Tips for Ensuring Testing Accuracy

Things that might affect the accuracy of your blood glucose and ketone readings.

There are many factors that affect home ketone and glucose testing. We list some of the most common ones below.

• • Strip placement in the port and fill level. For accurate results, the strip must be placed firmly into the port and the blood sample must completely fill the channel. This is probably the single-most common mistake. It’s not uncommon for people to pull the strip away from the blood sample before the channel is completely full.
  • Hygiene and testing protocol. It’s important to wash and dry your hands before testing and closely follow the instructions for operating your meter, like coding each new vial of ketones (if coding is required for your meter). Learn more about the proper testing protocol here.
  • Hydration and the amount of red blood cells in the blood. If you are severely dehydrated or anemic, your test results may be less accurate.
  • Altitude, temperature, and humidity. High altitude, low and high temperatures, and humidity can cause unpredictable effects on test results.
  • Interfering substances. Some substances, such as Tylenol, elevated uric acid, or low glutathione may interfere with your glucose test results.
  • Food or contaminants like lotions, exogenous ketones, and MCT oil on the skin or strips. If strips come into contact with a contaminant, results may not be accurate.
  • Exposure to air. Studies have shown that extended exposure of the blood sample to air can result in readings with a 10% variance, as a result of evaporation, coagulation, and changes in a small volume of blood.
  • Strip expiration. Check your strip expiration.

Why are my results different if I take multiple tests from the same blood sample?

When testing you blood ketones or glucose, you may receive different measurements even from the same blood sample. It is not uncommon in home testing given the small size of the sample.

For Ketones:

For readings 2.0 mmol/L or less:

• • 100% of the time we will hit the target within 0.5 mmol/L of your lab results
  • 90% of the time we will hit the target within 0.3mmol/L of your lab results

For readings over 2 mmol/L:

• • 100% of the time we will be within 25% of your lab results
  • 97% within 15% of your lab results
  • 81% within 10% of your lab results

For Glucose:

For readings 2.0 mmol/L or less:

• • 100% of the time we will hit the target within 0.5 mmol/L of your lab results
  • 90% of the time we will hit the target within 0.3mmol/L of your lab results

For readings over 2 mmol/L:

• • 100% of the time we will be within 25% of your lab results
  • 97% within 15% of your lab results
  • 81% within 10% of your lab results