Test Breath Ketones without a Ketonix (using a cheap breathalyzer)

ketonix
acetone
breath
(A ham loving ham! - VA6KD) #202

I missed your six second comment from eight days ago!

The meter I bought says in the manual that it needs a five second breath sample of adequate strength. It shows a 10 second count down timer after its initial warm up and I have to start blowing within the 10 second window or else the meter shuts down. There’s a beeper that beeps every second when it’s ready for the breath sample, then it switches to a continuous tone as I blow for five seconds. Once it stops, then I also stop blowing. When I watch the count down timer, let say I blow on 7, it starts at 10 and goes 9, 8, (and this is when I blow) 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0 (stop blowing). If I don’t blow hard enough, I don’t hear the five second continuous tone. I’ll have to try tomorrow blowing past the five second tone to see if that alters the readings.

Edit: I tried blowing well past the end of the continuous tone and sure enough the reading dropped significantly (0.07 -> 0.02). Also, doing a couple of quick in/out breaths before blowing signifcantly dropped the reading and conversely, holding my breath for a few seconds before blowing raised the reading a bit (0.07 -> 0.09)

(Roxanne) #203

That reminds me, I’m still waiting for mine - ordered it may 6 on eBay. Time to contact the seller!

#204

You might find some useful information regarding measuring acetone in breath in this paper
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4737348/

I’m getting a DEXA scan tomorrow, and will be looking into getting a meter after that.

#207

I’ve got some bad news about the 6 second method.

I tested my breathalyzer on 2 non-keto tea-totalling friends today and they blew a reading when doing a 6 second blow and blew 0 when going the full 10 seconds. I retested several times and got the same results. 0 is the expected result since they don’t drink or keto.

So sadly, I now suspect the 6 second method yields false positives… indiciating you are in ketosis when you might not be.

Please check this yourself. I’d be happy to know it’s just my meter.

(G. Andrew Duthie) #208

Drat. Should’ve guessed it was too good to be true.

(KCKO, KCFO) #209

Everything I have read says the ketones reside in the lower lungs, so blowing out most of the air and using the meter for the last 6-4 secs. is how I have done my testing. I get the results I think I should be getting almost all the time. I use the Greenwon.

Not sure why a person who hasn’t drank anything would register any amounts unless they had recently eaten more keto than they think they have?

(Crow T. Robot) #210

Unfortunately, what you are saying is that it is likely unreliable as a ketone meter. Well, that’s fine, I guess. It was an experiment.

Edit: OK, I took myself out of ketosis to see if I would still blow a reading. You know what I got twice an hour apart? 0.0
I think it’s still worth using.

(Paolo Di Donato) #211

Has anyone had any experience testing the ketonix vs their cheap breath analyzer? I’d be interested in knowing if the ketonix is worth the investment

(KetoCowboy) #212

I haven’t tested personally, but I was kind of relieved when my Ketonix stopped working. It was always a PITA to use because it took so long to warm up.

I’ve ordered the GreenWon in the hope that it will be easier to use (even if less accurate).

(Paolo Di Donato) #213

It just stopped working? Which version was it? I went the opposite and bought the GreenWon first and now contemplating the latest Ketonix that came out :wink: Perhaps its not worth the investment

(Jim Russell) #214

I just ordered the newest Ketonix, the bluetooth version. I haven’t received it yet, but I will be doing a comparison between blood testing, my cheap breathalyzer and the ketonix. So far the blood testing and breathalyzer have been pretty closely in sync.

(Todd Allen) #215

I’ve got two breathalyzers with a 10 second warm up and one has a 15 second warm up. I mostly use mine in the kitchen and there is always something I can do like putting dishes away while the breathalyzer does its count down.

(KetoCowboy) #216

My GreenWon just arrived.

After a 10-second warmup, it was ready for me to try. My reading (on several consecutive blows) was .3, which translates to 6 PPM accdg. to this chart: http://www.engineeringmyself.com/2016/11/using-cheap-breatalizer-to-measure.html

My wife (not keto) blew a 0.00 reading.

I’ll test it against a Ketonix the next time I have access to one that works. For now, I’m pleased that it cost so little and didn’t force me to sit through a long disco light shuffle just to get started followed by a short light shuffle to see my reading.

(KetoCowboy) #217

Mine is the latest generation I think. It’s red and the stamp on the instruction booklet is dated February 1, 2017.

I probably wore it out by leaving the USB plugged in for too long at a stretch (because the disco light dance taxed my patience).

(Crystal ) #218

Mine is such a cheap model but I kinda trust it haha
I’m almost always at .04 or .05. I actually used my breathalyzer to test myself to find out if I was having an insulin response to my sweetener (I was), and continued to use it for little experiments to find out if some of my snacks were also causing an issue.
After my monthly cheat/carb up, I was a solid 0.0 for 24hrs before I got myself back into ketosis. I’ve learned over the months to FEEL ketosis, but this little nifty thing helps me test certain foods and their affect on me - it’s fun!

(Crow T. Robot) #219

I can’t feel it (yet, maybe someday) but I can kind of smell it as kind of a mild, occasional, singed insulation odor. Not exactly that, but then again, I’m not sure what endogenous acetone is supposed to smell like. I’ve asked other people if they could smell it and they said no, but I can. It usually corresponds with a strong reading, as well.

(Crystal ) #220

Agreed! There’s a definite smell/taste haha

#221

You can find this information earlier in the thread. Lots of good posts here.

#222

I like mine. I know it is not as accurate but it does seem to correlate well with my eating/fasting. The longer I fast the higher the results. And based on what I have read I believe I will higher levels as my body increases its healing. Its a tool but not a critical one. And cheap entertainment too!

(Paolo Di Donato) #223

Haha that’s a real bummer