I’ve been keto since August. I use precision xtra and ketonix. I’m typically between .5 and 1.0. I do drink about 6-8 miller lite on most weekends and although I do get paused that night, by the time I wake up I’m usually back above .5. Today I have been lethargic and I tested just now and was 77 BG / 2.1 k. This seems to be common that when I get higher ketones that I seemto be lethargic. I also just got cholesterol 155 total, 102 trig, 106 ldl, 43 hdl. Previously 202 tot, 295 trig, 131 ldl, 34 hdl. I test morning at waking and evening after an hour drive home and and BG usually between 80-100. Also I have yet to experience the “clarity” everyone talks about and when my ketones are high I seem to be mentally as well as physically sluggish. Does anyone have an idea why this might be? Thanks.
High ketone sluggishness
While I can not show you any science, I do not believe there is any correlation between ketones and sluggishness. I can say from my own experiences the opposite it true. My ketones range from the 2’s to into the 6’s depending on my macros and eating windows and have never noticed sluggishness.
pretty much what I read for most people is improved energy and mental clarity or focus but I seem to get mentally and physically sluggish. I don’t really think it’s related to the higher ketones but it seems suspicious.
When fully fat-adapted, the majority of the body is actually burning fatty acids and the ketones are reserved for the parts of the body that can’t run on fatty acids like the brain.
I’d speculate that when someone is feeling sluggish on higher ketone levels instead of being energized, it’s because their energy demand is exceeding their current level of fat-adaptation and other parts of the body are still using ketones so the liver is generating more ketones because the brain is demanding it as fuel. In other words, there’s an energy crisis in the brain because it and the body are both using ketones.
It’s also possible that the brain has recently been called on to use a lot of the available ketones during intense concentration or emotional/intellectual stress and the liver is generating more ketones to make up for the deficit.
I’m not pretending to know the answer, but anecdotally people seem to report lower blood ketone levels after being fat-adapted for some time and I think it’s because initially much of the entire body that can use ketones is using them, but eventually the brain is the main user while the muscles, etc. have switched to fatty acids, thereby reducing the total amount of ketones being generated.
Edit: I previously said that “brain and red blood cells” run on ketones, but the brain and red blood cells run on glucose and between those two, only the brain runs on ketones or glucose - red blood cells only use glucose.
Interesting as I do have a little bit other people’s drama affecting me but remaining calm as opposed to usually reacting with nervousness.