Low blood Glucose and low blood ketones

(Erin Macfarland ) #1

I know this isn’t an exact science and there are a lot of factors involved, but why would I have a low BG reading of 70 and a blood ketone reading of .2 about an hour and a half after eating? I usually eat one big meal a day, and had some green veggies, ribeye, bacon, and a couple hard boiled eggs over the course of a few hours. Such a weird combo of numbers!

(Ron) #2

Your body is consuming fat for fuel and utilizing it efficiently for fuel so there are no extra ketones floating around in the blood and fat does not spike glucose so your not going to see much of a raise.
That’s my guess.:wink:

(Erin Macfarland ) #3

My blood ketones definitely go down after a meal. I’ve been doing this for four years, they don’t get super high unless I fast for over 24 hours which is hard because I’m lean. But this one threw me for a loop!

(Ron) #4

Being that you have been adapted for four years, your body is getting better and better as time goes on (from what I understand as it’s not like there is a set point) at utilization. This might just be the trend.:thinking:

(Erin Macfarland ) #5

I guess that means my brain would be using whatever ketones are being produced since it can not utilize FFAs as energy. And then other body systems are using FFAs. I don’t measure my blood ketones often, maybe a few times per week, just to see what’s happening and correlating ketone readings to how I feel. What doesn’t really make sense in that regard is when I measure my ketones toward the end of my fasting period, usually 20 to 24 hours, they are obviously at their highest, and I feel the most mentally focused and energetic. But if my ketone levels are high when I’m fasted wouldn’t it make more sense for them to be lower since it seems my brain would be using ketones as fuel more so than after I eat?

(Ron) #6

During a fast your bodies energy requirements ( metabolism, digestion, lipolysis, etc) don’t place as high of demand for function so the fats that are being used are leaving excess ketones floating around. Again, my understanding not science??? :roll_eyes:

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #7

This is the way I understand it, too.

@Emacfarland Erin, if you think your glucose is super low, is it possible something is spiking your insulin? Ron is probably right about what’s going on, but I just want to raise this possibility in case you’re somehow heading for trouble. (Sorry!)