Strips Vs Blood monitor

(wayne m bucknall) #1

Does anyone use the strips and are the reliable, mines showing 4.0 after 7 days, is this good and would i be better buying the blood reader.
Please share your experiences

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #2

The strips measure aceotacetate in your urine; the blood monitor measures β-hydroxybutyrate in your blood serum. Acetoacetate in the urine is a waste product, so once your body gets good at metabolizing ketone bodies, it tends to stop wasting them. Serum β-hydroxybutyrate, on the other hand, is what is available for use, so it’s a better long-term measure of your ketotic state. The strips for the blood monitor are apparently a lot more expensive than the urine strips.

(Deb) #3

Agree. I used the urine strips the first year or so and thought I was doing well because they showed it but was stalled for a long time. Once I started tested with blood strips, I had never even been in ketosis. Ever. Go figure.

#4

Has the blood monitoring helped motivate or improved breaking through a stall?
Other than finding it interesting, I’m not sure I want to make the investment- not sure what the benefit of knowing my ketone levels at all times is. Maybe others could shed some light on their experiences.

(Deb) #5

BG testing was the only way I figured out what was causing my stall. Then testing ketones was the obvious next step.

Of course, by then I got a little obsessive with it for a few weeks until I realized that my weight loss/gain didn’t always correspond to those numbers every hour of every day! They are a tool to steer you in the right direction.

(Lonnie Hedley) #6

I’ve heard blood glucose is a better test of what is happening in the body than blood ketone. AND the strips are cheaper!