Maybe it is just me?!?

(Mindy Rees) #1

I have been monitoring my ketones with the urine sticks. Now I got up yesterday with traces of ketones. I drank my bullet proof coffee and later drank my collagen shake. I tested again in the afternoon and had high levels of ketones. Is my body not producing ketones without the mct oil and collagen? What can I do to get my body to do this? I had problems last time I tried this and ended up quitting bc my ketone levels were never elevated. Help! I am still so new to this!

#2

The urin strips only show the ketones your body didn’t use. They don’t show how many ketones your body uses.

#3

Why do you want to have a lot of excreted ketones? Once you are fat adapted, the type of ketone body urine strips test for usually don’t exist. It’s only one of three types.

I’ve never used MCT oil or collagen.

If you’re on 20 net carbs, you’re usually in ketosis within 24 hours.

(Michael - When reality fails to meet expectations, the problem is not reality.) #4

MCT fats are metabolized to ketones very easily and quickly. Consequently, the resulting ketones end up in the blood stream often within minutes. If your cells and organs don’t use them, those ketones end up in your bladder shortly thereafter. Remember, ketones detected in urine are ketones you’ve flushed out of your system unused. If you consistently eat sub-20 grams of carbs per day, you will remain in ketosis and over time your cells and organs will relearn to utilize fatty acids and ketones efficiently. As that happens your liver will learn to produce ketones more in synch with what you need to use, so you will gradually waste and discard less.

(ANNE ) #5

I totally get why people want the purple and pink colour on a pee stick. It is a confirmation, a reassurance and that tiny dopamine hit we crave to tell us we are doing well.
But like we all know, after a while we know that the ketones in pee tail off, and our body uses the ketones more efficiently. And the magic reassurance goes.

If ketones really matter, because your are trying to get a good blood sugar to blood ketone ratio, then test blood and not urine.

I have fallen off the horse so badly, that I am buckling down hard on eating ketogenically. I am trying to avoid pee sticks, and trust the process. Seeing the tape measure move down, the scales number fall will have to be my confirmation.

(Jane) #6

For most people. Some like me can still turn them purple if I am being strict and I am going into my 4th year of keto, so not a noobie. I guess my body never got the memo to stop producing more than I need! :grin:

#7

Throw the strips in the trash. They’re 100% useless. MCT’s convert directly to ketones, that’s why you saw the difference after you had a BPC. If you’re not eating carbs and not falling on your face with zero energy than you’re making ketones. The measurement of ketones whether pee or blood aren’t connected to fat loss and that’s why (most) check it. Assuming that’s the reason you’re doing it, don’t waste your time.

Also, assuming you’re just putting the collagen in there for the health benefits but just in case you didn’t know you can’t count collagen as protein intake (some do that).

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #8

The way to get your liver to produce ketones is to eat very little carbohydrate. This stimulates the production of the hormone glucagon in the α cells of the pancreas, which signals the liver to produce a small amount of glucose to meet the needs of the organs that can’t use ketones or fatty acids (gluconeogenesis) and to produce ketone bodies (ketogenesis). These two processes in the liver are the hallmark of a sufficiently low-carb diet.

When we eat a fair amount of carbohydrate, which is nothing but glucose molecules arranged in various ways, our serum glucose level rises and stimulates the secretion of insulin by the β cells of the pancreas. This insulin then tells the liver to shut off gluconeogenesis (because it is unneeded) and ketogenesis (because we want cells to metabolise all that nasty glucose in order to get rid of it).

Since glucose in any quantity is dangerous to the body (hyperglycaemia can be as deadly as hypoglycaemia), the body organises to get it out of the bloodstream as quickly as possible. This is why, under the influence of insulin, muscle cells switch to metabolising glucose and fat cells store it as fat. As long as insulin remains elevated, muscles will not metabolise fatty acids, and fat cells are unable to let fatty acids out to be metabolised. This is why a ketogenic diet involves a drastic reduction in carbohydrate intake.

The effect of protein on insulin depends on what else we are eating. In a high-carb diet, more protein means more insulin, whereas on a low-carb ketogenic diet, more protein is matched by a compensating increase in glucagon secretion, which means that the insulin/glucagon ratio remains low and ketogenesis continues.

Fat has no effect on insulin or glucagon secretion, except to stimulate the minimum insulin needed to keep us alive (a small amount of insulin is necessary, it is too much that is the problem). Fat is thus merely a source of energy and has no effect on our level of ketosis. It is low-carb eating that stimulates ketosis.

(Susan) #9

This is all you need to be successful on Keto, in a nutshell, Mindy =). Carbohydrates are our number one enemy on Keto!!

If you keep them as low as possible, keep your electrolytes and water up, you will succeed.

I have been doing Keto since February 2019 (so almost 2 years now) and I have never used any Sticks or blood monitoring or anything to measure my Ketones but I know that I am in Ketosis and I know that the key is keeping my carbs as low as possible. I always keep them below 20 but normally I aim for below 10 --as I lean more towards the Carnivore end of things now. I will never be a Carnivore as I really love Coconut products in my coffee/tea and I like to include a bit of vegetables in meals at times (especially fried Cabbage, bok choy or brussel sprouts), which are all good low-carb Keto choices for vegetables.

I don’t think that you need to worry yourself about this at all; and you will save heaps of money by not buying these strips as well —so less stress and more money for you to buy other things like new clothes, with all the weight you will lose on Keto =).

Annie is right on the money with this comment too!! Exactly this =).

(Jane) #10

[quote=“Momof5, post:9, topic:106464”] I will never be a Carnivore as I really love Coconut products in my coffee/tea and I like to include a bit of vegetables in meals at times (especially fried Cabbage, bok choy or brussel sprouts), which are all good low-carb Keto choices for vegetables.
[/quote]

I love my cabbage “spaghetti” and veggies from my garden and now hydroponic garden in my pantry and have no distress that I am aware of from them - so they stay.

(Susan) #11

I have looked for that cabbage “spaghetti” at our Walmart and they don’t have it, but I love cabbage and eat it with lots of things. I think when I am on Maintenance I will still have to watch my carbs with the vegetables as I seem to be one of those people that has to keep the carbs as low as I can, that is why I have migrated to less vegetables and more carvnivorish --I love the taste of vegetables, I just have to do that to keep the weight going down is all. Your garden and your indoor gardens are both magnificent though, and all the vegetables you post look really delicious =).

(Jane) #12

Yeah, the closest Walmart to us (half hour drive) doesn’t have the angel hair cabbage or the tomatoes we like. The other Walmart does and a farther drive plus terrible access in and out but we tolerate to get some of the items we can’t get at the other, like the wet cat food we spoil the kitties with.