Ok, so I got the ketomojo testing device (I am just returning to keto after a long period of (@^^@&!) and a corresponding weight gain. Also started walking 5 miles a day. So far I am just in that early rapid weight drop phase but this is not my first time to restart. ANyway I get Ketone readings (so far between 1 and 2) and blood sugar readings (90s) and something called a GKI. Should I pay any attention to that at all?
Gki?
Some people swear by GKI. I never really got into it enough to understand it, myself.
The doctor who promotes it is Annette Bosworth, known as Dr. Boz. She has some experience using GKI to help treat cancer, I believe it was. Anyway, she has a Web site where she explains the GKI, how it’s calculated, and what values are useful for what purpose. I don’t happen to follow her, but the videos of hers I’ve seen have sounded very sensible.
Although I can’t offer info on the GKI, I just wanted to encourage you for starting again…since I am in the same boat!!
Okay, I’ll share my n=1 with this topic…
I tracked glucose and ketones (KetoMojo) and derived my GKI ratio regularly (i.e., almost daily) for over a year. To be honest, I can’t say the GKI metric added anything to what I observed directly through the glucose and BHB ketone levels.
We’re all wired differently, but FWIW my readings started out very similar to yours when I cut out the carbs (I was never diabetic - nor even pre-diabetic to my knowledge). During the following months my glucose meandered around a bit, always under 100 mg/dL while my ketones rose to often reach 5-6 mmol/L… then after a few months, the ketones settled back down while my glucose settled into a 90-100 mg/dL range from morning generally onward.
During all of this (delight, concern, excitement, angst) never I did find the GKI to be of great value - if any. YMMV but for me its meaning never quite sunk in.
BTW, well after 2+ years of consistent low-carb/high-fat eating (and loving it), I gave up on measuring ketones (why bother?) and my glucose - when I ever bother to measure - now hovers narrowly between mid-90s and as high as 110 mg/dL. The glucose is being produced by my liver, so I’m assuming it’s simply what my brain, muscles, and organs are demanding for a healthy, energetic day.
Congratulations on getting back on a healthy course. Keep us posted on progress and experiences please.
That removes most of any efficacy for GKI. It mostly pertains to people on high-carbohydrate diets who fast; the norm there is for glucose to decline somewhat and ketones to increase a lot, thus swinging the ratio substantially - and there are those who attempt to impute facts that may or may not be in evidence beyond that.
A ketogenic diet usually means that ketones are already vastly elevated, compared to ‘standard diets,’ so in my opinion GKI gets a big shrug of the shoulders, here. Lower blood sugar, in this context, is often a good thing, but I take it for granted that ketones are going to be elevated, so why not just focus on the blood sugar reading itself?