Low blood ketones in a morning


#1

Hi everyone, I am relatively new to Ketosis and this forum, I hope this is not a silly question.
I started a keto diet 8 weeks ago.
Over this period I have been measuring my blood ketones which vary from 0.3 to 2.5 mm/l.
I am consistently finding that in a morning before any food or liquid my blood ketones are between 0.3 and 0.6 mm/l. On a night before bed the levels are around 1.5 - 2.00 mm/l.
One particular night prior to sleep blood ketones were 1.7mm/l I had nothing to eat and drink, but in the morning they reading was only 0.3mm/l.
Can anyone explain this to me please?
Regards Dave


(Roy D Rushing Jr ) #2

There is a phenomenon called the “dawn effect” that happens to pretty much everyone in the morning. Basically it’s your body gearing up for the day. Your liver dumps a lot of glucose into your bloodstream to give you the energy to get out of bed and shake off the cobwebs. What that tends to do is lower ketone production for a few hours, so it’s not uncommon to have low levels of ketones in your blood for a few hours after awakening.

Personally I get readings of 0.2 to 0.4 until about 10:00AM, but by 12:00-1:00PM I’m getting 1.0 or more. My readings will also tend to fall off as I get further into the afternoon. That part is kind of mysterious to me, as I don’t see people complaining of low reading in the afternoon often.


#3

Dawn effect. Your liver is releasing stored glucose from the day before.

The longer I was on Keto, my blood ketones would actually be about 0.4 most of the time, including morning were my glucose would spike over 100 and avg 70-80 during the day.

I’ve been doing carnivore the past 30 days and no longer have dawn effect. This morning my ketones were at 1.6 and often over 2.0 after meals.


#4

Thank you both for your reply.
Don’t think the carnivore diet is for me.
One of the hardest things I have found is getting used to eating fats, so strange.


(Terence Dean) #5

Dave, its quite possible that you are not yet fat adapted, I had similar readings to you especially in the mornings, never got any higher than 0.4 mmol/L until around 10-12 weeks in. I don’t know exactly when it was because I stopped testing. They say it can take 6-8 weeks to become adapted or a bit longer. So my advice is to stick to it, the fat adaptation will happen just let your body do its thing. Keep carbs under 20g and it will happen.

Now my morning readings are usually somewhere around 0.9 mmol/L, they rise steadily during the day peaking before my evening meal to about 1.4 mmol/L.


#6

Thanks for all your advice
Much appreciated
Dave


(Nicole Wetnicka) #7

This happens to me too! The highest ketone reading I’ve gotten on breath meter is .9. I was so
Excited. But always .4 consistently every morning. I’m very overweight. 5’3” started at 275 and now down to 262 since March 18 - about 9 1/2 weeks. Lost 10# first month and now loss is so slow. I’m thinking my body is still confused and needs more time to “believe” I’m changing my habits. Just a theory. I add healthy fats to all my meals, I reap all the OTHER benefits of
A keto plan (energy, less bloating, less inflammation, lower appetite). Just wanna see the number go down more too. I’ve also lost inches and fit in clothes better.
Good luck. Any tips are appreciated- I’m new here.


(Nicole Wetnicka) #8

How do you start your day. Just coffee? Breakfast?
Comforting to know this happens to others. I’d love to see a reading of greater than 1 just once! I need to be patient. I heard it can take 3-6 months for some to see optimal fat burning. Good luck!