After 2 months strict Keto pee strips still negative-trace

[SlowBurnMary]

Interesting! Blood levels vs. urinalysis and circadian rhythms is a big subject indeed.

[KetoLikeaLady]

After fasting for 3 & 4 days, I barely turned the strips any colors (with a blood reading in the 4+).

That’s interesting - I bet you are super efficient at using ketones then! Or, like @Msims says:

That being said, too much and/or certain types of protein can suppress urine spillage. Mine have read negative once I was past 8 weeks, even when my blood ketones register 1.5 - 2.0.

Also, this…

Urine strips only work for brand new keto participants in the few weeks. After that they become unreliable and give inaccurate results.

Not really. You cannot generalize. I’ve been seeing dark purple on the pee strips even after a year of strict ketosis.

I’m the same. I get dark purple when I fast.

I’ve been testing in parallel - urine and blood - and, for me, they correlate reasonably well.

I’ve been doing the same and see a very strong correlation as well.

I’m wondering if I’m just super inefficient at using them. I find that when I’m maintaining LIGHT ketosis (.04-.08 ish), I don’t show color on the strips, which I’m guessing means I’m using them efficiently. BUT, when I do extended fasting or intermittent fasting in combination with working out, I must be spilling boatloads because my strips get super dark (and my blood measures very high as well).

For me, getting decent color on the strips means that I’m in deeper ketosis, so I like seeing it because I know I can’t knock myself out as easily. Also, I like using the strips because they’re cheaper. Then, if the strips don’t show color, I’ll test with the blood meter to see what’s really going on.

An example: I did a 3 day fast last week and then went skiing all weekend and feasted. I used the strips to keep checking - and miraculously, even with a couple glasses of wine each night, I was still getting color on the strips, because I was basically working out all day and intermittent fasting. However, I came home the day after and even though I ate keto, something I ate must have been wonky because the sticks went white. So, to see what was up, I checked my blood and lo and behold - I was only at 0.2.

My point is, the sticks aren’t accurate at telling you when you aren’t in ketosis, but I would say they’re a cheap way to tell when you are in deep ketosis.

I know a LOT of people say you should just “feel” it, but I’ve never been able to tell when I am or when I’m not without testing. I don’t feel any different, even after 10 months of keto.

[Tovan_Nhsh]

What he said!

[Kathleen_Maloney]

That was super helpful. This other article cleared up so much for me too! Everyone should give it a read to educate themselves

Ketogenesis, Measuring Ketones, and Burning Fat vs Being in Ketosis

Kathleen