Tracking Glucose/Ketone index

(*Rusty* Instagram: @Rustyk61) #1

Just wondering if anyone else is tracking this number? I just found an app a couple of weeks ago that helps track it. My reasoning is that I’ve suspected some metabolic problems. I just finished a 72 hour fast and my index stayed below a 2 consistently. Using this bio marker is new to me and still trying to learn more while I collect more data.

(Chris W) #2

I have tried to track it, but for me the number swings too wildly to be terribly useful. I set my goal at 6.0, but I seem to flip flop between 3 and 20, with not much in between. I rarely see ketones get very high, and when they do climb, it is only when my BG is low (below 80 mg/DL).

Just now, post breakfast BG is 95 and ketones 0.3 GKI=17.6 :expressionless:

(*Rusty* Instagram: @Rustyk61) #3

Thanks for your input @cwstnsko. Hopefully as I collect more data, I can see a correlation of how it effects results, or the adverse.

image
3A74A18A-E542-47BC-80B8-C2A2700EB280.jpg1242×2208 314 KB

(Chris W) #4

You seem to operate n a different band of the ketone spectrum than I do :slight_smile: I think I could fast for a week and not get above 1.6 :expressionless:

It looks like you are using Keto Logger. I’ve seen that app, but didn’t want to pay $ for an app that didn’t integrate with Apple Health.

It is very disappointing that Apple Health does not recognize ketones as a metric to be tracked, so even if apps integrate, they cannot pass ketone data between sources.

I have been working with Headsuphealth (web) hopefully they will get their app going soon.

I also heard at Breckenridge that Keto Mojo is getting close to having a Bluetooth device that plugs into the strip port and allows the data to be transferred to an app.

(*Rusty* Instagram: @Rustyk61) #5

Very good resource! I’ve learned a lot by reading their website.

(Erin Macfarland ) #6

Ok I’m confused…I tried the calculator I found online and used my numbers from this morning (first converting the glucose number to mmL by dividing by 18 like it suggests) and I got 14. So, I took my glucose (104) and divided by 18, and then divided that number by my ketones (.4) and got 14, but the index only goes as high as 9. What am I doing wrong?

(*Rusty* Instagram: @Rustyk61) #7

Your not doing anything wrong. They suggest to try and keep it below 9. Kinda hoping maybe @richard might chime in and help explain some of this a bit.

(Erin Macfarland ) #8

A couple of caveats, I tested my BG after I’d had coffee, and I ate a lot last night, lots of fatty meat, some chocolate, nut butter (I was hungry, lol!) and I usually tend towards higher fasted BG, in the 90s. I am fairly lean and very active, so my ketone readings are usually low (indicating my body is using FFA’s as energy efficiently and there aren’t a lot of leftover ketones floating around in my blood) . I’m very fat adapted (have done keto for most of the past three years) and my lipid panel shows I use lots of fatty acids as fuel based on my cholesterol and triglyceride numbers. So these readings and the resulting index number of 14 confuse me. According to the chart if my index is over 9 I’m not in ketosis. But my blood ketone readings indicate I have ketones present. So I’m not sure what to believe!

(Erin Macfarland ) #9

Then I came across this blog post, which claims lean, athletic people have low ketone readings because they are less fat adapted (but this isn’t necessarily bad) http://itsthewooo.blogspot.com/2018/03/so-keto-adapted-my-ketones-are-always.html

(*Rusty* Instagram: @Rustyk61) #10

Well, @Emacfarland I’m pretty familiar with your Keto journey from reading your post. The more I read on this subject it’s more geared towards eliminating cancer cells by keeping the index number below 1. After three days of fasting, I couldn’t get below 1. If I remember correctly @TomSeest has some experience with this.

(Tom Seest) #11

GKI can go above 9, but is kind of meaningless at that point.

Best to keep it below 2 or 1 if you need therapeutic levels.

Fastest way I found to drive it down below 1 was to do extended, fasted cardio (bicycling in my case) at the 36 hour mark of a fast.

I hope this helps.

(Erin Macfarland ) #12

When you say it’s meaningless above 9, what does that mean? I can’t fast longer than 24 hours really, since I’m pretty lean and I struggle mentally with longer than that. I usually fast 20 to 23 hours a day and do fasted cardio every morning.

(Tom Seest) #13

Sorry. I was on my phone, which made it difficult to type.

I meant in the context of therapeutic numbers, anything above 9 is meaningless.

I wouldn’t push the fasting…It’s not necessary. This was just what worked for me. But, I’m significantly more chubby than you, and we obviously have different circumstances.

Is your fasted cardio at the end of the fast, or at the beginning of the fast? If you could do it at the end of the fast, and then take your readings right before eating, they might be at their best.

My experience with GKI tells me that once you are in therapeutic levels, it’s fairly easy to keep them there, but getting the numbers there can be challenging.

(*Rusty* Instagram: @Rustyk61) #14

Thanks @tdseest, right now I’m just trying to collect some data at different times to determine if there is any correlation with metabolic issues.

(Tom Seest) #15

There definitely will be.

If you have the budget, pick up a heart rate strap and start tracking Heart Rate Variability, and other markers for Stress like Blood Pressure, etc. Then, track your readings at the same time.

You’ll be suprised as too how they correlate. Stress will drive your GKI number up every time, and stress comes in so many forms.

(Erin Macfarland ) #16

@tdseest thank you! I do my cardio pretty much in the mid point of my daily fast, about 12 hours after eating and about 8 hours before I eat again. I guess I should pay more attention to the blood ketone reading?

(Tom Seest) #17

Only if you are trying to reach therapeutic levels. Otherwise, the numbers you are reporting are pretty normal for someone eating this way for a while.

If you shift your eating pattern so that the exercise occurs towards the end of the fast (not always possible), you may notice some benefit. Other than that, I don’t have a lot to suggest.

Someday, I’ll be at normal weight, and will be able to experiment with various techniques to drive Ketone levels up and glucose levels down. Until then, I can only theorize that you have to get your dietary fat% higher, and your carb and protein levels lower but that isn’t always possible either. This is how the epileptics and cancer patients seem to do it.

(*Rusty* Instagram: @Rustyk61) #18

You are a wealth of information, my friend. You seem to put it all in perspective! Thank you!

(Susan Lawrence) #19

I started collecting this data sort of randomly after I listened to Dr Thomas Siegfried. No one on this forum seemed very interested so I never brought it up. I’ll list my numbers but like I said they’re very random. What it shows most is that my ratio is extremely good in the middle of the fast!
2/15 4:07 PM 1
3/4 10:29 a.m. 1.11
3/ 11 5:50 p.m. 2.6
3/16 1:46 p.m. 1.5
3 / 18 2:02 p.m. .44
3/18 7:40 p.m. .6
3 / 21 4:55 p.m. .74
3 / 21 8:35 p.m. .5
3 / 25 9:46 p.m. 1.2
3 / 27 7:40 a.m. 1.3
4 / 1 1:17 p.m. 4.8
4 / 2 10:46 a.m. 1.3

I started fasting on 3/14 at 7 p.m. and ended 3/21 at 7:30 p.m.
Mostly I’m in nutritional ketosis. But sometimes I like to push the therapeutic window! For my mitochondria of course…

(*Rusty* Instagram: @Rustyk61) #20

Wow, those are very good numbers! Are you T2D? What have you learned to do that gets your index so low?