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EventsA new toy measuring blood ketones
I just got a new toy: a device for measuring blood ketones. This is a far more exact and reliable measurement than testing for urine ketones using cheap dipsticks. Ketosis is of course the state the body is in when eating very low carb. Ketones, made from fat, will then fuel the brain instead of glucose.
So who needs one of these gadgets? Perhaps nobody. Obviously it’s easy to eat LCHF without it. This is for curious nerds (like me) and for those who want definite proof that they are eating so little carbs that insulin levels are low and fat burning is maximized.
A ketone level somewhere between 1.5 – 3 is said to be an optimal level for maximizing weight loss. It means that insulin levels are very low. As you can see my first measurement was 0.2, after a caesar sallad dinner. I’m not surprised as I’ve probably eaten at least 50 grams of carbs a day lately.
I will try it out fasting in the mornings during the coming days. Perhaps I’ll try being really strict with the carbs for a while to see what happens.
Have you tried one of these or are you interested in doing it?
254 comments
Now that you know that, what is you going to do about it?
Are you type1?
Up to 6 is starving or post excersise ketosis!
Optimal diet induced ketosis is 1-3.
10 or over is typical type 1 and if you go further one can get keto acidos!
I've personally been eating a high fat very low carb moderate protein diet for almost eight months now and I'm in the best shape of my life, both physically and mentally, and so our countless others.
Just because I had the test meter I started to test my blood glucose and its really high in the morning 120.6 to 145 it then drops slightly during the day. I'm really at a loss to explain it. I seem to be bordering on type 2. I'm 53 I cycle every weekend and train at least twice a week on the bike and lift weights on the other days. I weight in at 153lb. Should I be worried about the high glucose readings? and is the high blood sugar preventing ketosis?
Thanks
Our livers make glucose from protein during sleep...., and it seems the worse metabolic syndrome the higher it gets in the mornings.
Proteins and a glass of wine to evening dinner helps, which can compensate when eating out I also found that some raw vegetables - organic of course to avoid increased load of primarily glyphosate toxin (roundup) that is heavily used on all non-organic plants - was lowering the dawn phenomenon! Re ketone meter; Not really needed until morning BS is close or below 100!
BS over 5.5 (100) to 6.9 (125) is regarded prediabetic.
Here blood vessel damages also start, although slowly but making it important to get out of it quickly!
Welcomes like you more and better advices how to solve this problem permanently.
Diabetics have these problems all the time of course.
Its part of your cirkadian cycle and cald Dawn phenomenon!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dawn_phenomenon
Its linked to Cortisol awakening response.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cortisol_awakening_response
So take a A1c and se if that is better?
http://www.sugaraholics.com
And once the visceral fat is burning - through cutting also the fat intake as you say - one must carry on to a level well below what measures as metabolic syndrome, which can be tough I think.
Visceral fat that comes and goes with the seasons is probably an asset while the same stuff sitting in the same place for years becomes more of a culprit. If the fat also store toxins over time our bodies are probably also reluctant to let it dissolve back into the circulation. (kind of taste, spit and avoid also at that level ?) ( A nasty longer time dimension living around too much environmental toxins)
Yet once that journey is over - if we ever get there- I think the problems associated with the MS vanishes, as showed by the Newcastle doctor that measured VF before and after a seriously reduced carefully supervised low calorie diet:
Then diabetes and visceral fat disappeared together!
But because none of those (all diabetes 2) test subjects practised LCHF or similar, 99% or all returned to diabetes within a short time after the trial.
Yet the connection was proven.
A better prediction on prediabetes is postprandial glucose levels.
It can take 10-30 years to develope full diabetes.. faster if one realy tryes!
The thing to know about Dawn phenomenon is that it is by cirkadian cycle that rise glucose levels by excreting mostly cortisol.. if one tryes to lower it by taking more insulin, the body excret more cortisol and then one can get a fluctuating glucose level the whole day.
Best approche still seems to be to take a swift walk early in the morning, to signaling that the dawn is gone.
I personally am not concerned with diabetes, yet my entry to LCHF came from heart disease which usually comes with prediabetes, so I am concerned that I will not fall back down in that angina hole that LCHF cleared me 100% from. My heart calcium score scan values had increased slightly between 2006 and 2014 and angina went with LCHF in January 2012, so it may well have increased before 2012. But better safe than sorry especially in a deadly matter like this.
There are of course other things at play than the circadian cycle. I think we all agree that the blood sugar is not meant to rise over 5.5, and it is one indication of prediabetes when it does, although A1c and glucose challenge are others.
Here I will attempt to make a simple explanation for thr events, as I see it. Other facors may of course be at play but I think this one may be the prominent one. Not proven!
When BS rises too high in morning it can be due to poor metabolism or lack of natural melatonin or melatonin does not work as it should. Or mayb poor thyroid.
In younger people and healthy older it is normal that after some hours sleep capillary blood vessels are dilated. The noticable effect is a feeling of warmth in limbs, particularly in feet. The reason for it may be regular maintenance, and maybe all capillaries open up like this at the same time, in essence to open the smallest vessels for "clean up" to prevent early blockages.
But the effect is only noticed in the capillaries in the skin, are noticed through the warming up of the skin. A second side effect -that realets to the blood sugar usage - is that when the body cools down as a result of the transport of warm blood into the cappillaries of the skin, the overall body temperature is reduced and energy is required to compensate for this! The core body temp reduction can be 0.25 degree while normal warming in skin can be + 2 degrees. To maintain homeostasis extra energy must be provided, supplied by deafult as part of the package?
Hence when this nightly opening up of capillaries is dysfunctional to any degree, the result maybe that the unused energy results in raised morning blood sugar.
A major manifestation is cold feet through most of the night. A quick and maybe lasting fix I found is some vinegar late at night, before teeth brushing as the acidy stuff definitely can harm the enamel.
I now found that there is a well known positive correlation between cold feet and diabetes, which for us prediabetics may mean high morning blood sugar...
http://www.diabetesmonitor.com/supplies/foot-care/diabetes-and-cold-f...
On the upside! LCHF is doable. I'm not hungry ALL the time. I no longer have uncontrolled asthma or need a cpap at night. My clothes fit again. In fact, I need to go shopping because they're too big.
But it's not easy for me either. It's a constant challenge.
Please confirm the target is 1.5 - 3.0 for optimal weight loss.
thank you.
Thats what happens for moste people if the is able to eat low carb and high fat.. plus that you use body fat.
The thing is, that numbers dont tell that much.. but its a funny tool, and you can test what happens when you do this or that.. or if you eat as you think you do.
Use it the best way.. eat what you think is a proper diet for your goals.. then take morning tests and read how it developes!
If one drink more water in the night, then ketones can be diluted!
Dont even think that keton samples is the real thing.. its a tool for helping you on the right track.
Roughly.. the more fat% and calorie reduction the more ketons.. but I think you did understand that?
There is a difference between ketosis and ketoacidosis. Ketoacidosis is a dangerous condition, where toxic levels of ketone bodies build up in the blood because the body is not producing insulin. Ketosis, on the other hand, results when the body has exhausted its stored glycogen and begins to burn fatty tissue for energy. They are quite different. And ketosis is very safe and has helped thousands not only lose weight, but get their type II diabetes, pre-diabetes, and insulin resistance under control. In fact, most have completed cured themselves of them.
Are you a type I or type II diabetic? Type I you are genetically predisposed and not much you can do but control it. Type II on the other hand is completely controlled by diet. If you have type II, you should eliminate all sugars and carbs and increase your fat intake. You won't be hungry and your insulin will level out. If your blood sugar is ever high, I guarantee it's because you ate or drank something that was too high in sugar or carbs for your body to process. The only way to control an insulin spike is to not eat or drink anything that will spike it.
And its altso a matter of what you measure, Acetone, Acetoacetate or Beta- hydroxibutirate.
One measure only one of them whit different measuring devices.
So the other two can be higer?
1) 0.4 mmol
2) 0.9 mmol
3) 0.7 mmol
As you can see, there's considerable shifting in the results and this was over a period of five minutes!
Is this normal?
Thanks,
Adam.
I think that morning tests after a whole níghts fasting make it higher?
It means that you dont eat to much carbs/your glucose levels are not very high.. probably not your insulin levels either!
And on top of that, if you fell fine and if your food is tasty.. thats a lifestyle that one can coop whit.. isnt it?
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00R219D4E/ref=olp_product_details?i...
http://www.ebay.com/itm/10-New-Strips-Abbott-Precision-Xtra-Blood-Ket...
Try this...reduce your protein and increase fat (from natural sources only, like butter, egg yolks, lard, bacon, etc). Stay far far away from highly processed forms of fat, like vegetable oil or margarine. Eat only the natural and low processing forms of fat.
High fat content in your meals (like +80% of calories) with intermittent fasting, and drinking lots of water or bone broth will force your body into ketosis.
were do you by the keto tester and what is the price.
Thanks
Jeanette
No it means High Fat.. high as for your energy demand!
Protein is mostly a building stone for a lot of importante things.
If one like, one can spell it.. LCHF Normal Protein!
http://www.nutritionequation.org/how-to/no-sugar-no-starch-diet-getti...
I been doing low carbs diet and I been having readings from 0.4 to 1.3 keton. Im an martial artist professional athlete, and I do have to eat carbs during and after training, my problem is that I always start my morning with 0.4k and in the afternoon goes up to 0.9 - 1.3. But some days I stay in 0.4 and only go up to 0.6
How I can do to be in the morning higher readings? can I get into 1.3-2 if Im eating carbs for my trainings??
thanks!
I am new in this LCHF diet, but I have been kinda of living a LC life for the past few years.
I am 5'2 weighting today147 lbs.
Iam in my middle forties, type 2 diabetic, taking metformin 1,000 mg a day. Actually I just started taking it again , I have been controling it with diet for the past five years, but my last A1C was 7.5 and doctor said to start taking it till I loose weight again.
Yes, I was 132 last december, but shit happen and I am an emotional eater.
I started LCHF diet on Sunday. I have been eating delicious food (better than never). I am a swim instructor for babies, so I kinda of active all day long but I do not excercise much, except for fast walks twice a week.
I purchase some urine strips to see if iam in ketosis, and it show that I was moderate.
I just received my glucose and ketone machine.. and of course I have to use it.
I have lunch at 1 pm, so it has been 4 hours. It was a 771 calories lunch, with 32 g protein, 64 g fat, 8 g net carb (20 g total)
Iam using myfitnesspal food diary to manage my macros. At this time my daily goal is carbs 5%, Fat 75%, Protein 20 %. in a 1,200 - 1,400 cal diet.
My readings are Ketone : 2.9 Glucose: 89 ( same reading this morning fasting but last night i forgot to take my metformin).
I didnt have any keto flu, but I do drink a lot of water, been taking potassium and magnesium...
and I do not have a vitamin D deficit.. Iam a floridean working in the sun all day ;)
But the lastblood test showed that I am a bit anemic.. hopefully the grass feed meat will do the trick.
If anybody have an input or any advise, I will like to hear it, because I am doing this from reading, researching online and past experiences.
I used to weight 187 lbs and lost 47 lbs doing a hcg diet. Today I am 7 lbs fatter that my last weigh on hcg five years ago, but also have less hair. LOL
3 years ago I was desperate. I discovered my fasting glucose of 106 was bad -- (doctor never said a word), my triglycerides at 300, and various other parameters were scary. But it was my expanding waistline that really troubled me. I had been a semi-vegetarian for many years. How could everything be so out of control?
I threw caution to the wind and began a low carb diet. For the first time in many years I was eating red meat, butter, cheese. I fully expected in six months on this diet my cholesterol and triglyceride would test at something like 1,000... But I wanted to get thinner at any cost. (Even if it killed me, I guess.)
It was the easiest weight loss ever. I never had cravings. I didn't stare at ads for frozen veggie pizza any more, didn't even care about it!
I bought the urine test strips (was able to slice each strip into thirds to save money) and they showed I was in ketosis. No hunger. Skipping meals -- no problem. I lost 45 pounds easily. On long bike rides with friends I'd watch them get ravenous and scour gas station marts for burritos, candy, energy drinks, while I waited outside with no hunger, nibbling on a piece of jerky or a hard-boiled egg.
Anyway, in six months my fasting glucose was at 78, triglycerides at 74, HDL over 80, the cholesterol ratios were insanely good.
I definitely got the low carb message. But I never really caught the moderate protein message. After awhile, my loss stopped (I was aiming for that super fit abs look -- never quite got there). The urine strips generally showed few ketones.
The miracle for me, though, was I wasn't gaining like before. I had always been the type who was either gaining or losing, never static. Now I was pretty static.
Fast forward a couple years, still on a low but not super-low carb cuisine. Yes, a few pounds came back on. Maybe at 1/8 my historical post-diet rate of weight gain. I was puzzled why any pounds were coming back on. Since the urine strips no longer worked for me I invested in a breathylizer unit called Ketonix ($150 or so.) I would puff into it and it showed I was in ketosis after all but to a light or moderate degree -- no matter how low my carbs got.
So what was going on? Many who are reading this probably know the answer. I was eating too much meat and cheese. I was eating enough protein to partially activate my underlying metabolic syndrome problem ( and I do mean partially -- nothing like the way I was before.). So I burnished all those low-carbohydrate books I'd downloaded and found the chapters I must have skimmed earlier. (I was having success on low carb-- why worry about protein at all?). Jimmy Moore's book really pointed the way.
To cut to the chase, I cut proteins to half or three-quarters of a gram per pound of body weight (it's quite surprising how just a few too many ounces of chicken or steak jumps daily protein way over that level!) Watching total calorie intake, too, of course. But within days the Ketonix LEDs were flashing red (a high ketone result) corresponding to a blood level of about 4 or 4.2. Pounds began dropping away and in a week clothes were already fitting better.
Everyone's different... Individuals vary on how sensitive they are to carbs and perhaps to protein. But the lesson for me was: low carb is an incredibly effective tool, but protein is that little gremlin dancing on the airplane wing (famous Twilight Zone episode) and it can do a frisky little sabotage on your weight control.
IF you are a type ONE diabetic (cannot produce insulin at all) AND you have high glucose (140+) AND you have high ketones (5+), THEN you have produced ketoacidosis, a dangerous condition.
Ketoacidosis is NOT POSSIBLE in people who produce any insulin at all. As ketones increase, glucose (and insulin) falls, and vice versa.
If are a T2 diabetic, or pre-diabetic, or have high blood glucose, getting your ketones up through nutritional ketosis (very low carb, low protein, high fat) is the only way to break insulin resistance and allow your body to begin burning fat as fuel. See all the research in Jimmy Moore "Keto Clarity"
BTW, the brain loves ketones as fuel, and ketones prevent oxidation in the brain cells (protecting us from dementia) and prevent burning muscle mass (conserving lean). In my case, I have lost nearly 50 lbs of scale weight in 13 months, but I have actually lost 65 lbs of fat and gained 15 lbs of lean -- for the first time in my 67-year life.
Just be sure you do not have glucose 140+ WITH ketones 5+ (only possible for folks with type 1 diabetes)
Starting about 15 years ago my A1c began creeping up, from about 6.3 to the current 7.7. Based on the meter readings I had been getting, I'm surprised that it wasn't higher. My morning readings were frequently on the 190's and I rarely got a reading below 140. I stopped working regularly just before Christmas and quit eating so late at night. My morning readings came down to around 160. That's progress, I guess, but not enough.
Over the years I have moved away form carbs and significantly increased my fat intake. I eat tons of meat, so I'm sure I'm not on a low carb, high fat, moderate protein diet at all. I'm a grazer - I eat a lot, continually.
My biggest concern with all the diet modifications for T2 diabetes (which is what I guess I have) is that all assume a person who is overweight, has metabolic syndrome, and isnt very active.
I'm going to get a ketone meter and see if I'm in ketosis, and if not, start adjusting my protein down.
I'll report back with the results.
Any comments or observations greatly appreciated.
John
what does this mean ? when is best time to check? Please help