Is an 8.0 ketone reading pretty normal?

#1

Hi all, I finally got up to 8.0 on the ketone rating scale. I don’t have diabetes, so not in dka. Is 8.0 pretty normal? Thanks.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #2

What scale? How are you measuring ketones?

#3

Urine sticks. I know they are not as good as a blood test, and I will eventually buy a blood tester. The 0.5-10 scale.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #4

Don’t worry about it, then. The urine sticks measure excreted ketones (acetoacetate primarily). These are unused ketones being ‘vented’ from your system. They have little/no relation to the total amounts of ketones being synthesized nor utilized. Their presence is simply confirmation that you are in ketosis. Generally, when you first begin keto you waste a lot of ketones simply because your liver starts making them in abundance and your organs, muscles and cells don’t know how to do much with them for a while. So they just kind of drift around until they vent via urine and breath. Eventually, synthesis will better sync with utilization and you can expect less ‘dumping’ of ketones.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #5

The urine strips are designed to warn Type I diabetics of impending ketoacidosis early enough for them to get to the hospital for treatment. If your urine starts to smell or taste sweet and your ketones rise above 10.0, you are at risk of diabetic ketoacidosis and should get to a hospital. If your pancreas can produce insulin, however, diabetic ketoacidosis is not a concern for you.

People eating a ketogenic diet can use urine strips as an indicator that the body is producing ketones, but they are not terribly accurate. A more accurate measurement would be of circulating β-hydroxybutyrate in the blood, but even there, home meters have a fairly large range of error.

If you are alarmed by the reading you got, try again with strips from a different batch, and see what reading they give you. There are occasionally batches that don’t give correct readings. Also, the reading you get will vary according to how hydrated you are, as well as other factors. A reading of 8.0, while high, is still not in the ketoacidotic range, which begins at 10.0. Symptoms are not generally felt until the level of acetoacetate in urine reaches the neighbourhood of 20.0.