Blood ketone level clarification

(Bob M) #82

Should say left BOHB values of 1.0 and 0.7 are from one monitor (home) using its strips and right BOHB values of 1.7 and 1.4 are from the second monitor (work) using its strips. I have calibrated these both with solution, and they both came out to 2.4 using their different strips. Not sure why finger pricks are all over the map.

(Bill C) #83

Yeah, really odd. Thanks for the data.

(sue) #84

Now Iā€™m confused, I am definitely in ketosis. I was eating lots of
Sugar free gum and getting low readings. I stopped and for the past week have been 2.4 nmol in the morning and up to 3.9 in the eveningā€¦ Are you all saying that this is ā€˜not efficient use of keytonesā€™? Or body is not properly fat adapted. Will lower readings mean I am utilising fat as fuel better? Feeling :neutral_face:

(Allison D) #85

Iā€™ve been at .4 mml 95% of the time since entering ketosis in early September. Nothing has changed, and my weight has bouncing up and down,between 10 to 15 lbs lost.

I did keto in 2016 and consistently experienced ketone levels over 1.0. My weight loss was more dramatic (I had, and still have, a lot to lose). I am natrually thinking my slow weight loss is connected to my low ketone level- but is that a wrong assumption?

(Catiana) #86

Hi I am very confused on my start which was today. I am in fact a diabetic and I checked my ketone levels and it was in th 4.0 range. I am a bit afraid because Iā€™m not sure if this means I am in danger of ketoacidosis. Yet the first time I checked I was negative. Please someone help

(bulkbiker) #87

T1 T2? meds will play a large role and how do you feel? Do you measure your blood sugar what was that?

(Catiana) #88

I am on amaryl and metformin. I just checked it again and it is in the 8.0 ranges now Iā€™m really nervous. My blood sugar was high this morning 199 dropped to 126 after meds havenā€™t checked it yet. But for my coffee I am using Brain Octane oil I donā€™t know if that has anything to do with it

(Catiana) #89

Blood sugar is now 136 in the morning which. Is very very low for me

(bulkbiker) #90

And still a bit higher than it should beā€¦ If you are using Brain Octane then that will for certain be increasing your ketonesā€¦ How are you measuring those blood or pee sticks?

(Catiana) #91

I am using pee sticks

(bulkbiker) #92

Ok well they are not necessarily all that accurate ā€¦ not sure what to adviseā€¦ mostly if blood sugars are well controlled then ketoacidosis isnā€™t a problem but with some meds they can be. Iā€™m not sure if amaryl is one but I think notā€¦ the problems have been seen mainly with SGLT-2 inhibitorsā€¦

(Catiana) #93

All I know is that I am starting to feel like I got the flu, I am sure that is the keto flu making its grand appearance :sleepy:

(Kevin) #94

Yes the longer your keto the your body gets to be efficient and make only what it needsā€¦3 to .5 is great!!

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #95

@Cati_Baby If there is any insulin in your bloodstream at all, whether endogenous or exogenous, it makes ketoacidosis virtually impossible, because insulin inhibits ketone production and helps stabilize blood pH. And in any case, diabetic ketoacidosis doesnā€™t even start until your ketones get above 10.0.

Also, you can avoid experiencing keto ā€œfluā€ by keeping your salt intake up. The kidneysā€™ normal rate of excreting sodium is higher in the absence of high carbohydrate levels in the diet (and the resulting high level of insulin in the blood), so once we start eating ketogenically, we need to work a bit to keep our salt intake up. Not only that, but several recent studies have shown that the dietary recommendations for salt intake are far too low, especially in the U.S. We need about 5.0 grams of sodium a day for optimum health, which works out to about 2-1/2 teaspoons of table salt.

(Darren Bradley) #96

Hi there,
I concur with the above post. my ketones rarely exceed 0.5mmol and i measure them probably 3-4 times a week.
Iā€™ve been and endurance athlete for 40years, and would say my ability to oxidise fat was pretty good prior to rigidly converting to a ketogenic diet. I ate quite high levels of saturated fat and olive oil in my diet and did not follow the normal type of endurance athlete diet of really high carbs.
Converting to the diet over the last 6 months has therefore not been to difficult. my only carbs now are in vegetables, nuts or some dairy products i consume.
Protein is around 100g a day, im 68kg.
My glucose is well in the normal range although i dont measure this that often.
thanks,
Darren

(crawford walker) #97

My ketones were in the 0.5-0.8 range for my first 6 months on keto. I was pretty careful with my carb intake. Then I started skipping breakfast and eating a bigger lunch. Since then my ketones are always in the 2.0-3.5 range. Intermittent fasting (16-18 hours) seems to have done it.

(Darren Bradley) #98

Hi, thatā€™s pretty interesting to know. My fasting period is usually 12 hours and I eat after training and yoga. I quite often check my ketone levels then. Yesterday my run was 2hours 40, which is the longest for a few months as starting to build for a 100k Iā€™m planning on Dartmoor (south west England if youā€™re not in the UK) I was expecting a reading of at least 1mmol, as Steve Phinney usually says he is up around 3 after a long bike ride. Quite surprised to find it still lowā€¦0.2. about an hour after the run one I drove home. Pretty interesting how we all differ.
Darren

(crawford walker) #99

My guess is that you are consuming too many carbs. Also 12 hours is not a sufficient fasting period to jump start ketosis. After a long run (6hours) my ketones are between 3.5 and 4.5. I only eat nuts and cheese on a long run and donā€™t eat anything for the first 3 hours. It amazes me how much energy I get from a small piece (30gm) of cheese. For my first 6 months I could not understand why my ketones were only 0.5 but even then they were over 1.5 after a run.
Crawf

(Bob M) #100

Iā€™ve been low carb for 5 years, donā€™t eat breakfast, rarely have ketones over 1.0 unless I fast multiple days. People are different.

(Bob M) #101

I also donā€™t exercise like that. Only 3 days per week, two with lifting to failure and HIIT, one just HIIT.