Keto Strips

(Samantha ) #1

On day eight of this Keto journey and am looking for input on Keto strips. There is so much information online both good and bad about the strips. According to the strips I was in Ketosis at the end of my first day…which I do not think I was. My guess is I was dehydrated since it was the darkest color it can be. Since then I have upped my water intake and have been in the middle range, except for last Friday when I bounced myself out by having a few drinks. Lesson learned there! I was back into light keto ranges within 24 hours and have been stable since. My question is are these accurate for beginners?

(Tubeman) #2

My (completely assailable) understanding is that they are only effective in the beginning, when you are producing ketones but your body is not using them, which is why they end up in urine. When your body is using them, you won’t have any in your urine, so they’re not effective at that point. So I think they’re only effective for beginners.

The gold standard for ketone measurement is the blood strips. Which are expensive. There’s also a device called the Ketonix which measure breath acetone, acetone being one of the three ketone types. Apparently some blood alcohol breathalyzers measure acetone, and some people use those to measure their breath ketones.

(Jay Patten) #3

Sounds about right to me. But don’t get overly concerned about keto strips. My advice: stick to the basics (butter, fatty cuts of meat, low-carb veggies, certain cheeses if they don’t mess with your stomach, olive oil, ect) for the first month. Then, once you are fat adapted, you can experiment with things like artificial sweeteners, dry wine, berries, ect. This is where testing for ketones becomes important (figuring out what things kick you out of ketosis and what things you can eat and be okay). Just my two cents.

(Karl) #4

I’m an IT guy, and I LOVE data. Give me data, and I want to do stuff with it.

But data is only useful when it’s good (and valid). This is where the human body lets me down.

I used to pee on little sticks to make 'em turn brown or purple. It was fun! Then it stopped happening (the sticks turning brown or purple, that is - if I don’t pee, i’ll explode). The lack of color change made me feel like maybe I was doing something wrong when I thought I was doing everything right.

I was losing weight. I had great energy levels. But WHY wouldn’t those sticks turn purple anymore? WHY??

As you’ll probably read in your own research, the data the whiz sticks provide is usually only valid in the very beginning - and the data becomes less valid over time, or completely invalid altogether. That makes me question just how valid or useful the data is in the first place.

So I did what any rational human being would do, and stopped buying the sticks and just trusted everyone’s experience - KCKO.

Just kidding! I went out and bought a Ketonix.

So I started testing the nail polish remover that was my breath. And guess what I found out? Yeah. That data becomes more difficult to interpret over time. Early on, the acetone readings were high - but over time, they kept dropping. I was still losing weight. I was still loaded with energy. But no matter what I did, no matter how I changed things up, I couldn’t affect those Ketonix values. A couple of times a week, i’d blow into it and register no acetone. I felt great, the weight was still coming off, so WHAT WAS WRONG??

So I put the ketonix in a drawer, where it’s been for well over a year, untouched. Every so often, I’ll open the drawer and see it there in its tan drawstring bag.

Sometimes I hear about people who buy meters and expensive strips to measure funny words like Beta Hydroxybutyrate (isn’t that a kind of cookie?) When it comes to weight loss, i’ll go to great lengths; but i’m afraid I have to draw the line at stabbing myself.

But I will still occasionally pee on a plastic stick. Because it’s fun! Ultimately useless, but fun.

(What The Fast?!) #5

If it makes you feel better, I’ve been keto for a year, I pee on the little sticks but I don’t lose the weight. But, hey, at least it’s fun to see the colors change!

Umm…can I have it???

I happily stab myself, but to no avail - I get the readings, but the not the results! :rofl:

Also, same.

(Karl) #6

See, that’s what bothers me about testing in general.

Yes, you’re testing some bodily output and finding some number that’s supposed to be meaningful. But is it meaningful? It’s like that statistic about people who have heart attacks. 50% of them have “normal” LDL levels at the time they grab the chest. That tells me the tested value is pretty much invalid for any useful purpose. Just like when the Ketonix says i’m not in ketosis, despite the fact that I’ve been eating nothing but pork rind coconut oil avocado & beef tallow smoothies all week.

I understand that people like Richard are into the academics of it all, and that’s great. But for the rest of us who are probably already stressed over our own body issues, I see little value in putting any kind of faith in some number that “may or may not” mean you’re making ketones (unless you are SO into the academics that those numbers truly are interesting to you). I think chasing those numbers might actually add to the stress of losing weight. Who needs that?

Not this guy.

(What The Fast?!) #7

For me, it’s telling me something isn’t right…why is my body not using the ketones? Also, why am I starving? I love the data, even if it’s telling me a story I don’t like.

(Karl) #8

Are you crazily insulin resistant? I put on weight easily on a SAD diet. Hell, I can gain 6lb by just staring at an oreo. But I don’t think i’m particularly insulin resistant.

The Ketonix seemed to imply that I might be though, but it was impossible for me to interpret what the acetone number meant when it read very low and below the threshold for nutritional ketosis.

It was baffling. I was definitely eating keto. I was at near zero carbs per day and lowish on protein (0.8g/kg lean mass). I was at a pretty good caloric deficit. The weight was coming off fast. But the ketonix said BZZZT! No ketosis for you.

So if all other parameters were right, and the result was correct, it baffled me as to why that one particular metric wasn’t in the same ballpark as the rest.

(What The Fast?!) #9

Here’s the crazy part…I have SUPER low fasting insulin and show zero signs (via blood work) of insulin resistance. It’s easy for me to get into ketosis (via extended fasting or intermittent + exercise), but nothing seems to happen when I do. It’s a puzzle for sure.