Geeking out with Data
One of the main reason I started the Keto diet was the fact that I could test if I was in ketosis. As many of you know when you start on a diet it can take time for you to meet your goals on the scale. However, with keto you can test for ketones and that will tell you if you are following the diet and the results will follow.
Ketones are tested in mmol (millimolar). Below is a handy diagram on what various levels mean. On the far left you have the normal level for people eating the standard carb loaded diet. On the far right you have the danger zone that diabetics can fall into, which is why you need to consult your doctor, especially if diabetic before starting this diet. I normally fall in the .5 to 1.5 zone and it take me 1-3 days to get there if I have cheated on the weekend by eating things like pizza and drinking beer.
Testing Methods
Urine
Your body will flush excess ketone bodies in your urine. I started with these when I first did this diet. This is the least effective method of testing and may not always work. After two months on keto the strips stopped working even though I knew I was in ketosis. I switched to blood testing and sure enough I was in the .5 to 1.5 mmol level but nothing on the strips. However, they are a cheap way to get going in this process.
Here is the brand I used:
Breath
The next effective was is via a breathlyzer test. When you are in acetone is one of the ketone boides that is produced and can be detected in your breath. I never attempted this due to cost of the tester. If you try this let me know how it works.
The main player in this market seems to be Ketonix:
https://www.ketonix.com/
Blood Test
This is the way to go if you really want to test and know 100% if you are in ketosis. The process for testing is the same as using a glucose meter for a diabetic. In fact the tester I use will test for both ketones and glucose. The tester is fairly cheap but to test to for ketones you have to have a special strip and those can range from $.99 to $2.99 a strip. So testing can be expensive if you want to do it multiple times per day.
Keto Mojo recently came on the market and if you get their full get you can get strips for $.99 per strip. This is the meter I used and I’m very please with it.
https://keto-mojo.com/
