Ketonix Breath analyzer Help - Keto Level Comparisons

(Thomas Clark) #1

Hi Everybody I am new here and I found this forum because I am looking for other people who use the Ketonix breath analyzer. I am a little baffled with mine at the moment.

I got my Ketonix unit late on Feb. 6. I have calibrated it twice. My typical breath score is 1.0ppm and rarely goes over 1.8ppm.

I have read and re-read the instructions and I have an ongoing email exchanged with someone from Ketonix.

For example on Feb 8th my Blood Ketone test was 0.6mm, Urine 6.0mm, my breath 0.6ppm, Blood Gluclose 78. and I have been dropping weight. In spite of all the coincidences of Ketones measuring a 6 on one side of the decimal or the other the Ketonix score seems aweful low especially since meaningful ketosis supposedly does not start till you hit 4.0ppm of acetone in the breath.

If I rinse my mouth our with water my score tends to go down.

I had a gin Martini Friday night and my Ketonix score shot up to 16pmm from 1.6ppm.

I rinsed my mouth with Listerine total care and my score shot up from 1.8ppm to 68.9 while my urine was testing at 8.0 or higher. 10 minutes later it was down to 4.3ppm. 15 minutes later it is down to 1.5ppm.

Anyways I am wondering what sort of results other people are having with their ketonix unit and if they found any correlation with other measurements of Ketones?

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #2

Iā€™ll know soon. I also have a Ketonix, and will be receiving blood ketone test strips in a few weeks. Iā€™ll remember this post and Iā€™ll be back to tell you my resultsā€¦

(Donna Williams) #3

My ketonix readings range from 2 ppm to 15. Sorry, I donā€™t know how that compares to blood ketone readings because Iā€™m too chicken to prick myself. Lol

(Karen Fricke) #4

Alcohol will affect the reading, same as ketones will affect an alcohol breathalyzer, so donā€™t do mouthwash first. Keep in mind ketonix measures acetone, urine measures acetoacetate, and blood measures betahydroxybuterate. They are all ketones, but they donā€™t always correlate. For ketonix, nutritional ketosis starts at 0.5 ppm.

(Thomas Clark) #5

The whole idea of rinsing your mouth out seems to be a dead end. I have seen other forums where people were buying in expensive alcohol breath analyzers to measure ketones.

I am wondering where there is some more information about the nutritional ketosis range for acetone in the breath ? On page 18 of the Ketonix instructions it says this :
"According to an article ā€œMeasuring Breath Acetone for Monitoring Fat Loss: Reviewā€œ by
Joseph C. Anderson (Obesity (2015) 23, 2327ā€“2334. doi:10.1002/oby.21242 ), the range
of breath acetone for nutritional ketosis is 4-30 PPM. " (Ketonix Manual 2016 v1.5 EN) and that is why the set the Blue to Green threshold at 3.9ppm.

(Thomas Clark) #6

Ketonix sent me a new breath analyzer and it seems to work like it is supposed to. I am very happy. I guess the original unit has some sort of defect?

(Patti) #7

I just got mine and I canā€™t get it to read anything but blue. did you contact Ketonix through ther email?

(Thomas Clark) #8

Yes, I contact them via email, I think it took about 48 hours before I heard from them the first time. They will ask if you read the instructions, let it sit for 12 hours plugged in the before you used it, re-calibrated it and so on. Of course I had Urine Ketone, Blood Ketone, and Blood Glucose tests on going to support my belief that I was in Ketosis. Have you used the software on a PC? Blue covers from 0-4ppm, once you hit Green you should be in nutritional ketosis. You can change these settings with the PC software. When you use the pc software it also shows you a score in 0.1ppm. You also need to get as much air as possible out of your lungs, and you need to wait till it stops flashing before you blow into it.

(Patti) #9

Iā€™ve done all that too. I just donā€™t have any other measuring tools. But I feel like I should be in ketosis based on the podcast and my IF and my intake of carbs. I wish I had other tools. Maybe I should go and get the urine strips to see the results. Have a great keto day!

(John Marty) #10

Iā€™ve been using mine every day since getting it on about February 20, and running into the same kind of thing. Iā€™ve gotten it as high as about 7.0, but exactly one time. The rest have almost all been easily below 4 and most of the time I struggle to get it up to 2, being what I thought was very strict.

Iā€™ve been eating keto for probably 6 months, and am already probably at the weight I should be (6ā€™5" and about 205lb), so those factors could be contributing to blowing lower ketones than someone just getting started.

But those readings were getting disheartening. So I actually was getting frustrated enough with it that as an experiment just now, I literally poured a shot of whiskey and took a reading with the Ketonix holding it right over the shot glass (didnā€™t dip it in or anything) just to see if the sensor was doing anything at all. Over a few minutes, it gradually shot all the way up to almost 80ppm!

I know acetone isnā€™t the same as alcohol but the Ketonix senses it the same way. That tells me the sensor is at least working, and I can use it to experiment and fine-tune my habits with readings relative to my own.

#11

Have any of you figured out whetther this device is any good or not? My levels are in the 7 range now (2 weeks of owning, 6 weeks keto). Do I have to be in the red to lose weight?

(Thomas Clark) #12

4 and over is concidered nutritional ketosis, so 7 should do be plenty of
Ketosis going on, but I dont lose weight every week

(Thomas Clark) #13

you just have to make it to ā€œGreenā€ if you have the USB unit

(Barbara Greenwood) #14

Iā€™ll shortly be joining this party too as I accidentally just ordered a ketonix. I already have a blood ketone meter, so my plan is to ā€œcalibrateā€ them against each other, i.e. To test blood and breath at the same time and build up a comparison table. Then Iā€™ll know what the boundaries of nutritional ketosis are for me, on my ketonix.

I already have a Fitbit and use the Freestyle Libre system. Soon I shall be fully bionic.

(Karen Fricke) #15

They wonā€™t calibrate together very well. They measure different ketones, so they donā€™t always correspond. Ketonix measures breath acetone, blood measures betahydroxybuterate.

(8 year Ketogenic Veteran) #16

@Barbara_Greenwood
Youā€™ll figure out a correlation.
I have.
When blood ketones are in nutritional ketosis range, so is my Ketonix. They match well. And consistantly.

(Barbara Greenwood) #17

I just got notification that my ketonix wil be delivered today.

Iā€™m hoping it will have a similar effect as using the Freestyle Libre has on my BG monitoring - because I can ā€˜testā€™ so frequently I can really see which foods spike me, which ones keep BG elevated for longer, and also other factors that influence it, such as exercise and stress. It wonā€™t be quite as easy with the ketonix, of course, as the Libre takes readings and produces graphs automatically. But with no ongoing cost to testing, I will certainly check ketones multiple times per day without worrying about it.

(Barbara Greenwood) #18

Heeeeellllpppp!!!

Itā€™s here. Itā€™s the 2017 version which comes in its own little case with a battery.

Iā€™ve downloaded and installed the softwareā€¦ which says itā€™s the new version and the manual is part of the software and is a work in progresss. Does that mean that the manual Iā€™ve downloaded from the website is a pile ofā€¦ errrā€¦ not helpful to me?

Itā€™s plugged in, and itā€™s stopped flashingā€¦I presume I still have to wait 12 hours and then calibrate the thing before I attempt to use it?

Battery is on charge separately. Any hints from recent users appreciated.

#19

Thank you for posting this!

Please continue to update us since Iā€™ve been wanting to trade in my old version for the newer one and I am eagerly watching thisā€¦ :eyes:

(Thomas Clark) #20

My first Ketonix (USB) unit was defective and they sent me a new one and it works great.

I have been charting my Ketones (Urine, Breath, Blood) and my blood glucose for a several weeks now looking for a correlation between levels. The relationship between the levels is not as obvious as I would like but I am think with time a pattern will appear.

I would love to compare notes with anyone else doing the same comparison. I try to get a base line in the morning when I wake up and then test again 2 hours after I eat. I know blood ketones can be present weather you are using them or not and urine ketones can accumulate for hours. Breath ketones can be constantly expelled in varying amounts so I am hoping it is a more immediate representation.