How much ammonia is too much?


#1

I have been keto for a month. This morning I decided to add some mct oil into the mix. 1tsp to my coffee. One hour later I am breathing out a very strong ammonia for the first time since starting. It shocked me so I went and ate a little bit of carbs and had a protein shake and drank some water.

How much ammonia smell is too much? Do I need to worry?? I obviously don’t want to hurt my body on keto.
Thank you :blush:


(A ham loving ham! - VA6KD) #2

Do you mean acetone? Ammonia smells like cat urine or window cleaner (both contain high amounts of NH3), while acetone smells like nail polish remover. I don’t think I’ve heard of ammonia on the breath for an otherwise health person. It’s in urine however.

MCT’s cross the gut-blood barrier almost immediately and get converted to ketones (acetone production is part of that) fairly quicky. If your body can’t use them, it tries to dump them and the fasted way is in the urine, but some are excreted in sweat and the breath.


(Christopher Bingel) #3

I also think it smells like ammonia or stale cat per. Nothing to be worried about, but you may want to cut back on the mct oil. Also consider using coconut or high quality butter like kerrygold. I found those to have much less of an asparagus effect.