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

ketonix
acetone
breath
(Jim Russell) #365

Unless I come up with some startling insight, I’m going to stop posting my numbers every day. The results are reasonably clear. Ketonix and breathalyzer are pretty well correlated. The numbers are very different, obviously, but they seem to track up and down together.

The relationship between blood ketones and breath ketones is less obvious. It seems like beta hydroxybutarate (blood ketones) build up, then they get used and acetone is breathed out after a delay. At least for me. The pattern may be different for others.

So, final numbers. I’ve been fasting for 51 hours.

blood ketones: 1.3 mmol/l
breathalyzer: .20% bac
Ketonix: 9.7 ppm

(Cheryl Hall) #366

@Jimbo - wow great fasting numbers! Thanks for sharing over these past few weeks!

(Sonia A.) #367

I’ve finally heard that alarm today :grin:. I blew 0.07 % bac with my breathalyser. I’ve been fasting for 68 hours, that’s why.

#368

Hi there, I’m really new to all this and I got 0.07%BAC on my second week of vegan keto woe. Does this mean I’m at the beginning of nutritional ketosis? Could you please advise what would the equivalent in mmol/L be in this case (not even sure if this can be done or if I’d need a blood meter for that)?
Sorry for my ignorance, I’ve spent most of my days learning about nutrition so I get all my macros, micros, amino acids etc and haven’t read much about the above.
Thanks for your help!

(Todd Allen) #369

By itself the number doesn’t mean much as there is quite a bit of variance among breathalyzers. I’ve got 3 of them and when one is reading 0.07% BAC another would read roughly 0.05% and the last would read 0.04% and I’d likely be around 1.2 mmol/L blood ketones. When my lowest reading meter hits 0.07% I’d expect to be around 2.0 mmol/L. But the correlation is fairly loose and breath ketone changes going up or down tend to lag changes in blood by several hours.

Based on my 3 breathalyzers I think it likely your 0.07% BAC indicates a strong level of ketosis. I rarely hit that level on my highest reading meter when eating to satiety. I target 0.04% and restrict carbs and protein when below it and indulge in more when above. But when I’m fasting or aggressively restricting calories for fast weight loss I hit much higher levels, currently been in the range of 0.12 to 0.15% BAC despite eating a lot of carbs. I’m mostly eating low glycemic high fiber vegetables as I find them a palatable vehicle for my daily salt ration while keeping my calories very low while doing an extended near fast.

But it is possible you have a breathalyzer that reads very high. You might test your meter against other people and compare the results to how they have been eating and see if people unlikely to be in ketosis generate inflated results.

(G. Andrew Duthie) #370

Wanted to throw out another reminder that, at least for my meter, battery level matters. I was not registering much, if anything, for a couple weeks, and I noticed that the screen on my Greenwon was pretty dim. Replaced the batteries, and started getting a reading again.

(David Payne) #371

I read somewhere about not drinking liquids or eating for some span of time before testing with the Greenwon. Can anyone shed light on that length of time for me?

(Chris W) #372

Jim, have you charted out all 3 sets of numbers. I’m curious if there is a discernible time shift where the pattern in blood ketones is time shifted relative to the pattern in breath ketones?

Of course, without checking fairly frequently (hourly perhaps?) it might be hard to see a time shift if it happens more quickly that the measurement interval.

(Jim Russell) #373

I was measuring either once or twice a day for about a month. I have been unable to determine a direct correlation between blood and breath ketones.

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Top graph is breath acetone measured with ketonix. Bottom is blood beta hydroxybutarate.

(Chris W) #374

Great information thanks for all the testing and sharing

(KCKO, KCFO) #375

20 mins is usually recommended.

(Sophie) #376

I’m really disappointed in my cheapo breathalyzer. I’ve never been able to blow any number on it, only when I tested it with pure acetone did it work! :frowning_face: Maybe I’m just weird? Yesterday afternoon I thought I’d give everything a round…

Breathalyzer: big fat 0 as usual
Urine Stick: Trace Ketones
Blood Test: 1.7mml

Still trying to wrap my head around it.

(roxanna) #377

Mine was the same for like a month maybe? Then I discovered the 6 second technique and this fixed it. Once in a while it would blow a zero still. However, I also started blowing when it gets to the 10 second countdown and then blow for 6 seconds after it beeps and it always gives me a reading. It was very frustrating before that!

#378

Strange how what works for one doesn’t for someone else. I just tried your approach of starting at the 10 second countdown and then going the 6 seconds after it reaches 0 and I got a big fat 0.0%. I then repeated with my normal start blowing at the 0 mark of the countdown and for 6 seconds and got 0.045%. I get readings consistently with the 6 second approach and they vary in an expected pattern based on my carb intake and fasting. Not overly helpful in achieving my goals but fun to watch.

(roxanna) #379

So that shows that testing different methods help! I also see variations based on what I eat so I feel confident in the numbers I’m getting now.

(Cheryl Hall) #380

@irishred

Many have said to make sure your batteries are fresh. After replacing with fresh batteries they started getting readings.

(Paolo Di Donato) #381

That is awesome! I was at .05% after 72 hours. Just finished last night… How did you do your fast out of curiosity?

(Sonia A.) #382

Congratulations on your fast.

Mine was with coffee, tea, water and salt.

#383

Regarding brownfat’s chart (from above post):

Here’s a little chart I made to compare the results of my cheap acetone reading breathalyzer to a ketonix. I went point by point on the breathalyzer for the range I’ve experienced and added in the yellow and red warning transitions for reference.

0.00 BAC% = 0.00 ppm = ketonix 0 : blue
0.01 BAC% = 0.26 ppm = ketonix 28 : blue
0.02 BAC% = 0.52 ppm = ketonix 40 : blue just shy of green
0.03 BAC% = 0.78 ppm = ketonix 47 : marginally green
0.04 BAC% = 1.04 ppm = ketonix 50 : green
0.05 BAC% = 1.30 ppm = ketonix 53 : green
0.06 BAC% = 1.56 ppm = ketonix 56 : green
0.07 BAC% = 1.82 ppm = ketonix 58 : green
0.08 BAC% = 2.08 ppm = ketonix 60 : green

0.15 BAC% = 3.90 ppm = ketonix 70 : yellow
0.42 BAC% =11.10 ppm = ketonix 85 : red

Brownfat, Thanks for the above chart. I already owned the Ketonix 2015 as well as the Precision Xtra blood ketones meter. I was curious about using a blood alcohol meter for ketone testing since it’d be nice to have a portable one that is quicker to use (and as a backup).

So I bought the Greenwon for $12 (the one most people are using here: at6000).

So I did a test on the BAC meter and got 0.04. I paged through the display output to mg/100ml and saw “43”. (So this gives me an extra digit of precision on this cheap meter I guess… should equate to 0.043 I am guessing.)

I did the test on the Ketonix 2015 and got 52.

I see the two numbers jive with each other according to your chart. BAC of 0.043 and Ketonix 2015 reading of 52. Based on these numbers I predicted my blood BHB reading from Precision Xtra would be 1.2 mmol/L . I tested it and sure enough it was… exactly 1.2 !!

This is nice because these blood tests cost $2 per test strip and the same can be done as many times as you like for a cheap $12 breathalyzer tester.

Still good to have the others to occasionally cross reference to make sure they are all in good working order.

Thanks again!

(Paolo Di Donato) #384

That’s great you were able to predict - I’m curious if you have you been able to predict this on a consistent basis with 100% accuracy?