In biology, it describes energy potential of food and how much energy it generates to run our human machine. It takes energy to run all the body processes (including digesting food) as well as expending energy in physical activity. Through experimentation, science as determined how much energy each food contains and how much energy it takes to fuel a human of certain stats. Since energy eaten but not used is stored as fat for later, this is of particular interest to us to help us in weight management. No matter what "diet" you use as a tool in that pursuit, the body is doing these calculations behind the scenes.
Ok, calorie is a unit of measurement like using BTU to measure the amount of energy it takes to raise 1 pound of water by 1 degree. Calorie is the unit of measurement that it takes to raise 1 gram of water 1 degree.
This makes since in BTU because most of the things that are using that unit of measurement is trying to gage temperature. We use BTU to measure how big of a furnace we need to heat a home for example.
When it comes to the calorie, we are using food to raise the temperature of the body, the concept of burning calories are a core flaw in how we talk about food consumption. Our bodies dissolves food, we use acids to break down compounds to release the molecules that then trigger other chemical responses. A huge chunk of the energy in food dosent get turned into energy in the body it is pressed for other things like proteins are used for building structures of cells, and muscle tissues, so if a steak is 800 calories, and 80 grams of that steak is protien. How does it make since to calculate all of that protein towards the measurement of energy?
I guess the theme of my question isn't the concept of a calorie flawed? Isn't it at the core of why our society can't seem to get our minds around what is driving obesity? Its like using the wrong tool to construct a house.
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walker1world wrote: »baconslave wrote: »walker1world wrote: »erincatherinet47 wrote: »I test my blood. I have a keto mojo. It is helpful when I want to test a food item I’m unsure about. I also have epilepsy so knowing my kgi is important. In the beginning of your low carb journey you will be peeing out a lot of ketones and make that strip super dark. Once your body starts making and using the ketones effectively, your strips will be lighter in color. Many people see this as a failure or bad sign, but it is actually what you want to see around maintenance level. If you still have a lot of weight to loose and you are seeing this, this may mean you need to slightly reduce the level of fat you are consuming or implement intermittent fasting to get your body to consume your stores fat instead of dietary fat.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but once you’re keto strips start becoming lighter, that means you’re fat adapted and that is when you will start losing weight due to the fat burn....not just during the maintenance phase. Correct?
Being fat adapted doesn't have anything to do with losing body fat but rather your body prefers fats as fuel instead of glucose. You can be fat adapted and gain weight. You would burn fat when you are in a calorie deficit.
What organ uses a calorie? I have never understood where calories go when they enter the body
A calorie is a description of the energy contained in your food. All of your cells use that energy in one form or another. Since your organs are composed of those cells, all of your organs use the energy as well.
To elaborate and be nerdy, a "calorie" is a unit of measurement that describes heat and energy consumption or release during chemical reactions. It is used most commonly in chemistry and sometimes physics. In biology, it describes energy potential of food and how much energy it generates to run our human machine. It takes energy to run all the body processes (including digesting food) as well as expending energy in physical activity. Through experimentation, science as determined how much energy each food contains and how much energy it takes to fuel a human of certain stats. Since energy eaten but not used is stored as fat for later, this is of particular interest to us to help us in weight management. No matter what "diet" you use as a tool in that pursuit, the body is doing these calculations behind the scenes.
Ok, calorie is a unit of measurement like using BTU to measure the amount of energy it takes to raise 1 pound of water by 1 degree. Calorie is the unit of measurement that it takes to raise 1 gram of water 1 degree.
This makes since in BTU because most of the things that are using that unit of measurement is trying to gage temperature. We use BTU to measure how big of a furnace we need to heat a home for example.
When it comes to the calorie, we are using food to raise the temperature of the body, the concept of burning calories are a core flaw in how we talk about food consumption. Our bodies dissolves food, we use acids to break down compounds to release the molecules that then trigger other chemical responses. A huge chunk of the energy in food dosent get turned into energy in the body it is pressed for other things like proteins are used for building structures of cells, and muscle tissues, so if a steak is 800 calories, and 80 grams of that steak is protien. How does it make since to calculate all of that protein towards the measurement of energy?
I guess the theme of my question isn't the concept of a calorie flawed? Isn't it at the core of why our society can't seem to get our minds around what is driving obesity? Its like using the wrong tool to construct a house.
Our society knows why there is obesity and its multifaceted; too many calories, too little exercise, high stress, and poor habits. When you get away from those factors, you can improve your health.2 -
walker1world wrote: »baconslave wrote: »walker1world wrote: »erincatherinet47 wrote: »I test my blood. I have a keto mojo. It is helpful when I want to test a food item I’m unsure about. I also have epilepsy so knowing my kgi is important. In the beginning of your low carb journey you will be peeing out a lot of ketones and make that strip super dark. Once your body starts making and using the ketones effectively, your strips will be lighter in color. Many people see this as a failure or bad sign, but it is actually what you want to see around maintenance level. If you still have a lot of weight to loose and you are seeing this, this may mean you need to slightly reduce the level of fat you are consuming or implement intermittent fasting to get your body to consume your stores fat instead of dietary fat.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but once you’re keto strips start becoming lighter, that means you’re fat adapted and that is when you will start losing weight due to the fat burn....not just during the maintenance phase. Correct?
Being fat adapted doesn't have anything to do with losing body fat but rather your body prefers fats as fuel instead of glucose. You can be fat adapted and gain weight. You would burn fat when you are in a calorie deficit.
What organ uses a calorie? I have never understood where calories go when they enter the body
A calorie is a description of the energy contained in your food. All of your cells use that energy in one form or another. Since your organs are composed of those cells, all of your organs use the energy as well.
To elaborate and be nerdy, a "calorie" is a unit of measurement that describes heat and energy consumption or release during chemical reactions. It is used most commonly in chemistry and sometimes physics. In biology, it describes energy potential of food and how much energy it generates to run our human machine. It takes energy to run all the body processes (including digesting food) as well as expending energy in physical activity. Through experimentation, science as determined how much energy each food contains and how much energy it takes to fuel a human of certain stats. Since energy eaten but not used is stored as fat for later, this is of particular interest to us to help us in weight management. No matter what "diet" you use as a tool in that pursuit, the body is doing these calculations behind the scenes.
Ok, calorie is a unit of measurement like using BTU to measure the amount of energy it takes to raise 1 pound of water by 1 degree. Calorie is the unit of measurement that it takes to raise 1 gram of water 1 degree.
This makes since in BTU because most of the things that are using that unit of measurement is trying to gage temperature. We use BTU to measure how big of a furnace we need to heat a home for example.
When it comes to the calorie, we are using food to raise the temperature of the body, the concept of burning calories are a core flaw in how we talk about food consumption. Our bodies dissolves food, we use acids to break down compounds to release the molecules that then trigger other chemical responses. A huge chunk of the energy in food dosent get turned into energy in the body it is pressed for other things like proteins are used for building structures of cells, and muscle tissues, so if a steak is 800 calories, and 80 grams of that steak is protien. How does it make since to calculate all of that protein towards the measurement of energy?
I guess the theme of my question isn't the concept of a calorie flawed? Isn't it at the core of why our society can't seem to get our minds around what is driving obesity? Its like using the wrong tool to construct a house.
Our society knows why there is obesity and its multifaceted; too many calories, too little exercise, high stress, and poor habits. When you get away from those factors, you can improve your health.
Exactly. And many other factors like hyperpalatability of food and lack of food variety for socioeconomic reasons confound those as well.
There are a lot of folk who claim that "calories don't matter." That's isn't true. With low-carb (and keto in particular) some people experience such appetite suppression that they don't need to count calories. I am so happy for them, but that isn't everyone. Ketosis doesn't guarantee weight loss. You can overeat and gain weight while in ketosis (ask me how I know
) Many people find that their satiety reflex is lazy, and so their body doesn't naturally tell them when they've had too much. Then they have to either shrink portion sizes or count calories to lose or maintain their weight. But whether or not a human finds he/she MUST personally count calories with an app, their body is still doing the counting, storing or releasing weight based on that energy balance. The body doesn't care what we call it, and we have to keep track of intake somehow, but eating less than your body burns releases weight and eating more than you burn causes you to gain weight.
Of course nutrition is important. Of course one who gets the proper nutrients will be healthier in the long term, but the biophysics behind weight loss is energy balance by the body. You can get fat eating too much of the "right" foods just as much as the "junk." I will say that nutrient density is important for food choices. And a lot of folk require a lower carb diet due to problems with blood sugar balance in the body. But at the core, weight loss is dependent on maintaining an energy/intake deficit over time. The best way human brains can keep track of that if their appetite warning system fails is to track their food, and monitoring calorie intake is one of those metrics.
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baconslave wrote: »walker1world wrote: »baconslave wrote: »walker1world wrote: »erincatherinet47 wrote: »I test my blood. I have a keto mojo. It is helpful when I want to test a food item I’m unsure about. I also have epilepsy so knowing my kgi is important. In the beginning of your low carb journey you will be peeing out a lot of ketones and make that strip super dark. Once your body starts making and using the ketones effectively, your strips will be lighter in color. Many people see this as a failure or bad sign, but it is actually what you want to see around maintenance level. If you still have a lot of weight to loose and you are seeing this, this may mean you need to slightly reduce the level of fat you are consuming or implement intermittent fasting to get your body to consume your stores fat instead of dietary fat.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but once you’re keto strips start becoming lighter, that means you’re fat adapted and that is when you will start losing weight due to the fat burn....not just during the maintenance phase. Correct?
Being fat adapted doesn't have anything to do with losing body fat but rather your body prefers fats as fuel instead of glucose. You can be fat adapted and gain weight. You would burn fat when you are in a calorie deficit.
What organ uses a calorie? I have never understood where calories go when they enter the body
A calorie is a description of the energy contained in your food. All of your cells use that energy in one form or another. Since your organs are composed of those cells, all of your organs use the energy as well.
To elaborate and be nerdy, a "calorie" is a unit of measurement that describes heat and energy consumption or release during chemical reactions. It is used most commonly in chemistry and sometimes physics. In biology, it describes energy potential of food and how much energy it generates to run our human machine. It takes energy to run all the body processes (including digesting food) as well as expending energy in physical activity. Through experimentation, science as determined how much energy each food contains and how much energy it takes to fuel a human of certain stats. Since energy eaten but not used is stored as fat for later, this is of particular interest to us to help us in weight management. No matter what "diet" you use as a tool in that pursuit, the body is doing these calculations behind the scenes.
Ok, calorie is a unit of measurement like using BTU to measure the amount of energy it takes to raise 1 pound of water by 1 degree. Calorie is the unit of measurement that it takes to raise 1 gram of water 1 degree.
This makes since in BTU because most of the things that are using that unit of measurement is trying to gage temperature. We use BTU to measure how big of a furnace we need to heat a home for example.
When it comes to the calorie, we are using food to raise the temperature of the body, the concept of burning calories are a core flaw in how we talk about food consumption. Our bodies dissolves food, we use acids to break down compounds to release the molecules that then trigger other chemical responses. A huge chunk of the energy in food dosent get turned into energy in the body it is pressed for other things like proteins are used for building structures of cells, and muscle tissues, so if a steak is 800 calories, and 80 grams of that steak is protien. How does it make since to calculate all of that protein towards the measurement of energy?
I guess the theme of my question isn't the concept of a calorie flawed? Isn't it at the core of why our society can't seem to get our minds around what is driving obesity? Its like using the wrong tool to construct a house.
Our society knows why there is obesity and its multifaceted; too many calories, too little exercise, high stress, and poor habits. When you get away from those factors, you can improve your health.
Exactly. And many other factors like hyperpalatability of food and lack of food variety for socioeconomic reasons confound those as well.
There are a lot of folk who claim that "calories don't matter." That's isn't true. With low-carb (and keto in particular) some people experience such appetite suppression that they don't need to count calories. I am so happy for them, but that isn't everyone. Ketosis doesn't guarantee weight loss. You can overeat and gain weight while in ketosis (ask me how I know) Many people find that their satiety reflex is lazy, and so their body doesn't naturally tell them when they've had too much. Then they have to either shrink portion sizes or count calories to lose or maintain their weight. But whether or not a human finds he/she MUST personally count calories with an app, their body is still doing the counting, storing or releasing weight based on that energy balance. The body doesn't care what we call it, and we have to keep track of intake somehow, but eating less than your body burns releases weight and eating more than you burn causes you to gain weight.
Of course nutrition is important. Of course one who gets the proper nutrients will be healthier in the long term, but the biophysics behind weight loss is energy balance by the body. You can get fat eating too much of the "right" foods just as much as the "junk." I will say that nutrient density is important for food choices. And a lot of folk require a lower carb diet due to problems with blood sugar balance in the body. But at the core, weight loss is dependent on maintaining an energy/intake deficit over time. The best way human brains can keep track of that if their appetite warning system fails is to track their food, and monitoring calorie intake is one of those metrics.
Well said. I am getting the feeling we are going down the insulin hypothesis route. And if we are going to get into semantics of carbs vs fat, it won't matter. The only running argument would be high protein diets will almost always show more favorable results when calorie matched, which ironically people we generally argue against while following Ketogenic. Something that tends to baffle me.1
