High Keto count from 2-3 weeks of dieting

(Stephen Irving) #1

Hello, i am speaking on behalf of my mum who started the Ketogenic diet around 2 to 3 weeks and and has been losing around 2.5lbs a week. She invested in a Ketone breathalyser to track her ketone levels. around a week ago she was in the optimal range of around 2.5-3.0 mM, but this last day or 2 she has been around 8.0mM which seems dangerously high. She has no history of Diabetes or any other medical conditions.

Is there a way to safely bring ketones down to a safe level.

Thanks you for any responses i may get.

(Cancer Fighting Ketovore :)) #2

I wouldn’t stress on the high breath ketones. Those can fluctuate dramatically, especially if something has been eaten recently (or if alcohol was consumed) and the body is breaking down the fats. If you were to search you’d probably find a lot of similar posts to yours, with the advice of not to worry. If you really are worried then maybe invest in a blood ketone meter.

(Bob M) #3

And if you’re using pee sticks, things like hydration mean a lot. If you’re dehydrated, you’ll have darker sticks.

For breath ketones, those values shouldn’t be concerning. Which meter is she using?

(mole person) #4

She’s in the early stages of ketosis so she’s wasting a lot of ketones because her body isn’t efficient at using them yet. They are excreted in breath, sweat, and urine. Those breath ketones won’t reflect the ketones in her blood. If she’s concerned, have her get a blood ketone meter and test her blood; it won’t read at 8.

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

If she’s using a Cheap Breathalyzer™ the readings are meaningless. Disregard. If she hesitates to donate blood, as far as I know the only accurate devices currently on the market for BrAce measurement are the Ketonix and the Levl. As noted by others, BrAce concentration varies constantly by a wide margin and it’s pretty difficult to figure out exactly what it means. The other ketones also vary in concentration by a wide margin and rapidly. Many don’t realize this because they measure infrequently. But an hourly test for a couple of days will remove all doubt. Have fun.

(Stephen Irving) #6

Well Originally she was fine (around 2500mM) but once she had 2 glasses of red wine one night, they spiked up to 8000+ and never really dropped. We have been looking into blood Keto meters and was wondering if there was anyone in particular u could recommend?

(Stephen Irving) #7

Im not entirely sure which meter she had. She has returned it and looking into a blood meter one.

(Stephen Irving) #8

She had returned her Breath meter and been looking at blood meters. Are there any out there that you would recommend?

(Stephen Irving) #9

Not really sure what breath meter she was using, but I don’t think it was the best of branded one. She has returned it and we are looking into Blood meters to get better results. Are there any blood meters u could recommend?

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #10

I don’t donate blood. If you search the forum you will discover many folks who do and what specific devices they use and/or recommend. There are many blood meters on the market. The one-use test strips are usually the biggest ongoing cost. That’s why most folks don’t test often enough to see how much ketones fluctuate during the course of a day.

(mole person) #11

Keto mojo is excellent. Good accuracy and decent pricing. They are sold online and do blood glucose also. My guess is she’ll be seeing numbers below 3 if she tests blood. Nothing wrong with 3, it’s what I shoot for myself, but it’s actually hard to get such numbers and you have to really be having about 80% of your calories from fat. Ketone readings above that are usually only seen by fasting 24 hrs plus.

(Cancer Fighting Ketovore :)) #12

I’d also suggest the KetoMojo. I don’t use it personally. I’ve been using the PrecisionXtra, but I’m having trouble getting the ketone strips covered by insurance (my old insurance company covered them, but the new one considers them to be an “excluded” item). The costs are a lot more reasonable for the KetoMojo.