I’ve been doing keto since May 2018. I’ve lost 50 lbs and my doctor took me off all my diabetes meds last month as my A1C was 6.9 in Dec 2018 and last month it was 4.3 after 7 month on keto.
I just bought a blood ketone meter and need advice on its use. When should I be testing? Times of day and how many times? Currently I test in the morning, in the afternoon after a 16-18 hour IF, and before bed. My levels have been all over the place for the last 2 weeks and I have not changed my diet since I started in May. Readings have ranged from 0.2 - 3.5. As a scientist by trade, I can’t make heads or tails of the data. The low and high readings are not consistent by time of day either. Some morning readings have been as low as 0.2 and as high as 2.8. Some readings after a 16-18 hour IF have as low as 0.8 and as high as 3.0. Some readings before bed have been as low as 0.2 and as high as 3.5. I don’t get it. My goal would be to have a constant ketone level of at least 2.0. Is this realistic? Why the wild variation in range. I’m definitely NOT cheating - keeping carbs below 20g and not overdoing protein. Lastly, is it even useful testing blood ketones? Are the meters accurate? For example, this morning I tested and the reading on my Keto Mojo was 0.2. I found that hard to believe so I immediately tested again and the reading was 0.8. For ketones there’s a big difference 0.2 and 0.8. 0.2 means no ketosis and 0.8 means nutritional ketosis. That’s disappointing accuracy.
Blood Ketone Testing Question
From my own experience my ketones are usually lower in the morning and higher later in the day. They are also far higher when fasting (I have seen up to 6.0).
I think that like blood sugar they go up and down over the course of a day depending on many factors. Food intake will be one but exertion and stress probably have an effect. I would say so long as you are registering then you are in ketosis so chill and stop spending expensive strips monitoring many times per day. I doubt the meters are especially accurate anyway.
Even blood glucose meters in the UK (which are lot more important for some people like T1 diabetics) can have a 15% variability and still be within the necessary parameters.
I feel your pain, it does become discouraging when you get that 0.2, wonder what did I do wrong. I have come to the point that I check once a day at most and base it on how I feel. The meter will show 0.2 but I truly feel good so I tend to just move on with my day. As long as I know I am doing the right things with net carbs and eating good I am happy.
I’m cheap so I still use the pee strips. But I would let your long term metabolic health speak to your progress. A1c 6.9 to 4.3. is great. I went from 5.9 to 5.4 and feel great. I’d like to get mine below 5.4 and will know more in a month if I have.
But for you let the trend be your friend. Also isn’t testing 3 or 4 times a day pretty expensive?