Stupid Blood Ketones, more confused now than ever!

(Katie the Quiche Scoffing Stick Ninja ) #1

You may have been my random posts about my blood ketone levels.
How regardless how much I stay under 20g, I just don’t seem to get good readings.
Many people have suggested that my level of fat adaption has something to do with it, and can be quite confusing in trying to understand what’s happening with my body.
I don’t chase Ketones, and I only check them when I fast out of curiosity, I don’t change any of my plans based on the results.

I’ve never had a reading above 1.4mmol on my blood meter
But the most interesting thing has happened now that I’ve added in exercise.

On Sunday morning last week I had a cheat, pancakes with potato cake, syrup, bacon, caramelised banana, all the carbage.
Right before bed, I ate 200gm of whipped cream with strawberries and blueberries and started my fast. My ketones checked in at 0.2mmol

On Monday lunch time I worked out fasted, a 5x5 strength piece, it’s currently Tuesday 1:30pm, at 42 hours fasted.
This morning I had about 100ml of almond milk, but stopped drinking it.
Keep in mind, I have done nothing other than have a few cups of espresso with aprox 10ml of cream each time to break the taste of bitterness.
These are my results from the last few days…

Tuesday
12:55pm 2.0 mmol (tested again as I couldn’t believe my eyes, lol)
12:53pm 1.9mmol
10.30am 0.9mmol

Monday
10:50pm 0.4mmol
9:56pm 0.9mmol
7:32pm 0.5mmol
6:19pm 0.7mmol
10.54am 0.3mmol

Sunday at beginning fast 7:30pm @ 0.2mmol

From all of my experiements over the last few days my conclusion is this ;

Blood meters suck
I am very adapted
I will not bother testing ketones anymore lol
I don’t understand them regarding adaption
I know I am in ketosis (maybe not all the time)
and I know I am losing weight
There really should be a guide to ‘reading blood keto levels after adaption’ as opposed to during, haha.
Anyways ty for reading. :stuck_out_tongue:

(TJ Borden) #2

Are you trying to maintain a certain level for a therapeutic reason? If not then my vote would be:

If you have a chance, you should check out what Amy Berger has to say about it. She’s been on the 2ketodudes podcast, and on Keto Women with @Daisy several times. Her common sense, no dogma approach has moved her towards the top of my list of low carb icons.

Good for you, that sounds delicious. And if you’re going to do wrong, do wrong right. :yum:

And yes… I listen to Keto Woman… I’m secure with my masculinity enough to admit it. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:

(Katie the Quiche Scoffing Stick Ninja ) #3

I will do all of those things!
I’m currently reading Jason Fung’s Fasting book, and he mentions Megan quite a bit, I will definitely listen to her podcast after I finished the dudes!

(Running from stupidity) #4

As they say, chase results (losing weight! Yeah!), not ketones (variable results, who cares?) :slight_smile:

I use a cheapy breathalyser, but not frequently. I used it daily when I first started, but then didn’t see the point.

#5

If you are doing the best you can, then it makes no difference whether you are in ketosis or not, because you wouldn’t change anything based on a reading, would you?

Daily number crunching strikes me as a bit OTT.

I use a different gauge:

  • are you eating low enough carbs that they aren’t your energy source? (you are obviously getting energy from somewhere)
  • are you experiencing muscle wastage? (No? then you aren’t consuming your own muscles for that energy)
  • are you eating so much protein that your body is using it for fuel? (gluconeogenesis)

If you answers are Yes, No and No, then you are in ketosis, because the energy you are using is coming from fat.
No need to measure ketones.

Of course, you then need to decide whether that fat energy is from dietary or body fat. But that is a whole other question. :grinning:

(Nicole Sawchuk) #6

I have stopped chasing ketones but once a week I measure them just because I love tracking data. Even when fasting, I could never get them higher than 2.0 mmol and that was after like 4 days of fasting! The last month, I have committed to NOT fasting (other reasons) and a N= 1 trial I am doing and when I eat regularly, I cannot get above 0.8.
On one hand, I think - who gives a shit? Over the years, I have gotten super efficient at using ketone bodies and no longer have waste. On the other hand, I hear things like you are eating too much protein…or if you want to feel like you are in the sweet spot they have to be higher. I can get them higher if I eat straight MCT oil or coconut oil but I don’t understand the point?
At this point, I am not chasing ketones but it still nags me.

(J) #7

These are perfectly good blood ketone levels! If you are active and your body is very efficient at processing ketones, you will test lower because there is less excess in your blood.

(Katie the Quiche Scoffing Stick Ninja ) #8

Thanks for all the answers
I’ve decided not to buy any more test strips after this lot lol
No need to, i’m on a pretty good track I feel!