Low ketone levels after fasting

(Polly ) #1

Hello fellow keto people,
I have been doing the ketogenic diet well into my second year. I do not eat cabs other than those in leafy greens and the hidden carbs in full fat whipping cream and what is in cheese and I sometimes have almonds. Most of my meals are carb-free. I do intermittent fasting and on weekdays I only eat during my eating window of 5:30 to 8:30.
I am not religious about checking my blood ketones but did check them regularly for a couple of weeks to find out how I was doing and when I was burning ketones. I have a Keto Mojo meter that measures the ketone level of my blood. I started checking my blood ketones again when I wake up in the morning my blood ketone level registers as low, which I think is weird. Then I drink my coffee with MCT oil and check my ketone level and it barely registers.
I then check again at different times during the day while I am fasting and my ketone levels haven’t risen above .6.
Does anybody have any words of wisdom to share with me?
Thank you.

#2

Have you heard of the dawn effect? Apparently while you sleep your liver pumps out glycogen and so when you wake up your ketones are super low. I had the same problem and that’s what I read. Maybe try measuring just before dinner after a 2-3 hours of not eating.

(Carl Keller) #3

Maybe this will help:

(Katie the Quiche Scoffing Stick Ninja ) #4

I’m fat adapted, and my body is so efficient at using ketones it produces that I barely have spare ones floating around in my blood stream, even when fasting.

I think I fasted for 3 days and my ketones didn’t register above 2.0mmol.

Even now I can IF all night, test my ketones the next day around lunch time and they won’t have exceed 0.5

When I work out, they drop down to 0.2mmol

Again, body is just very efficient at using what it’s created therefore no spares to hang around in the blood stream.

(Todd Batitis) #5

I will have to look more into that but your level of ketones don’t change as much due to the Dawn Phenomenon as far as I understood it. I mean, my eating pattern is very similar to Polly’s (20:4 IF, eating between 2p-6p) and my morning blood ketone level is typically the highest of the day or right up there with my ketone level after fasting 20 hours or more. As long as I have been eating right, my BHB is in the 1.6-2.6 mmoL range and the other day it even clocked in at 3.3.

#6

I am a newbie so I don’t really know, but for me (unless it is just natural variation) I can be just under 1 in the morning and just over 3 right before dinner. But thats just a few times I have noticed

(Polly ) #7

I haven’t heard of the dawn effect but thank you for the information. I will look into it. I was wondering because I am at a weight plateau. I think that my metabolism is good due to the amount of energy that I have and that I am not cold all the time but I am wondering why I am still at a plateau.
Just wondering if I was really in ketosis. What other ways are there for me to tell besides blood testing? I don’t think my breath has the acetone smell but I don’t know how I would know that either.
I really appreciate all of the input you have given me. Thank you.

(Cindy) #8

I have a very strong “dawn phenomenon” with low ketones and high blood glucose every morning. I have also really, really struggled to maintain my weight after any weight loss. So I can deduce that I have an underlying insulin problem that I’m sure runs in my family, along with obesity, going back generations. For the last couple of months, I’ve been following all the suggestions in the book “The Obesity Code,” including apple cider vinegar (pills!) before each meal and at bedtime. I immediately saw my dawn phenomenon come down! Blood sugar is now in the 80’s instead of the 90’s in the morning, and ketosis is 0.6 -0.8. Adding 24-hour fasting once a week dropped it even more, with blood sugar in the 70’s. So it feels like this is the right track for me. I heard about “The Obesity Code” by Dr. Jason Fung on this forum, and it has been a really valuable keto aid for me! So thanks to all of you who shared it here!

(Polly ) #9

I did read that book and I love it but have forgotten a lot of the advice. Thank you for the reminder and I will read it again.

#10

Chasing particular numbers is like chasing shadows. It’s like watching the scales, water weight will drive you nuts.

I use a meter but I’m only interested in zero or not-zero. [Well 0.2 is the lowest it goes (I think)].

I checked my reading once “just for fun”, but saw 0.3 mM - could not believe my eyes. Thought it must be defective. Hidden carbs! - “who me never”, “I count everything …” well apparently not.

Otherwise I don’t care if I have a reading 0.4 or 2.4 mM. The time of day matters. How long after a meal matters. Is it after a workout or not, that matters (not that I workout, but I’ll take their word for it) … too many things matter.

Bottom line - just stay in ketosis and eat to satiety. You’ll be fine.

(Polly ) #11

I guess that is why I started asking this question. I am wondering if I am still in ketosis. I want to have a reliable way to check for that so that I don’t “fall off the wagon”. Thank you for your words of wisdom.

#12

Measuring your blood is pretty reliable.

When I was accidentally knocked out of keto I was getting 0.3mM every day for 3 days.

Some other days I’ve had it “dip down to 0.3 or 0.4” but it was higher a few hours later. Big dinner with 15g carbs will do that to me. Sure it might be under 20g for the day but …

Anyway just check for zero or not zero. And if you get a very low reading don’t worry too quickly, just wait a few hours and check again.

Didn’t you say you had 0.6 - then you are in ketosis.

KCKO

(Polly ) #13

Thank you. I guess I was expecting levels of 2 or greater to be in ketosis.

(Cindy) #14

I often have very low ketosis early in the morning or sometimes even drop out of it, even when I haven’t eaten too many carbs. But as soon as I start working or exercising, the ketones kick in. For some of us, our bodies don’t make the ketones until they think we actually need them for something. I used to really worry about this, but I somewhere (wish I could remember where!) read that this is normal for longterm keto-ers, so now I don’t worry about it.

(Polly ) #15

I’ll have to do a little more research on that. Thank you for the tip.

(Confused!) #16

Am I right in looking for high ketone levels. I read 2.4 before dinner and 2.1 after dinner.

I was taking a sodium supplement but this reduced my ketone levels to 0.5-0.8 so I have stopped this the last two days. No weight loss this week and feel bloated.

Any advise is welcome :grinning:

(Polly ) #17

Sorry to take so long to get back to you. I have not been on the ball for a while. Did you find out the answer to your question? I haven’t heard anything about low ketone levels related to sodium supplements. I will need to do some research.
How are you doing now?
I haven’t been checking my ketone levels lately but since I am trying to get back on the ball, I think I will.
Take care,
Polly