Let me state at the outset that you don’t need to test. That said, I can tell you about my experiences with three products.
Ketonix Bluetooth Breath Analyzer: This was the first ketone testing gadget that I purchased. It does work, but I have trouble getting consistent readings with it - and, yes, I do know that I need to fully exhale as much as possible since the acetone concentration is most concentrated as you expel the last bit of air from your lungs. (Four consecutive tests performed just now: 2.8, 4.3, 5.2, 4.7 - all in PPM.) Mine also seems to take a long time to warm up; it takes from five to fifteen minutes for the warm up indicator to stop flashing. When I first purchased it, I did find it useful, however, since it let me know when I finally was in ketosis. The one major advantage that it has over testing blood is that it’s a one time, fixed cost. That really appealed to me and if it weren’t for the long warm up time and inconsistent readings, I might not have gone on to testing my blood.
Precision Xtra Blood Glucose & Ketone Monitoring System: This tests, via separate test strips, both blood glucose and ketones. Ketone strips cost a bit over $1.50 per strip. Glucose strips cost $0.69 per strip. (Prices for both checked on Amazon as I was writing this.) Glucose measuring results are inconsistent; on one occasion, I did three glucose tests (w/ same meter) in a row. I got: 83, 97, 89. I haven’t yet performed back-to-back tests with the (more expensive) ketone strips.
Keto Mojo: This also measures blood glucose and blood ketones via separate test strips. Ketone strips cost about $1 per strip. Glucose strips cost about $0.30 per strip. Back-to-back testing using four glucose strips w/ one drop of blood yielded: 97, 92, 97, 100. This appears to be somewhat better than the Precision Xtra, but not as good as the Bayer Contour Next (which only measures blood glucose). When I’ve performed back-to-back tests with the Contour Next, the readings are nearly always the same from one test to the next. Back-to-back ketone readings with the keto mojo using same drop of blood were 2.0, 1.2, 1.2, 1.4. This is more variability than I’d like, but from what I’ve seen with the back-to-back glucose testing, I doubt that the Precision Xtra is any better.
Due to the cost of the test strips, I’m doing most of my testing now with the Keto Mojo.
As for why I test… it’s mainly curiosity - I want to know when I’m in ketosis and whether I’m staying in ketosis. Around the holidays my wife made me some supposedly keto friendly dessert. I had several days of readings where my keto mojo either gave me readings of less than 0.5 or “Lo”, so that dessert probably wasn’t as keto friendly as we thought. Also, on days when I know that I’ve kept my carb intake low, but still get a low reading, well, that was probably due to consuming too much protein.
I’ve also checked my glucose and ketone levels at various times of the day and before and after exercise. Ketone levels are often increased after a long exercise session, but not always. (Though, due to the variability of the readings, it’s hard to be sure.)
Hope you find this helpful…
