What ketone level?

(Sue Harrison) #1

Hi all. I’ve just started a below 20 g carb keto diet to help me beat cancer.
I’ve just received the meter I ordered and am not sure what level of ketones is good or when to test ?
On my third day and I just tested 30 mins after eating 2 boiled eggs… it was 0.9
Any advice please ?

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

Anything over 0.5 is nutritional ketosis, by definition. You’re fine.

(Chris W) #3

Welcome,

The first week you will not register a whole lot, you have to burn through your glycogen stores, ramp up the machinery, and depending upon your derangement level it may take some time. I cannot speak to having cancer and other member may be able to help in regard to effective blood key tone levels. I encourage you to fill out your bio and use the search function on the top right. I test my breath for me I do it when I wake up and normally after I exercise in the morning. I think its best to keep consistent, at least for me you will see n=1 a lot that means you are your own experiment, and in my n=1 I do it then. Blood meters are expensive you may develop a sense of when you are keto adapted some time in the next couple weeks.

The typical events are 1st week you are starting the diet start to shed water and keytones come up burn through your glycogen stores and you may short term loose some energy if you exercise. 2nd-3rd week you could develop keto flu-research that if you have not- you start to feel better, if you exercise you may gain back some energy, mental clarity, swelling goes down. around the 3rd-4th week you typically keto adapt fully and really start to feel awesome.

I can tell now when I am in keto, I used feed back from pee strips and my breath meter to confirm those feelings.
This article is helpful.
https://www.perfectketo.com/a-guide-to-testing-ketone-levels/

I hope you do well, we are all here to help.
KCKO

(Sue Harrison) #4

Thanks all. I.m still finding my way round so need to find the bio to fill in.
I’ve been low carbing for a while for diabetes but only at about 60g carbs and finding I’m not hungry at all on below 20g

(Chris W) #5

Well you should have not many issues then, you may have already been in keto, my personal tipping point was 55g, 20g is safe limit which nobody seems to have issues with.

(Victoria Mc Coy) #6

I found this chart to be very helpful. Wishing you all the best.

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(Cindy) #7

Wow, this is really helpful! Thank you for sharing it! I’m doing the keto diet for mental clarity, so should I try to keep my ketosis always in that range? Does this also mean when I first get up in the morning (my lowest time)? I’m not sure when to measure it. I use a keto meter, so it’s accurate measuring, but it definitely changes throughout the day and night.

(Victoria Mc Coy) #8

Believe me, I’m no expert, but there is a lot of good info out there - and in this forum, so you’ve landed in a good place. This chart is pretty representative of what most experts in LCHF and Keto say is reasonable. Do you measure ketones and glucose? If so, I’m also referencing GKI: the glucose/ketone index. Some say it gives you a more complete picture of your metabolic health.

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(Cindy) #9

Wow, thank you! I had never heard of this before. I do measure both, so I just calculated my GKI and it’s 1.75. So it’s looking good. I would like to get my G lower, but that might take some time. Thank you so much, Victoria!

(Jack Brien) #10

I’ve been going for almost a year and I rarely hit 0.5!

(Victoria Mc Coy) #11

Good job on 1.5 GKI! My best so far has been 1.2, but that was at the end of March following a week of alternate day fasting that was preceded by a 5 day fast. You’re doing great! :grinning:

(Cindy) #12

I don’t get any credit. I’ve always had low blood sugar and no hint of diabetes, even when I’ve gained weight. It’s just genes, I guess. My blood sugar was always borderline hypoglycemic until a few years ago.

I’m trying to work myself up to starting to fast. I stretched my overnight fast this morning to 16 and a half hours - pretty pitiful! It feels like a really hard thing for me, but hopefully I’ll get there if I keep trying. I get really, really hungry though and don’t really have extra weight to lose, but I think I’m looking at Alzheimers on one side of my family and a lethal cancer on the other side. So I think to prevent both those diseases, I may need to push it.

(Miss E) #13

I read recently that ketone readings are usually higher after exercise

(Chris W) #14

I do this mostly as a novelty, but I am an engineering type so…

BHB levels gong up possibly, I am measuring excess and the acetone which is only a passive indicator of BHB. Acetoacetate is only being measured as excess(pee) that my body is expelling, depending upon the thoughts on the brown fat theory that may be an energy bleed.
I think the time frame would be a crucial measurement, most of my readings are as close to I am finished working out as possible. I don’t do BHB so I have no proof of blood level at any level. And well sometimes I cannot pee on demand, but I do the breath meter within a couple minutes normally.

And to some extent that ketones go up would be correct as the liver will produce more glucose if none is stored and that by itself will produce ketones via gluconeogenesis. Assuming there is some sort of internal stasis level that my body is regulating outside of the glucose. I played with a glucose meter a little bit right after fat adaption and my glucose did spike in comparison to pre work out, but I have no history to build upon it was only a couple uses.

Well I can say that excess is lower without question on the pee strips. Breath readings seem to be lower as well but I think that is because acetone is very volatile and I while exercise breath heavier. I also believe that since I am fat adapted now that the glucose and ketones are not used as much, but I also think that they can only be generated so fast by the liver so in my tissue that can use it the fat is being used more.

From that I could speculate that yes after my workout my body will need to produce more, but I think the level would not equal to the pre work out condition for some time. The thing that really changes my level readings and this not really a surprise is when I intake food protein in particular. My levels go way up on fasts of 18 hours or longer unless I have had a recent spike like I did this week(stupid Easter ham glaze).

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #15

Don’t go too bonkers trying to get a good ketone reading, because what you’re measuring is excess ketones not being used. More important is to be fat-adapted and reaping the benefits of metabolic health!

(Cindy) #16

I’m the opposite. When I wake up in the morning, my G is its highest (the “dawn phenomenon” I keep hearing about) and my K the lowest. After I exercise for 40-50 minutes, my G goes way down, my K goes way up. I’ve seen this over and over. Here’s this morning’s example:

At awakening: G 85, K 1.5, GKI 3.15
After 40 mins of exercise: G 72, K 2.6, GKI 1.54

In my case, it seems to be that while I exercise I burn off all the glucose in my bloodstream, then start making more ketones for fuel. So I seem to be completely opposite from other people. But I’m not anywhere near diabetic. I’m doing the keto diet to try to ward off Alzheimers (my dad’s entire family) and aggressively lethal breast cancer (mother) in my family. So maybe I have very sensitive insulin and other metabolic stuff going on.

(Chris W) #17

When your body makes ketones they are a by product of producing glucose from fat so they are made concurrently not one or the other.

Keep in mind I am measuring lower level acetoacetate excess being spilled, and acetone from the break down of it to BHB what you are measuring directly. I would not say you are opposite I would say you on par,
Like I said I had no BHB levels, but you are sort of confirming what I had thought happens.

I think it also matters how far along in fat adaption you are. When you first start out your primary source of energy is only glucose and some ketones, as you adapt most of your cells can use fat directly, so you become more flexible on your choices at the energy buffet. This would spare ketones for the things that cannot use fat directly like the brain, and ketones are a preferred source so they will be used first there. I think this would also explain ketones going up as Eva stated after exercise or at least BHB. If you are sparing keytones that would also mean you have excess which is part of my indications.

(Cindy) #18

Ah! Thank you! I have so much to learn.