Continuous (proof of concept) ketone monitor

(Bob M) #1

A continuous ketone monitor:

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https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/19322968211008185

No word on when it will be released for the masses.

Much more variability than I thought there would be.

Continuous Ketone Monitoring
(Ian) #2

Facinating and thanks for the link. Hopefully the real time BGM and BKM wearable tech will be out next week…ok a little optimistic, but looking forward to the day.

Agreed the speed and degree of variability in ketone concentrations is a surprise. I wonder if it reflects physiological changes and/or macro consumption. There appear to be some consistent upward trends, which may be linked to daily cycles and food consumption.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #3

Thanks for the link! Very promising. Hopefully released for the masses sooner rather than later. I’m not surprised by the variability. We’ve seen evidence for that even from the minimal ad hoc testing that folks already do with their blood meters. Variability of acetone is also very suggestive of a very dynamic system.

(Bob M) #4

It would be interesting to try to determine why it’s so variable. I’m sure food plays some role. I know exercise also plays a role, though I had a hard time testing that. In general, though, exercise for me tended to reduce ketones. (This makes sense, as I’m sure after 7+ years, my muscles are adapted to use ketones.)

I gave up testing blood ketones, as every day I got morning values of 0.1 or 0.2 mmol/l. They went up at night, but it’s not too interesting, and nothing I did other than fasting multiple days seemed to move it.

But if this comes out (combined with a CGM from Samsung/Apple, rumored to come out this year), it could be interesting, even if only for a month or two. It’ll depend on the cost, obviously.

And I’d probably need to count “calories”, to get some feedback on whether fat/protein or their ratio causes any difference.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #5

Yes, my guess would be a 3-4 day water fast to get a daily baseline of variability and then start trying different foods and different times of the day to see what happens. The possible complexity is literally mind boggling. Or - maybe at some point you get down to .1-.2 and that’s the range no matter what. Interesting to find out!

(Bob M) #6

There are quite a few tests I can think of. Supposedly, PUFAs cause an increase in ketones. While I’m not going to drink soybean oil to test this, it would be interesting (if it’s actually true) to see what happens with a meal of chicken. I eat a lot of lunches with beef, but my wife makes dinners, and she often makes chicken.

If PUFAs do cause higher ketones and it’s possible to get a higher ketone reading after eating chicken, maybe it’s a “gross” (meaning, not that accurate) way of telling if the farm’s chickens we buy or meals we eat “out” (order out, though restaurants are opening or have outdoor dining now) cause higher or lower ketones.

I was wearing my CGM, and ordered what I thought was a “safe” meal of soup (only shrimp, veggies, no rice/noodles) and sashimi (fish). My blood sugar went through the roof! I suspect whatever thickener (corn starch?) they used for the soup.

This might provide a similar indication of hidden PUFAs.

And there are plenty more experiments to do. Maybe my ketones vary more than I know? I think the max number of times I’ve tested is 5 times in a day. Even that is not a great sampling.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #7
(Bob M) #8

I like that, although some of the reasons are suspect (SGLT2 inhibitors? Please.).

I wonder how much it will cost? I want to see either “free” watch-mounted CGMs (rumored to be possible by Apple and Sumsung), or some cheaper CGMs. The ones I get in the US are too expensive unless insurance pays for them, and that means we are all paying for them.

And I have found them so useful that I’d use them all the time if I could. For instance, ate salsa on one of my lunches. Zero blood sugar rise. That was after exercising, though.