All in 1 keto / glucose monitoring?

(David ) #1

Hi all - newbie here started my keto journey about 5 months ago just before lockdown and lost about 12kg - so really happy with the results so far.

I was wondering if there was a blood keto monitoring device that also can measure blood glucose on the SAME STRIP? Most meters seem to require 2 different strips one for ketones and one for blood glucose - suggestions?

Also what is the most accurate keto monitoring via breath? I have a product from House of Keto but it only registers when my keto are high (say between 1.2 - 3.0) and has difficulty registering when I am below 1.

Advice appreciated, thanks all
Dave

#2

Not as far as I know, they’re doing different things. If you’re 5mo in, getting good results I’d recommend not wasting the money testing stuff that doesn’t matter. Spend it on meat! Ketone levels don’t correlate with fat loss speed, so testing them is near pointless unless you’ve got a medical condition that requires you to maintain them at a high level for other benefits. Same goes for the glucose testing, unless you’re a diabetic that’s monitoring diabetes reversal, you already know the difference at this point from high/low glycemic foods. You know your number is moving around all day anyways, you’re not going to “spike” yourself so who cares what it is?

(Bob M) #3

To me, the thing I would use if I could is a CGM (continuous glucose monitor). I used one for over a year, and even keto, it helped me. For instance, soup from a restaurant that I thought was “safe” caused a huge blood sugar spike. I found that my highest blood sugar occurred around 11 am, my lowest at night about midnight or so. And nothing I did changed this.

I found I could eat as much protein as I wanted and got no immediate blood sugar rise. If there was a blood sugar rise over time, I could not find it.

The food that caused the worst, longest blood sugar rise? Real pizza.

From starting/ending eating to when my blood sugar is back to its initial value, how long is this if I eat high carbs? About one hour. So, this means all those times I took pin-prick blood sugar at one or two hours were basically useless.

Unfortunately, I have to get a doctor’s script to get a CGM (I bought a year’s worth from Sweden initially, where you don’t need permission to buy the CGM), and they’ve gotten really expensive. Last time I looked, over $150/month.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #4

You won’t find a combined test strip, because glucose and β-hydroxybutyrate require separate reagents for analysis. At best, I suppose one end of the strip could measure glucose, and the other end β-hydroxybutyrate, but you’d still probably need two drops of blood.

(David ) #5

Hi guys thanks for the responses.

The reason I got into keto was I’m a Type 2 diabetic - had HbA1C readings around 5.9…so was looking for the most effective way to reduce this naturally and also make the dietary changes that would promote my long term health now that I know carbs may be a problem for me.

The need to monitor is just a bit of paranoia I guess - don’t want my ketones to get too high (highest i have gone is 3.2) or my sugars to get too low but I think the lowest I have gone is 4.2.
Really looking to manage this without meds - prefer fixing the problem :slight_smile:

Oh and thanks for the CGM advice - ill do some research on this!

Great forums btw - thankyou!

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #6

Lowering carbohydrate and polyunsaturated fatty acid intake should help greatly. Carbohydrate directly stimulates insulin, which is what you want to drop, and certain PUFA’s cause systemic inflammation (believed to be part of the cause of insulin resistance, and hence diabetes) when ingested in quantity. Low carbohydrate and high fat intake (focusing on saturated and monounsaturated fats) should help get your numbers in the right ranges very quickly.