Ketone blood levels advice?


(Alf) #1

I’ve been on and off Keto for about 4 years with mild success. This time also with mild success and very little weight loss. I am staying between 20 and 30 carbs daily. I’ve been doing this time around about two months now. I went through the urine sticks and showed some results. I also bought a blood meter and some strips but won’t buy anymore because I just wanted to rest to see if doing it right this time. My blood ketones won’t go past 0.4 in the evening and .02 on the morning. Oddly .03 this afternoon.

I see others with number in the 1,2 and 3’s. If you are doing this right would they always be in them upper numbers?


(Deb) #2

They don’t have to be real high to be successful but .2 is considered not in ketosis at all. .4 extremely low. You might want to review your foods, and start doinf blood glucose testing, which is way cheaper, then once you’ve eliminated trigger foods, retest ketones and should get better readings, and fat loss should have improved.


(Alf) #3

Thank you so much for the reply. I know I don’t eat much more than 20 carbs a day so maybe too much protein. Also if you are in ketosis would you always show something on blood ketone meter?


(Deb) #4

Yes. If you are getting super low readings, something is triggering insulin spike or something else is going on. For me, it was Stevia (in my coffee, liberally, from morning til afternoon). It doesn’t take much. BG testing was the only way I figured it out.
Others may have suggestions as well. These are just my thoughts based on my years of experience and the knowledge I have. There is a ton of great info on these forums along these lines!


(Consensus is Politics) #5

I’m curious to know how BG testing was able to tell you Stevia was causing insulin spikes?

Now, I don’t doubt at all that Stevia is the issue. But I have doubts how to test that using BG as a metric. Unless… are you seeing huge drops in BG readings? I suppose that could mean there was an insulin spike, thereby lowering BG for a bit. But even then, that’s not a reliable method for testing for insulin.

Speaking of this, does anyone know of any self tests for insulin levels? I’m pretty sure it’s a blood test in a lab. But a self testing device for insulin would be awesome. [scouring the internet for start-ups making such devices. I smell a big money maker]


(Consensus is Politics) #6

Every time my my ketone level dropped, and understand I’m using urine test strips, not blood testing, it was because I sabotaged myself somehow. One by doing something I should have known better and not done (eating some breaded chicken legs) and several other times with products labeled “safe for diabetics”, but containing maltodextrine/maltodextrose.

There are a lot of additives that raise BG higher than plain old table sugar does. In my case I was using sugar free Metamucil. It was spiking my BG higher than if I just used the kind with sugar.

The FDA is not our friend. It is a government agency. A government agency is nothing but a group of people, most notably ungoverened. So it’s weakness is the fact that the decision makers (what ingredients MUST be included and what gets a wavier) can be both bribed or rail roaded into decisions that don’t make sense.


(Consensus is Politics) #7

Just wanted to add…

Try going a lot lower on carbs. Once I went zero carb, well as close as possible, I managed to stay in ketosis. This based on consistent BG readings under 100 (am T2DM) and just never being hungry anymore.


#8

I’ve never heard of an at home insulin testing kit. This deficiency is something Jimmy Moore mentions on a regular basis during his podcasts…

Since insulin directly effects BG, it is a good proxy for determining relative insulin levels. If BG rises due to some stimulus, and then falls over the ensuing hours, you can bet that insulin levels have risen. That is the response that most foods elicit. There are a few “food like substances” that are insulinogenic without being glucogenic. In these cases, BG would fall below basal levels, in response to insulin increasing.

Tracking BG changes can be a very useful tool in fine tuning diet and troubleshooting other factors (ie. stress, exercise, sleep) that may have an impact.


(Alf) #9

The bulk of my diet has been egg salad but real mayonnaise and EAS CARB CONTROL drinks that have five carbs and I have maybe two of them at most the day so that would be 10 carbs there’s no carbs in my egg salad I can’t think of anything else that I’ve been eating to raise my blood sugar. I am borderline diabetic and I take metformin and I did read somewhere one time that diabetic type two cannot get a high ketone levels in the blood meter but I’m not sure how true that is. I checked my blood Ketone this morning and it was .1 I checked in just a minute ago and it still .1 so does that mean I am Not in ketosis if I were to go by that meter? But if I go by my way of eating I technically should be. This is what confuses me.


(Alf) #10

I am borderline diabetic and I take Matt Foreman every day and that should keep my blood sugar is low but when I was not doing keto they were not that low now most of the times they are under 100 except for rarely and I don’t know why I will find a spike of 106 or 117 and for the life of me I can’t figure out what I ate to cause it LOL


#11

It may be the shakes. It might be better to eat real food instead of drinking meals.


(Alf) #12

I could try that though they are only 4 carbs each not 5. I drink one on the morning with heavy whip cream and mct oil and a boiled egg.


(Consensus is Politics) #13

Can you post a picture of the Ingredients label? I’ve never heard of that drink before. But I’m not one that pays much attention to such things, or should I say, I never was before.


(Alf) #14

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(Alf) #15

They satisfy the chocolate lovers cravings lol
If you are interested in protein drinks like this you can also check out premier protein with 30 grams of protein.


#16

Just a heads up. The longer your keto the lower your blood number usually get. Once your body becomes fat adapted it becomes very efficient at using and making ketones, can take a while. After fat adaptation your muscles start to use fatty acids for fuel and the ketones are made for the brain to use. So most people see a decrease in blood ketone level. I could never crack 2 with blood tests. And after 6-7 months averaged .4-.6. And i track all I eat. Check out Phinney and Volek’s faster study. Some of the keto athletes with the highest fat burning rate had blood ketone levels below .5.

Chase results not ketones!


(Lonnie Hedley) #17

It’s…a bunch of junk.

Ingredients : Water, Milk Protein Isolate, Calcium Caseinate. Less than 2% of: Cocoa Powder (Processed with Alkali), Natural Flavor, Sunflower Oil, Vitamin & Mineral Blend (Potassium Phosphate, Sodium Ascorbate, Sodium Chloride, Zinc Gluconate, dl-Alpha-Tocopheryl Acetate, Niacinamide, Manganese Gluconate, Calcium Pantothenate, Vitamin A Palmitate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Thiamin Hydrochloride, Riboflavin, Chromium, Folic Acid, Beta-Carotene, Vitamin D3, Biotin, Sodium Molybdate, Sodium Selenite, Potassium Iodide, Phytonadione, Cyanobobalamin), Inulin, Maltodextrin, Sucralose, Acesulfame Potassium, Cellulose Gel, Cellulose Gum, and Carrageenan.


(Alf) #18

But I don’t understand why?


(Lonnie Hedley) #19

The only REAL food ingredient I see is…water?

I guess maybe cocoa powder. Otherwise it’s all junk that will likely inhibit any progress you’re looking for.


(Consensus is Politics) #20

Natural flavor is always a red flag to me. That could be almost anything. Whatever their natural flavor is could have a really high glycemic index. I also see maltodextrin in there. That very well could be the problem. It has twice the glycemic index as table sugar.

Really too bad manufacturers don’t have to say how much of these things in the ingredients listing is actually in it. That can make a big difference being trace amounts or several grams.

I suggest you do some troubleshooting. I would stop taking this for a couple of weeks, and see what happens. Alternatively, check your BG just before taking it, and then every 30 minutes afterward for about two or three hours and see how your BG responds.