I posted the other day and I’m trying to find if there are others that have had a similar experience. I’ve been doing Keto since 11/27 and it has been great. I’ve lost 20 pounds and I feel great. I got a blood keto monitor about a month ago. I was surprised that my ketones were low and nothing I did seemed to change that. .8 was about the highest I could get. I started taking exogenous ketones about 2 weeks ago to see if that would help get me into a more steady ketosis. First week my levels were always in the 1.5-3 range. Good. But the last week they’ve been low again. Still following keto and doing IF and still taking supplement. My ketone level will go up to about 1 if taking supplement but within a couple hours I’m down to under .5.
Anyone else have this happen? Did you find a solution? Did you figure out it doesn’t matter and just keep doing what you’re doing? Help?
Hi Marcy. In my opinion, others may disagree, I think you shouldn’t focus on chasing ketones. People are different.
Are your results good? Do you feel better? If so, then there you go.
KCKO!
As for exogenous ketones, why pay for something your body is making for you? Unless you need it for a particular reason (athletic event or something). But as an every day thing I’m just not convinced that’s such a good thing but I could be wrong. I’m pretty sure the dudes had a good podcast on this that might be worth a listen.
Your endogenous ketones are not changing. You’re happy about reading a number generated by ketones you paid for. If you are worried about your ketone levels, close your eating window down and do longer IFs, or have a couple of feast days and then join us in ZornFast (Thursday thru Sunday morning) next week. Many of the regulars (including Richard) have steady low ketone readings and they just KCKO. Endogenous ketones are a waste of money you could be spending on ribeyes & Kerrygold.
I agree with @barefootbob and @CandyLindTX. Quit spending money on buying ketones and put it towards a nice steak dinner! Think about doing longer fasts. And my understanding is that testing will vary throughout the day. Your ketones will be lower in the mornings and higher in the afternoons. I don’t remember the why but it’s somewhere around here.
How is your protein to fat ratio? You are likely just using your ketones efficiently and that is a great thing. Anything over 0.5 is ketosis so don’t fret.
Just remember @richard and Tim Noakes regularly have low ketone readings. I would say they are well-versed in ketosis…I don’t think you have anything to worry about. Try not to obsess about numbers. (Need to take my own advice haha!) Do we feel good? Are we following the principles? Then keep calm and keto on! good luck <3
IMO you’re doing good if you have lost weight (which I’m assuming is your objective?).
The only good objective for exogenous ketones (IMO) is in a situation for something like alzheimer’s. (I’ve understand that some claim that it helps a body avoid keto flu during the transition from being a “carb burner” to a “fat burner”, but the monetary cost of the exogenous ketones and effort most likely may not be of high value (IMO)). I don’t know the value of exogenous ketones in the body building/sculpting world. The intake of the exogenous ketones were most likely masking/confusing measurements indicating your body was producing “natural” ketones.
Ketone levels will vary thru-out the day due to food intake and exercise. There is also a phenomena called the “dawn effect”, which is defined as follows;
The “dawn phenomenon” occurs in people with and without diabetes. The term refers to the body’s daily production of hormones around 4:00-5:00 AM. During this time, the body makes less insulin and produces more glucagon, which raises blood glucose.
Another thing that may be happening is “carb creep”. The amount of carbs digested may have increased to the point where it is decreasing the level of ketosis. The additional carbs may be contained in a greater quantity of food consumed, or may be unexpected carbs that are “hidden” in processed foods. A thread on “carb creep” is discussed in the following;
Carbs are not the only factor that can cause a rise in blood glucose, excessive protein can also be a factor. It may be helpful to re-check your macro levels to assure they have proper ratios. Foods that have a high glycemic index (other than carbs and excessive protein) can also cause blood glucose levels to rise. If you Google “glycemic index” of various foods, it may uncover items driving up blood glucose levels. (One common misconception if a food is labeled “low calorie”, it does not always mean it is keto friendly. Some artificial sweeteners have a high glycemic index and should be avoided when on a keto diet.)
Other factors may also kick people out of ketosis, such as stress. (Getting an inadequate amount of sleep can also cause stress). The impact of stress on a body is described as follows;
When stressed, the body prepares itself by ensuring that enough sugar or energy is readily available. Insulin levels fall, glucagon and epinephrine (adrenaline) levels rise and more glucose is released from the liver. At the same time, growth hormone and cortisol levels rise, which causes body tissues (muscle and fat) to be less sensitive to insulin. As a result, more glucose is available in the blood stream.
It may be beneficial to review your food log (or start to keep a log if you don’t have one) to correlate ketone levels with food intake (types and quantities consumed), and to be consistent when during the day you measure your ketone levels. (I always attempt to take my ketone measurement the 1st thing in the morning prior to eating any food in an attempt to have consistency in the measurement). Sometimes I re-check at other times during the day to understand how ketone levels may change).
Thanks everyone. This is all really great feedback! I went completely without exogenous ketones yesterday and plan to disuse them altogether. And, above all, I will KCKO :)
