Ketone graph after 1 month of Ketosis

(Patric) #1

Hello,
I’m new here, I had metabolic syndrome (115kg at 190cm). At one point I had 1600 triglycerides, where the lab even tried to contact my dr. Well it was a wakeup call, I went low carb and exercised more as far as I could, as I had orthopedic problems, which made movement difficult, which certainly fed into the overall problem.

Anyway, after 2 years I lost quite a bit (at best 98kg), values got better too. After holidays I gained some back again (104kg), but overall I was still lighter than my start couple of years ago.I felt that sugar became a problem again (cravings not under control), I wanted to go all keto for once, and see how it works for me. So far so good. I started 5 weeks ago, I feel the benefits like everybody else, the weight too, got from 104kg to 94kg within those 5 weeks. I don’t think I am in caloric deficit, as I eat as much as I feel like.

Here is now the part of interest. I know we shouldn’t get obsessed with numbers, but maybe others a looking into it too. So I wore a CKM the last 7 days. It might be interesting for others too see how ketones fluctuate throughout the day. What caught my attentions is that the last 2 days may ketones dropped, even though I eat the same stuff as usual (nearly no carbs).

My conclusions is I start getting adapted after 5 weeks already? Anyways I’m not worried as I feel good, and everything works fine, this is just for educational purpose.

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(Robin) #2

Hello and welcome!
Glad to hear you are back to keto and off to a good start.

I personally don’t check ketones. If you’re eating as you should ( and you are) the ketones will take care of themselves.

However, many folks on here DO check and will have answers for you.

(Joey) #3

@Alphabyte Welcome to the forum!

As @robintemplin says, this stuff tends to take care of itself.

But here’s my rather long-winded reply…

Sounds like you’re already experiencing the desired results … which I doubt was to score above a certain level of ketone meter. It was likely something far more compelling than that - i.e., your health and longevity. As such, you’re on the right path.

Yeah, tracking such numbers can either be a lot of fun or a dreadful source of stress. It depends on one’s personality :wink:

I’ll admit to being someone who is inclined to track just about everything measurable - that is, until I learn whatever it is I wanted to know, and then get bored with the data, stop gathering, and move on benefiting from the wisdom gleaned.

As your CKM seems to be demonstrating, yes, as you get increasingly ketone-/fat-adapted, your body will eventually become more “economical” in releasing and circulating ketones into your bloodstream. This change primarily reflects the fact that your tissues become more adept at taking in and utilizing ketones for cellular functions (actually, it’s the mitochondria in your tissues that are making the conversion).

If you’re like many of us who are prone to tracking such data with keen interest, at some point you’ll find that you bottom out to a “not very interesting floor” of circulating ketones. Lesson learned. Your body’s primary energy source has changed (for the better) and, moreover, has become fairly efficient at it.

Once again, the real results you were after (in your case, weight loss, lowering trigs, etc.) are being achieved. Whatever your serum ketone levels might happen to be at any particular point in time becomes kind of boring and irrelevant.

There’s a clever snippet often said around here in one form or another: If you’re not eating carbs, you’re either in ketosis or you’re dead. The point being that your body figures this stuff out if you’re eating a well constructed healthy diet with minimal carbohydrates.

Meanwhile, have fun on your journey! You’re clearly headed in the right direction for your long term well-being! Kudos. :vulcan_salute:

(Alec) #4

The goal here is to burn fat as fuel. Ketones are merely a bi-product of burning fat in the liver. They really are not that interesting, and are certainly not the point of the keto diet. If you are eating less than 20g of carbs a day, you will be making and using appropriate quantities of ketones… but more importantly, your body will be burning fat… it has no choice. That’s what you want.

(Joey) #5

I would only add to what @Alecmcq said above that, if you’re also interested in obtaining the many other benefits (along with weight loss) of a carb-restricted diet, there are nearly too many to mention.

Perhaps most importantly, you will reduce cell glycation and systemic inflammation - both of which serve as the root causes of most modern day life-ending afflictions.

Onward!

(Bob M) #6

That is very cool. Do you notice any patterns? For me, using pin-prick monitors, it seems my ketones are lower in the morning and higher in the evening. Other than that, it’s very difficult to gauge a pattern for anything.

I always wanted to do a test with 1+ weeks of higher protein and 1+ weeks of higher fat to see what would happen. A CGM and a CKM would be helpful for that.

(Bacon is a many-splendoured thing) #7

Not only that, but the skeletal muscles re-adapt to metatbolising fatty acids, and when they do, they stop using ketones, so the liver doesn’t need to produce quite so many ketone bodies. Ketone bodies are, of course, partially-metabolised fatty acids (much as charcoal is partially-burnt wood), but the muscles actually prefer to use fatty acids instead of ketones, and will refuse them for the benefit of other cells (brain, heart, etc.) that need them more.

The result is that, with the muscles no longer needing or wanting quantities of ketone bodies, the liver can do a better job of matching production to consumption.

(Joey) #8

Ah, didn’t know this. The fat thickens! :+1:

#9

This became a problem for me. I was never hungry on Keto. I thought this was a good thing. It’s not. I did lose weight because I did not eat. I went from consuming about 2200 calories per day down to 1400 calories on average. My hunger hormones, leptin and ghrelin, were out of whack. I also believe my metabolism slowed or had a reset. I also lost some muscle mass as well, measured via a Dexa scan.
I slowly, over the course of about 8-12 weeks, increased my food intake more in line with my level of activity. I started going to the gym to lift as well.
Hungry hormones are important and evolutionary (feast or famine). I do get hungry now, and I am able to stop before I am stuffed. However, hungry does not happen very often, and I tend to plan my feast day or feast mornings.

I would highly recommend Dr. Jason Fung’s book, The Obesity Code, especially the parts on fasting. Intermittent fasting (2–3 times per week) combined with keto will supercharge your results. Your body begins to relearn, sort of, how to access and burn fat as a primary fuel source.
Please keep in mind that some thrive on Keto and reach their goals quickly, while others do not. We all have goals; it’s the systems and processes we put in place on a daily, consistent basis that can help us reach our goals.

I wish you nothing but the best in health!

(Bob M) #10

I wonder if ketones are as responsive to meals as glucose? I would think not, but it would be interesting to expand on a single day and indicate when meals are, just to see what happens. For instance, could you do a test where you ate high fat one day for 2MAD, then the next day ate high protein for 2MAD, to see what happens? (And, of course, everything would have to be the same – other than meals – between the two days.)

And a general question: Why the variability in ketones? They look highly variable. Would I have the same variability after 10 years keto? (It doesn’t seem like it, as my pin-prick readings seem consistent, but I’m only looking at a few instances at most per day.)

(Bob M) #11

Is this the monitor?

Bummer, can’t ship to the US:

Is it this much for 14 days of the sensor, then you have to use the app too?

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Ugh…and the app is only available in Europe.

(B Creighton) #12

Congratulations!. You have found the healthiest way to lose fat, and be healthy. I too tried not to cut calories. As a matter of fact, I found it difficult to eat the protein goals I set. I still do. I often find myself not really hungry on my recovery days(after workouts), but this year I decided to have three meals, but my lunch is simply a protein smoothie on these days.

I believe you to be right in your assessment. Once you become more fat adapted, your liver will cut down on the amount of fat it is turning into ketones. Ketones are a smaller molecule than triglycerides, and at first you will be breathing and peeing out a lot of the ketones your liver made. Eventually, the liver will adapt to the amount of calories you are burning, and will not make as much extra ketones - this is basically the natural progression of all keto dieters. One person mentioned your body will become more efficient at burning ketones… maybe. The main reason I believe is that the liver simply doesn’t make much extra after awhile. Your body generally does many things to burn energy as efficiently as possible. As long as you are losing the fat you want, I wouldn’t worry about it. I don’t believe in eating more fat to try to boost the ketone levels. That is basically an unsophisticated strategem.