But if you want to start keeping track of your metabolic health, you have the option of several different types of monitoring devices available on the market. 

Two of the most popular systems today are continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) and blood glucose-ketone meters.

This guide has all the information you need to make an informed decision on which one is right for you, including explanations of how each system works, which one is the most accurate, cost comparisons, and peer-reviewed research on treatment outcomes.

How Continuous Glucose Monitors Work: Pros and Cons 

Continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) are a relatively new technology, first approved by the FDA in 1999, that allow users to receive frequent updates on their blood glucose levels. 

The technology consists of a tiny implantable sensor, a connected transmitter, and a wireless receiver. 

The CGM sensor is inserted under the user’s skin, typically in the upper arm or belly area, where it measures glucose levels in interstitial fluid (the fluid found in tissues between cells) every few minutes.

The transmitter communicates wirelessly with the receiver to provide data from the sensor, which then allows the user to review glucose data on the receiver readout. In some cases, the receiver can be replaced with a compatible smartphone. 

The most popular CGM systems currently in use are the Dexcom G7, the Abbott Freestyle Libre, and the Medtronic Guardian Sensor 3. Most models automatically measure glucose levels every 5 minutes for a total of 288 readings per day.

Although it’s sometimes said that CGMs provide “real-time” updates on glucose levels, this is not quite correct. There’s about a 10-20 minute delay (depending on your device) with interstitial glucose vs instant readings from capillary blood glucose, which makes CGMglucose less reliable for treatment decisions compared to finger stick glucometers (or glucose-ketone meters).

It’s extremely important for people with type 1 diabetes to understand that CGMs should not replace finger stick glucose meters. The National Institutes of Health and other diabetes management experts recommend using finger stick glucose readings to confirm treatment decisions (such as administering insulin), double-check CGM results whenever necessary for safety, and for some models that may need calibration.

Who Should Use Continuous Glucose Monitors?

While research into the use of continuous glucose monitoring for people with type 2 diabetes is ongoing, most people who use CGMs today have type 1 diabetes.

Some patients feel that CGMs are easier or more convenient, but current research suggests that continuous monitoring does not result in better outcomes for diabetic patients compared to frequent self-monitoring of blood glucose using a finger stick glucometer.

Pros of Continuous Glucose Monitoring

• CGMs make it easy to establish trends: Establishing glucose trends over time allows people with diabetes to learn a lot about how their meals, medications, and lifestyle decisions affect their health. While it’s also easy to do this with glucose meters or glucose-ketone meters, especially those that sync to an app like Keto-Mojo, the automatic and frequent nature of CGM readings simplifies this task.
• Measures time in range: Time in range is the amount of time a person spends in the target blood sugar range compared to the time the times they’ve been high (hyperglycemia) or low (hypoglycemia). This data is helpful in finding out which types of foods and what activity level causes blood sugar to rise and fall. The more time a person spends in range, the less likely they are to develop certain diabetes complications.
• Fewer finger sticks and easier for some users: Although CGMs shouldn’t completely replace finger stick glucose readings, some users rely on them to decrease the number of finger pricks required. They may also be easier or more agreeable for young children or people with cognitive impairment or sensory issues (at least if someone else helps set the equipment up).
• There may be fewer supplies to keep up with: For some users, continuous glucose monitors may cut down on supplies patients need to keep track of (such as lancets and glucose strips), though this isn’t entirely the case. (For example, most CGM sensors need to be replaced every 7-10 days.)
• CGMs paired with an insulin pump are convenient for some patients: This combination, also called a sensor-augmented pump, works well for some patients with type 1 diabetes. You can ask your physician if this type of device would suit your needs.

Cons of Continuous Glucose Monitoring

• Cost and affordability: The most accurate CGMs require a prescription, depending on your location. In the US, people can expect to pay anywhere between $150-$450 for the receiver and $200-$374 a month for the sensors without Medicare, and $75-90 a month for sensors with Medicare. Costs may be lower depending on your health insurance and coverage.
• No ketone readings: There are currently no CGMs that measure ketone levels, which means they can’t be used to confirm a state of ketosis on the ketogenic diet. They also can’t warn people with diabetes when dangerous ketoacidosis may be occurring.
• Water-resistant but not waterproof: CGM sensors are considered water-resistant but not waterproof which means they can fall off prior to expiring if exposed to too much water.
• Most continuous glucose monitors aren’t FDA-approved for treatment decisions: Instead of relying on CGMs for treatment decisions, experts recommend confirming the CGM reading first using a finger stick glucose reading before proceeding.
• CGMs don’t provide real-time blood glucose readings: CGM readings measure interstitial glucose which lags blood glucose by 10-20 minutes.  
• CGMs don’t entirely replace the need for finger sticks: According to the National Institute of Health, experts recommend using finger pricks readings to confirm any treatment decisions, and to double-check CGM readings whenever necessary.

How Glucose & Ketone Meters Work: Pros and Cons

Glucose-ketone meters are consumer devices that work by measuring both your blood glucose levels and your blood ketone levels. 

This style of meter works by analyzing a very small blood sample taken from your fingertip (also called a finger stick or finger prick) and sending an electrical current through the sample to test its resistance.

Based on the electrical resistance of a sample, the meter is then able to determine blood glucose levels in real-time within 15% accuracy (and sometimes greater accuracy), which the FDA deems to be sufficiently accurate for blood glucose management decisions for people with diabetes.

The process of measuring blood ketone levels works on the same principles as testing blood glucose, and combination glucose-ketone meters must also meet the same FDA-mandated accuracy standards for ketone testing.

After taking a blood test, the glucose or ketone reading is available for review in 10 seconds or less. The latest meter technology allows users to review their glucose and ketone data on the meter readout, on their paired devices using an app, and on a secure cloud interface.

Who Should Use Glucose-Ketone Meters?

Most people who use glucose-ketone meters fall into one or more of the following categories:

• Using the meter to manage diabetes or metabolic syndrome,
• Following the low-carb, high-fat ketogenic diet, or
• Improving metabolic health by learning how their diet and specific foods affects blood glucose and ketone levels.

As an illustration of the considerable benefits of using glucose-ketone monitors for metabolic health, a two-year clinical trial conducted by diabetes reversal pioneers Virta Health provides excellent insight.

In the study, 359 patients with type 2 diabetes enrolled to either follow the ketogenic diet with remote monitoring or usual care for people with diabetes.

The results were unprecedented: at the two-year mark, over half of patients in the monitored keto group had completely reversed type 2 diabetes, two-thirds discontinued all of their diabetes prescriptions, and the group had an 81% average decrease in insulin dosage.

But people without diabetes can also benefit from blood glucose-ketone monitoring. 

Research demonstrates that the ketogenic diet is highly effective for weight loss and offers other significant health benefits. And monitoring your ketone levels ensures you’re actually in a state of ketosis, which is necessary to achieve the full benefits of keto.

Even if you’re not on the keto diet, healthy glycemic control (keeping blood sugar toward the bottom of the healthy range) is correlated with a lower risk of diabetes, greater longevity, less risk of gaining unwanted weight, and a healthier metabolism. That’s why athletes and health enthusiasts often monitor their glucose levels.

Pros of Glucose-Ketone Meters

• Accuracy: All glucose meters must meet FDA 510k standards for accurately monitoring glucose levels, meaning a high degree of accuracy is guaranteed. Glucose-ketone meters must also be FDA-approved for accuracy, which is not the case for standalone ketone meters. (Learn more about the accuracy of Keto-Mojo’s meters and how they compare to other glucose-ketone meters here.)
• Affordability: At around $45 for the meter and less than $15 for a week’s worth of strips (with twice daily testing of both glucose and ketones), glucose-ketone monitoring is much more economical than continuous glucose monitors (typically between $1000-$2000, with ongoing costs of up to several hundred dollars per month).
• For people on the ketogenic diet, monitoring blood ketone levels is the only accurate way to confirm you’re in a state of ketosis, which is required to achieve the full health and weight loss benefits of keto.
• Glucose-ketone monitors allow remote patient monitoring of diet and metabolic health by healthcare providers, which is useful for people who are overweight or obese, have diabetes, or are using a therapeutic keto diet strategy for conditions like epilepsy, cancer, or dementia.
• For people with diabetes, monitoring blood ketone levels provides an early warning of metabolic ketoacidosis, a dangerous condition that sometimes affects people with diabetes (but not to be confused with a healthy state of ketosis).

Cons of Glucose-Ketone Meters

• Checking your glucose or ketone levels with a meter does require a “finger stick” using a lancet, a type of small, 30-gauge needle (for reference, that’s around 0.32 mm in diameter). The finger stick process is easy and close to painless, and most people of all ages (including children) have no problem with it. But it’s very important to observe hygiene procedures (such as handwashing) and to never, ever share a lancet with someone else as this may expose both of you to bloodborne pathogens.
• While glucose-ketone meters and supplies are by far the least expensive option for monitoring glucose and ketone levels, they still may not be affordable for everyone. Here are some potential solutions to this issue:
  • Your health insurance may cover a glucose-ketone meter.
  • Your healthcare provider may be able to prescribe you a glucose-ketone meter to ensure it’s covered by insurance.
  • Most health spending accounts (HSAs) and flexible spending accounts (FSAs) allow pre-tax purchases of glucose-ketone meters.

CGMs vs. Blood Meters: How to Decide

If you’re having trouble deciding between a CGM and a glucose-ketone meter, this section compares both types of devices head-to-head so you can learn which is best for your needs.

Accuracy and Safety 

As we’ve already touched on a few times in this guide, interstitial glucose readings from CGMs slightly lag actual blood glucose levels which make them slightly less accurate than real-time blood glucose readings from a blood glucose meter. 

And strong evidence also suggests that continuous glucose monitors are especially inaccurate during episodes of hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), meaning relying on CGMs during a hypoglycemic episode may increase the risk of death or serious harm.

They’re also slower, meaning they tend to lag behind your real blood glucose levels.

As a result of these shortcomings, it may not be safe to rely on a CGM all by itself for significant treatment decisions.

That’s not to say that CGMs are 100% unreliable, or that they don’t sometimes help people with glucose management. However, they’re simply not accurate enough to do the job alone.

Finally, as far as safety, CGMs have another major downside compared to glucose-ketone monitors. Because they don’t measure your blood ketone levels, they aren’t helpful for detecting metabolic ketoacidosis, a potentially fatal condition that sometimes affects people with type 1 diabetes.

WINNER: A high-quality glucose-ketone meter is the clear winner for accuracy and safety. They’re not only more accurate than any CGM, but also provide insight into ketone levels, which can alert users to ketoacidosis.

For the Keto Diet, Weight Loss, and Metabolic Health

If you follow the keto diet and want to achieve weight loss or improve your metabolic health, a glucose-ketone monitor is better suited for your goals than a CGM.

For one thing, CGMs don’t provide blood ketone readings, so they’re only showing you half of the picture of how your metabolism is working. 

Therefore, CGMs aren’t as helpful as glucose-ketone meters for discovering trigger foods, and they don’t allow you to explore the interplay between glucose and ketone levels after meals.

You also can’t tell whether or not you’re in a state of ketosis using a CGM, which makes them far less useful on keto.

Finally, the amount of glucose data CGMs provide (nearly 300 readings per day) is excessive for the vast majority of people. It doesn’t guarantee better results than a few well-timed readings each day. 

As we discussed in a previous section, the two-year Virta Health study demonstrated groundbreaking results using glucose-ketone meters and remote patient monitoring paired with the keto diet — with no need for continuous glucose monitoring.

WINNER: Blood glucose-ketone meters have distinct advantages over CGMs for the ketogenic diet, weight loss, and metabolic health.

For Diabetes Treatment Decisions

When it comes to making diabetes treatment decisions — such as timing or dosage of insulin or other medications — most CGMs are not FDA-approved for this use.

That’s why National Institute of Health experts advise CGM users to confirm their readings using a finger stick glucometer or other FDA-indicated device for treatment decisions.

WINNER: Glucose meters or glucose-ketone meters are more accurate and safer for making diabetes treatment decisions, and are also necessary to confirm readings from most CGM systems before proceeding with a treatment decision.

Accessibility and Affordability

Continuous glucose monitors require a prescription, making them inaccessible to the many people with metabolic health concerns who lack consistent access to quality medical care.

Even with a prescription, some insurance plans cover CGMs, but many do not. Without coverage, the annual cost to use CGMs can be over $$2,500-4,500.

A top-of-the-line blood glucose-ketone meter requires no prescription and costs $850 a year for twice-daily testing of both glucose-ketone levels.

In many cases, glucose monitoring systems are covered by insurance and glucose-ketone meters are always HSA or FSA-eligible.

WINNER: With or without health insurance coverage, glucose-ketone meters are much more affordable and accessible than CGMs.

Simplicity and Ease of Use

At first glance, continuous glucose monitoring may appear to be simpler or easier than finger stick blood glucose readings.

But keep in mind that it’s still recommended you have a finger stick system on hand to confirm readings before taking medication and to double-check CGM readings as needed for safety.

You can’t really get away from taking blood glucose readings, so it’s worth asking: does it truly simplify your life to use a CGM and a blood glucometer as opposed to a blood glucometer (or glucose-ketone meter) by itself?

Another factor to consider is that the CGM systems are somewhat temperamental and can be affected by movement, physical activity, and sweat. 

WINNER: In some situations, such as helping a very young person or someone with disabilities manage blood glucose levels, a CGM might make things easier. But in most cases, practically speaking, a blood glucose meter or glucose-ketone meter is likely simpler and easier.

Remote Patient Monitoring and Telehealth

Remote patient monitoring has significant advantages for healthcare practitioners as well as patients.

For example, evidence suggests that remote monitoring of blood glucose may reduce the risk of adverse events and help decrease insulin resistance more compared to conventional diabetes care.

Today, most models of commercially available CGMs and glucose-ketone meters have remote patient monitoring capabilities. 

However, of the two methods, remote blood glucose-ketone monitoring allows healthcare providers to obtain a better overall picture of patients’ metabolic health. And unlike CGMs, it’s also suited to incorporating low-carb or ketogenic diets for therapeutic purposes.

Combining the keto diet with remote patient monitoring has the potential to revolutionize diabetes care, as shown in the two-year Virta health study, in which 53.5% of participants achieved reversal of type 2 diabetes and an additional 17.6% achieved partial or complete diabetes remission.

WINNER: The combination of a therapeutic low-carb diet with remote glucose-ketone patient monitoring is extremely promising for ensuring patient compliance and improving metabolic health or treatment outcomes for a variety of conditions, including diabetes and obesity.

Conclusion: Test, Don’t Guess

When it comes to improving your metabolic health, managing diabetes, or losing weight, quantifying your blood glucose and ketone levels can make all the difference in the world. 

While continuous glucose monitors are much more expensive, less accurate, and don’t measure ketone levels, they can sometimes be a partial solution for individuals who lack the ability or willingness to self-administer finger stick tests.

Now that you know the benefits and downsides of both types of monitoring, you’re in a better position to make an informed decision as to which method best suits your needs. 

But keep in mind there’s no “one-size-fits-all” solution for metabolic health or diabetes treatment, so be sure to ask your doctor if you’re unsure.

Keto-Mojo’s GK+ Meter is trusted by experts, used in studies and clinical trials, and exceeds FDA accuracy standards. 

Shop meters and accessories 

The post Continuous Glucose Monitoring (CGMs) vs. Blood Glucose Monitoring (Finger Stick): What’s the Difference? appeared first on KETO-MOJO.

I want you to imagine this for a second, you measure your ketones, and you have a relatively low level of ketones that you measure. So you get frustrated, you want to throw in the towel cause you think, I guess I’m not doing the ketogenic diet properly. Well, I’ll tell you that’s a very common thing that people encounter. We have to remember one very, very, very important thing. Your level of overall ketones in the blood, isn’t always the main thing that you should be looking at. There’s a balance between the level of ketones and the level of glucose. Alright, so first off, let’s look at the means of testing ketones first, okay. There are three primary ways that people will generally test their ketones.

Testing with Urine Strips

Okay, the first one is one that you’ve probably done before, okay, those little urine strips. Now when you utilize the urine strips, you’re measuring something called aceto-acetate. And aceto-acetate is one of the three primary ketone bodies. However, when you use those urine strips, you’re measuring excess ketones, okay? So what that means is that when you first start a ketogenic diet, you generally have a large excess of ketones because your cells, your mitochondria, hasn’t become very efficient at utilizing them yet. So yep, you urinate on the stick, and you get all excited because you’re high in ketosis. Well, next thing you know, two, three weeks go by and you’re not registering as many ketones. So you start to get frustrated, you start to think that, you’re not getting an effect or the ketogenic diet isn’t working for you. Well, that’s simply because your cells are getting adapted to the ketones. So you have less excess ketones circulating the bloodstream and ultimately ending up in the urine.

Testing with Breath Meters

Okay, now let’s look at the other piece. Okay, you’ve got breath acetone. Now breath acetone is a viable way to measure, except for one big glaring issue, okay. Usually, acetone is a byproduct of aceto-acetate for lack of a better term, self-destructing in your body. Which means, that that’s not the cleanest way to get a ketone reading. Although it does provide you with some data points.

Why is Blood Testing the Most Accurate?

When it comes down to measuring, blood is going to be the end all be all. It truly is the gold standard because regardless of your level of fat adaptation at the cellular level, it is truly going to tell you the amount of beta-hydroxybutyrate, which is really the active ketone that we want to measure and see where it is in the bloodstream and how it could be impacting the cells at that level. Okay, now let’s expand a little bit further, and let’s look at something called the Glucose Ketone Index. Because in that same vein, if you measured your blood, being the gold standard of measuring ketones, and you find that your ketone levels are a little bit low, it’s easy to once again want to throw in the towel because you’re not achieving this high number of ketones. But that high number of ketones, isn’t the biggest piece, because we have to look at how glucose, is in the equation as well. You see, when you have ketones and glucose in the bloodstream, your body is always going to preferentially use what there is more of, okay. So if you are tilted towards more of the scale of glucose, your body is going to use more of the glucose, even if there are some ketones present, and vice versa.

What is the GKI?

So that’s why you look at what is called the GKI, which is a simple mathematical equation of dividing your glucose level by your ketone level. And this gives you your GKI. So let’s talk GKI for just a second. Why GKI was really first looked at? Okay. It came down to cancer research. That’s why this whole thing started with GKI, okay. They found that brain tumors generally were responding to an abnormal form of what is called anaerobic glycolysis. And I’ll spare you all the scientific details. But basically, it just means that specific brain tumors were utilizing sugar or glucose for fuel when they really shouldn’t have been, and it all had to do with the fact that they were operating inefficiently because cancer cells usually have mutated mitochondria. They have like a mutated way of creating energy. So, scientists realized that if they measured ketones, and they measured glucose, they could get a better indicator of when a cancer cell was starving versus when a cancer cell was thriving. So carry that over into how we might use it.

What is Relative Ketosis?

Well, we start to determine when is our body utilizing ketones, much more efficiently than glucose, I’m going to give you an example here for just a second, if I were to go out for a run right now and run some sprints, there’s a very good chance that my ketone levels are going to drop, okay. That could imply that I’m not in a very deep state of ketosis. But what I like to call it, is a relative state of ketosis. Because I just worked out, there’s also a very good chance that my glucose levels may have dropped because my body utilized that glucose a little bit more. Now, there’s also an opportunity for my body to elevate glucose levels, but we’ll save that for another day. The point is, I’m still in a relative deep state of ketosis, based on my level of ketones and my level of glucose. Another simple example just to give you random rough numbers. So if I have one millimole of ketones in my blood, and my blood sugar is giving me a reading of 60, that’s a pretty good ratio of low glucose to relatively high ketones. Now in that same equation, if I have that same amount of ketones, one millimole, but my blood glucose is 100 or 110, obviously, that’s a much different ratio. But if you’re looking at ketones only, you’re going to say, “Hey, I’m deep in ketosis. “I’m doing fine. “This is exactly where I want to be.” So hopefully, you can see how measuring your glucose along with your ketones is really, really important.

Why it’s Important to Test Both Ketones and Glucose

Another reason why it’s really important to not just be testing your blood ketone level but your blood ketones and your glucose levels is to really gain an understanding of your response to a given food. Okay, consider this again for a second, you just consumed a small piece of bread, just a small piece and you’re on a ketogenic diet, well, that’s going to skyrocket your blood sugar, even a little bit because your body is not adapted to it. But your response to a given food might be different from someone else’s response. See, there are various levels of what’s called Peripheral Insulin Resistance, all kinds of things that I could go down various rabbit holes with. The point is, different people will respond differently to different foods, that’s right. Even on a ketogenic diet, some people can get away with eating a small amount of carbohydrates, because their body utilizes it differently, and doesn’t cause as much of a spike in blood sugar. So it ends up giving you the tools that you need to be able to eat the foods that you want to eat, or can eat, and really stay within that healthy range. Another thing to consider, is just like I mentioned earlier, is exercise. Sometimes you don’t realize how a particular exercise impacts your ketone levels, and if your goal truly is to maintain a high level of ketones, or at least a nice GKI, then you want to know what kind of exercise triggers what within your body.

What Does Stress Do To Your Levels?

And then of course we look at stress, okay. One person could be very stressed out, and they measure their ketones, and they find their ketone levels have dropped. So they get frustrated, and they feel again that their stress is ruining their ketogenic lifestyle and they shouldn’t do keto because of that. But if you were to look at the big picture, you might see that your overall levels aren’t as bad as they seem. On the contrary, if you’re just measuring glucose, it would be easy to say, “Oh, I’m stressed out, “so my glucose levels went up,” because epinephrine when you’re stressed out, will trigger your glucose levels to go up. But one thing that people don’t think about very often, is that epinephrine, which is released when you’re stressed out, also releases and liberates fatty acids. So that means that, that could be elevating your ketone levels too. So the point is even if you measure your glucose and you’re reading 100, or 110, you don’t want to get discouraged unless you’re actually looking at your ketones too. Because there’s a very good chance your ketones have gone up with stress too, simply because they get created by the fatty acids being liberated, as a result of the epinephrine.

The Whole Picture

So look at the whole picture, you are your own data point. You want to make sure that you are looking at all factors that you can make the best-educated decision on your diet, on your exercise, on your stress level, on your sleep, and overall who you are as a person. So we need to be leaving the guesswork, out of the equation. We need to lean on the gold standard of testing. Leave the measuring to the meter, the Keto-Mojo GK+ Meter that measures your ketones and your glucose.

The post Why it’s Important to Test Both Glucose and Ketones on Keto appeared first on KETO-MOJO.

The best way to mitigate your risk is to keep your blood sugar levels at a normal range. What is the target blood sugar level, you wonder? The answer is controversial. The American Diabetes Association (ADA) delineates certain levels as “normal blood sugar levels,” but the ADA’s “normal” may not mean “optimal.”  

What’s more, measuring blood glucose isn’t the only (or even the best) way to assess metabolic health (ideal levels of blood sugar, triglycerides, high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, blood pressure, and waist circumference; more on this later.) This article helps to clarify things. You’ll learn all about blood glucose: the basics, measurement, management, and what levels are considered healthy.

What Is Blood Glucose?

Glucose, as you’re probably aware, is a form of sugar. Alternatively, you can call glucose by its other, more polysyllabic name: carbohydrate. Yes, when you eat starchy carbs or sugar, you’re eating glucose. Then that glucose passes through your gut and into your bloodstream. 

Blood glucose, then, simply refers to sugar molecules (C6 H12 O6) floating around in your veins and arteries. 

Blood glucose is necessary for survival. Your red blood cells, for example, can’t use any other fuel. Your brain also sucks up glucose like a vacuum cleaner—about 120 grams per day. (Only 30 grams per day if it’s in ketosis, though).

Carbs, however, are not necessary for survival. When glucose is scarce (on a fast, for instance), your blood sugar doesn’t go to zero. Instead, to keep glucose levels up, your body activates two glucose backup mechanisms:

1. Glycogenolysis: The release of stored glucose from muscle and liver cells. (You store about 500 grams of glucose as glycogen).
2. Gluconeogenesis: When glycogen becomes depleted, your liver makes glucose from protein and lactate. Cool survival mechanism.  (Learn more about gluconeogenesis here.)

But in obese and diabetic populations, glucose isn’t scarce. Rather, there’s too much of it.  

Blood Sugar, Insulin Resistance, and Disease

Since the 1950s, US diabetes rates have increased more than sevenfold. Driving this epidemic is a dramatic increase in sugar consumption. 

It’s a bit more nuanced, however, than more dietary sugar = high blood sugar = diabetes. We need to talk about insulin. 

You see, when you eat a meal, your blood sugar rises, and the hormone, insulin, comes along to move that blood sugar out of your blood and safely into cells. Like a good blood-sugar boss, insulin keeps your blood vessels safe from the dangers of hyperglycemia and too high blood sugar levels. 

But when sugar consistently enters the body (think daily Big Gulps), the boss gets overworked. And when the boss gets overworked, it can’t do its job anymore. 

This is called insulin resistance – the inability of insulin to effectively store blood sugar in muscle and liver cells. In a state of insulin resistance, blood sugar stays too high for too long. This is how Type 2 Diabetes starts. 

In addition to diabetes, insulin resistance underlies many other chronic diseases: heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer’s, you name it. In fact, some researchers now view Alzheimer’s as a case of insulin resistance in the brain. 

Later, you’ll learn strategies for preventing insulin resistance. But first, a word on measurement. 

How To Measure Blood Glucose

To quantify your metabolic health, you’ll need to measure blood glucose levels. Common tests include:

• • Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c): Provides a rough “average blood glucose” estimate of the past 2-3 months by measuring the amount of sugar stored in red blood cells.
  • OGTT: The oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT), administered in a lab, involves ingesting a sugary solution and measuring its impact on blood sugar levels
  • Fasting blood glucose: Your blood glucose after an overnight fast of around 12 hours.
  • Postprandial blood glucose: This is your post-meal blood glucose. It peaks 1 to 1.5 hours after eating. 

Both fasting blood sugar and postprandial blood glucose are simple home blood tests, provided you have a glucose meter. Just prick your finger, insert the test strip, and record your result. If you have a Keto-Mojo blood glucose and ketone meter you can track your results over time with the free app.

Taking a blood sugar test is an ideal way to learn the effects of different foods on your body. Simply take a baseline reading (at least 3 hours after your last meal), eat a particular food, then test 1 or 2 hours after eating. You might be surprised which foods spike (or don’t spike) your blood sugar. See this guide to testing for your bio-individuality and learn which foods elevate your glucose levels so you can avoid them.  

What Should Your Blood Glucose Be?

That is the question, isn’t it? To start, here’s how the ADA classifies diabetes risk for “fasting blood glucose (FBG) and HbA1c”

• • Normal: FBG under 100 mg/dl (5.6 mmol/L), HbA1c under 5.7 percent
    
  • Prediabetes: FBG from 100 to 125 mg/dl (5.6 to 6.9 mmol/L), HbA1c from 5.7 percent to 6.5 percent
  • Diabetes: FBG over 125 mg/dl (6.9 mmol/L), HbA1c 6.5 percent or above

But “normal” doesn’t necessarily mean “optimal.” Case in point: A large observational study following 46,578 non-diabetics over seven years found that those with FBGs from 95 to 99 mg/dl (5.3 to 5.5 mmol/L) – considered normal – were 2.33 times more likely to develop diabetes than those with FBGs below 85 mg/dl (4.7 mmol/L.)

So for fasting blood glucose, somewhere south of 85 mg/dl (4.7 mmol/L) seems best. But what about after eating?

As a general rule: the smaller and shorter the spike in blood sugar, the better. Practically, try to keep blood sugar spikes to under 30 mg/dl over baseline at one-hour post-meal. (If your baseline is 85 mg/dl (4.7 mmol/L), you don’t want to exceed 115 mg/dl. (6.4 mmol/L)) And by three hours after eating, you should be back near your baseline. This indicates that insulin—your blood-sugar boss—is doing its job. 

A quick caveat on fasting blood sugar and postprandial blood glucose measurements: They’re not the most reliable measures of metabolic health. Stress, for instance, can cause the liver to dump significant glucose into the bloodstream—so if you’re nervous before the test, it could throw off the results. A poor night of sleep could have a similar effect. And then there’s the “dawn effect“, a natural release of cortisol in the early hours of the morning – which elevates glucose – to help your body get ready for rising. So it’s best to wait an hour or more after waking to take your fasting blood glucose, and longer for people with insulin resistance.

That’s why, in addition to measuring blood glucose levels, you should measure HbA1c (average blood glucose over 2-3 months) and insulin levels. Insulin, remember, is your blood sugar boss. So watching the insulin response following an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) can give a real insight into your metabolic flexibility. Often, a hyperinsulinemic (high insulin) response to glucose is a harbinger for Type 2 Diabetes. 

Managing Your Blood Glucose

Here are some proven strategies for keeping blood sugar within a healthy range:

• • Exercise: Physical activity increases insulin sensitivity, the opposite of insulin resistance. Both endurance exercise and weight training have been shown to have positive effects.
  • Fasting: Nothing lowers blood glucose and insulin levels like not eating. Start with 16-hour intermittent fasts, and work your way up as comfort and schedule permit.
  • The keto diet: The ketogenic diet severely limits carbs, helping minimize the blood sugar response. (Carbs are sugar, after all).
  • Measure your blood glucose: Knowing how blood sugar fluctuates with different foods helps you make smarter choices.
  • Spice and supplement: Spice your food with turmeric and cinnamon – or consider supplementing berberine – to limit your blood sugar response.
  • Sleep well: Sleep is crucial for insulin function. Prioritize it.

The Relationship Between Glucose and Ketones

Glucose and ketones tend to be inversely related. As glucose rises, ketones fall. But blood sugar responds more quickly to the introduction of foods than ketones do, which is why measuring glucose on a ketogenic diet is so important in sleuthing out foods that will adversely impact ketosis.

The Final Word

If you aren’t tracking your blood glucose, now’s the time to start a blood sugar chart noting your test results. Along with other tests, it gives you an important picture of your metabolic health. 

Optimal fasting blood sugar ranges are likely between 70 mg/dl and 85 mg/dl (3.9 and 4.7 mmol/L). Higher, and diabetes risk goes up. Lower, and you risk a low blood sugar state called hypoglycemia. 

Measuring blood glucose is easy. You need only a glucometer (glucose monitor) and test strips. It’s an excellent tool to identify the foods that cause an elevated response in blood sugar in your body so you can adjust your diet accordingly.  

To keep your blood sugar under control and close to your target blood sugar, be sure to exercise, sleep, and avoid carb binging. To really kick it up a notch, consider keto or intermittent fasting. All these strategies enhance the function of insulin, which in turn improves your blood sugar response. As always, before making dramatic diet and lifestyle changes for weight loss or other reasons, it’s important to discuss the idea with your healthcare provider, especially if you’re higher risk for cardiovascular disease and heart attack. 

Check out this video with Thomas DeLauer for more on insulin resistance. Also, measure your GKI, which provides a more bird’s eye-view of metabolic health. 

The post What Should Your Glucose Levels Be? appeared first on KETO-MOJO.

Beginners Guide to Finding Your Daily Carb Limit on a Keto Diet

The fact is, the amount of carbs you can tolerate and stay in ketosis depends on your particular body, how long you’ve been living keto, your exercise regime, and more. So, when you’re first starting a keto diet, it’s recommended to stick with 20 grams of net carbs per day or 20 grams of total carbs for therapeutic purposes.  While 20 grams of total carbs is the amount that can get pretty much everyone into ketosis provided you eat within your daily macros, 20 grams of net carbs is the starting point for most people trying to achieve weight loss or general health benefits.  To learn more about the difference between total carbs and net carbs, see below or read more here.

To ensure your body completely acclimates to the keto lifestyle, it’s recommended that you stick to 20 grams of net carbs per day for a full three months before you set out to explore your own personal carb edge. 

Quick Net Carbs Primer

Net carbs are the total carbs minus the fiber (minus sugar alcohols if applicable). For example, a medium red bell pepper has 7 grams of total carbs and 2.5 grams of fiber. Therefore, the net carbs in a red bell pepper are 4.5. This is the number you would track to monitor your carb intake each day. 

How to Determine if You’re in Ketosis

The best way to see if you’re in ketosis is to regularly test your blood using a blood-ketone testing meter. (For the most reliable results, be sure you follow the guidelines on exactly how to test and when to test.) 

When you first embark on a ketogenic diet and begin testing your ketones, you’ll see your ketone levels start to rise from “Lo” to 0.1 mmol/L (the first measurable result) and higher. You’re in nutritional ketosis at 0.5 mmol/L. 

Other signs your in ketosis can include some common (but temporary) discomforts known as keto flu symptoms. They’re common among people transitioning out of a high-carb diet and can include:

• • Fatigue
  • Dizziness
  • Nausea
  • Brain fog 
  • Headaches

Meanwhile, your body may give other indications, too, including:

• • A slight fruity or acetone smell on your breath, also known as “keto breath” 
  • Increased energy (this typically happens once you’re in full ketosis)
  • Decreased sugar cravings
  • The ability to go longer between meals

How to Test Your Carb Limit

Once you’ve been steadily in ketosis for three months, you’re in a good position to test your carb edge, i.e. figure out whether you can tolerate more net carbs each day yet still stay in ketosis.

So that you don’t kick yourself out of ketosis or, if you do, you can recover quickly, it’s important to test your carb limit methodically. The best way to do this is to gradually increase your net carbs, test your ketones and glucose with your Keto-Mojo blood-glucose testing meter along the way, and stop when your test results come too close to pushing you outside of your optimal ketosis range. 

Start by increasing your daily net carbs by 5 grams, so that your daily net carbs become 25 rather than 20. Stay at this increase for at least 3 days, testing to monitor your tolerance and ensure you remain in ketosis. If you get kicked out of ketosis, immediately dial back to 20 net carbs per day and know that you are already at your edge. 

If you successfully stay in your desired range of ketosis on 25 net carbs per day for one week, bump your net carbs up to 30, try that for a week, and see how you fare. 

Remember, we all have different carb tolerance. Some people easily get kicked out of ketosis when going above 20 grams of net carbs per day. Others can eat many more carbs yet remain in ketosis. Along with lifestyle, such as exercise, bio-individuality determines your carb edge. You can learn more about it from this quick, nifty video: Self Experimentation & Bio-Individuality on the Keto Diet  

Step-By-Step Guide to Testing Your Carb Limit

Here are some easy to follow steps to help you determine your daily carb limit:

Day 1 through 3:
Increase your daily carbs by five net grams (i.e. from 20 to 25 grams), then test your ketones and glucose (see below for best times to test) to see how your body is responding. If your ketones drop significantly (and especially if they are below .5 mmol) and glucose rises more than 30 mg/dL after several hours, go back down to 20 grams of net carbs and know that 20 grams of net carbs are your daily limit. 

If you remain in ketosis on 25 net grams of carbs per day (0.5 mmol or above, but ideally higher), stay at this level and continue testing for three full days. Ketone changes don’t show up as quickly as glucose does in test results, so this allows you time to ensure you’re truly still in ketosis before adding more carbs to find your edge.  

Day 4 through 6:
If you’re still in ketosis at 25 net grams of carbs per day, Increase your daily net carbs by 5 grams again, so you’re daily net carb consumption is 30 grams of net carbs. Again, test your ketones and glucose to see how your body is responding as described above. If you continue to stay in ketosis throughout the day, continue consuming 30 net carbs per day for three days. 

Three-day increments:
If you’re still in ketosis at 30 net carbs per day, you can continue to increase your net carbs by 5 grams every three days until you reach your personal carb limit or “carb edge”  (the amount of carbs you’re able to consume without getting kicked out of ketosis). Keep in mind that your ketosis levels can be affected by other factors as well (see below), so be sure to test your ketones and glucose frequently until you know for sure what your upper limit is.

The Best Time to Test

The best way to get the clearest results from testing your ketones and blood glucose is to test before you eat and 30 and 120 minutes after you’ve eaten and to be consistent about your testing times. (You can read more about the best times to test ketones and glucose here.) So, pick a time to test that works best for you, and try to be consistent with that same time each day. Then you can compare your results to the days prior at the same time. At a minimum, when determining your daily carb limit, you may want to test two hours after you wake up (while fasted) to get your baseline test result, and again two hours after meals. 

Factors That Can Influence Your Daily Carb Limit

Your carb limit can change based on your bio-individuality and other lifestyle factors. The following are some influences and what you can do to help ensure they’re working in your favor:

Emotional Stress Levels

Emotional stress can impact your insulin response to the stress hormones, so if testing your ketones and glucose on a stressful day, you may notice a rise in glucose which can suppress your ketones. Finding ways to manage stress, such as going for walks, yoga, deep breathing, and making changes in your life to decrease your stress levels, can help your glucose and your overall well-being. 

Coffee

The effects of coffee on glucose and insulin are bio-individual. For some people, coffee consumption can raise glucose, while other people see no change and others find it improves glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity. To find out how coffee affects you, test your glucose before drinking coffee and 30 minutes after coffee to see how your glucose levels react.

Exercise/Athletes

Exercise can have an impact on insulin in two ways. First, stress from overtraining (long intense workouts without taking recovery days) can raise cortisol, which impacts insulin and can raise glucose. So be sure to take rest days and allow your body to recover. Second, exercise/muscle contraction activates glucose transport. As this acute effect of exercise on glucose transport wears off, it’s replaced by an increase in insulin sensitivity. So right after exercise, you may find a slight rise in glucose. If this is the case for you, test again 1 hour later, to see if your glucose drops back down. That said, light exercise can help burn more fat and get you into ketosis faster. Once again, test your glucose and ketones before and after exercise to see how your body is responding. 

Sleep

Researchers found that a single night of partial sleep loss impairs fasting insulin sensitivity. So the best measurement results are after a full night of sleep. To determine if interrupted sleep affects your glucose, test each morning around the same time, while fasted, and record whether you had a full night of sleep or an interrupted night’s sleep. 

Type of Carbs

Different forms of carbohydrates can affect insulin in different ways. Eating simple sugars from candy and juice will rapidly increase insulin and glucose, which can affect your ability to remain in ketosis. Complex carbs are digested more slowly, and therefore will have less of an impact on your glucose and insulin. Be sure to eat plant-based, low-starch, above-ground vegetable sources of carbs (such as broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, and zucchini). If you’re eating fruit, stick with low glycemic fruit like berries. 

How to Track Your Results

With so many factors and tests in play to determine your carb edge, it’s a good idea to track your data so you can analyze your results. We make that super easy for you with the free Keto-Mojo app that allows you to view graphs and trends on your mobile device, and add notes and tags to your readings. In the app, you can also sign up for a MyMojoHealth account which allows you to store an unlimited number of readings in a secure cloud platform, review your readings on multiple devices, connect your readings to other popular health apps, share your readings with your healthcare provider, and order supplies right from the app!  Learn more here.

Once you determine a pattern, you can make the appropriate lifestyle changes based on what you know about your body and your various activities. For example, if your sleep is disrupted one day and you know your glucose rises with coffee yet you meet a friend for coffee that day, consider giving yourself a buffer by decreasing your carbs for that day. With some investigation and exploration, you’ll get a very clear sense of how to ride your carb edge without exceeding it. 

The post What Is Your Individual Carb Limit on a Keto Diet? appeared first on KETO-MOJO.

If you’re fasting or following a low carb, paleo or ketogenic diet, you are restricting carbohydrates and are very likely producing some ketones.  But are you in a state of nutritional ketosis where you will benefit the most? And at what level of ketosis are you in? The only way to know for sure is to test. Sounds simple enough, right? Well, it is, once you understand the various ways to test for ketones and learn how to get the most accurate results. And that’s what you’ll learn here. 

Why Test Your Ketones?

A ketogenic diet is specific; the entire point is to eat foods that get you into ketosis and keep you there. But it’s not just eating keto-friendly foods that influences your ketone levels. The amount of food you eat and your specific reactions to foods and activities can affect your ketone levels and blood-glucose levels, which in turn can affect your success with ketosis. This means you can be doing everything “right” and still struggle to reach the levels of ketosis you desire. The only way to find out is to test your ketone levels. 

Monitoring your ketones gives you insight into how your body is responding. It also gives you clues and opportunity to adjust your diet a little more. Perhaps you want to tweak you carbs or you want to  identify trigger foods. Testing allows you to see how minor adjustments affect your results and allows you the capability to discover which foods have the most impact on your ketone levels, good and bad. Or perhaps you want to see how your ketone levels respond to various stimuli, such as exercising or eating a specific type of keto-friendly sugar. Again, the only way to find out is to test. 

But which test is the best for the most reliable results? Is it blood testing? breath testing, or urine testing? The unequivocal answer is blood-ketone testing; it’s the gold standard for testing your ketones. Here’s why:

Three Types of Ketones

On keto, your body will produce three types of ketone bodies. It’s important to understand their differences because each method of testing measures something different – urine tests measure acetoacetate, breath tests measure acetone and blood tests measure beta-hydroxybutyrate.  

• Acetoacetate (AcAc): When glucose is no longer available as a primary source of fuel, fat is broken down by the liver into fatty acids, which are further broken down into ketone bodies. Acetoacetate is the first ketone body that is produced and is spilled into your urine, especially in the early stages of ketosis, but rarely in later stages.

• Acetate (Acetone): Acetoacetate, the simplest beta-keto acid, is converted into either Beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) or acetone (aka acetate). Acetone is the least abundant ketone body and is exhaled through the lungs as a waste product rather than used as a source of fuel. It is sometimes called the “exhaust” ketone.

• Beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB): BHB is the most prevalent and stable ketone body in the blood and is readily transported to cells to use as fuel. It can fuel most of the brain’s energy needs along with organs and muscles and represents approximately 70% of the available ketone energy. 

Now that you know about the three types of ketones, let’s review the various testing methods, which type of ketones they test, and which results are more and less accurate.

Urine Strips: The Safety Check for Diabetics

Urine strips are widely available in drug-stores and supermarkets. These work by dipping the strip in a urine sample for a few seconds and comparing the color of the strip with the colors on the package to determine the concentration of ketones in your urine (results range from no ketones to highly concentrated amounts). The darker the color, the more ketones are present in your urine. 

Urine strips were designed primarily to monitor diabetic ketones in order to help prevent diabetics from unknowingly getting into ketoacidosis. Not to be confused with nutritional ketosis, ketoacidosis is a very serious metabolic state caused by insulin deficiency that occurs when high ketone levels are present with very high glucose levels. As a result, urine strips are effective in helping diabetics avoid a dangerous state. However, because urine strips measure excess or excreted ketones in the urine, they are inaccurate in determining nutritional ketosis and how well your body is utilizing ketones as fuel. 

When first transitioning to ketosis, sometimes the body will make excess acetoacetate ketones, which will show up in your urine and on urine-strip tests. If you get a reading for high ketones early on with a urine strip, you may excitedly think you’re getting a reading of your level of ketosis. Unfortunately, that’s not the case: the reading is simply a marker of the excess ketones you are peeing out, not an accurate account of your level of ketosis (ketones in your blood). Try the same test a few weeks later while maintaining a keto diet and your urine test may reveal no ketones, even if you are actually in ketosis. As your body becomes fat-adapted, it converts ketone bodies more efficiently and is less likely to expel them. 

Accuracy can also be affected by your level of hydration; varying levels of hydration may result in inconsistent results. In addition, the readings are somewhat subjective when comparing the color on the strip to the color on the package. And the reading you get is not a reading at the moment in time, it’s the sum of ketones present since your last urination.

Strips are generally only good for 30 days from the date of opening the vial as they are very sensitive to air and humidity, so if you do purchase urine strips, only purchase what you will use in 30 days.

Bottom line: urine strips are good as a low-cost option when first starting your keto journey and for their primary medical safety purpose: to monitor urine ketones for diabetics in order to prevent diabetic ketoacidosis. However, they are not as accurate for measuring nutritional ketosis as other methods. 

Breath Test: The Acetone Indicator

The key to understanding the breath test is to understand how ketones are metabolized in the body. Breath meters test breath acetone (parts per million) in a non-invasive manner. Acetone production is a byproduct of the fat metabolism process. Because of its small size, acetone appears in exhaled breath.

There are outside factors that can affect your level of acetone and could potentially cause the sensors to fail or clog, including: breath mints, chewing gum, some sugar substitutes, tobacco and e-cigarettes, cough drops, lip balm, mouthwash, toothpaste, foods like garlic, drinks like alcohol, coffee, green tea and fermented drinks, drugs such as disulfiram, cleaning solutions, disinfectant sprays, and environmental factors like breath temperature. Finally, acetone levels can also vary depending on your level of activity and the time of day, simply because of how you’re breathing and your respiratory rate; this can affect how our acetone levels are reflected in our breath. 

It’s important to consider the following when testing breath: device calibration, sensor expiration, breath technique, and environmental conditions. Due to their sensitivity for sensor failure, it is important to be able to calibrate your meter to a known control. Calibration requirements and frequency of calibration vary by device manufacturer. (For example: there may be required firmware or specific gas to calibrate or a recommended process and frequency). Breath acetone sensors do expire due to testing frequency and temperature, so always refer to the manufacturer’s recommended sensor replacement schedule to ensure you’re working with a current product. 

Repeatable breathing patterns are important in achieving accurate and reliable breath samples; inhale (hypoventilation) and exhale (hyperventilation) techniques vary from device to device. For the best bet with a breath-test meter, look for meter brands that routinely test the clinical accuracy of their sensors against a mass-spectrometer.

Bottom line: the breath test measures acetone, which is the byproduct of acetoacetate breaking down and not a measure of the ketones your body uses as fuel. Readings can also fluctuate based on many variables. If you do choose a breath meter, make sure you choose one that allows you to replace the sensor and can calibrate to a known control. Otherwise, you could end up with an expensive paperweight.

The Blood Meter: The Gold Standard in Ketone Measurement

The blood-ketone test does exactly what it sounds like: tests your blood for ketone levels. It’s easily conducted at home with a blood-ketone meter and gives results quickly and accurately. In fact, it’s by far the most accurate test for measuring your level of ketosis. 

The blood meter measures beta-hydroxybutyrate, a ketone body synthesized in the liver, and the most active form of ketones in your blood. Beta-hydroxybutyrate is the main ketone your body utilizes in ketosis and therefore is the most important one to measure. The number that registers on your blood meter when you test reflects the ketone level in your body, right then and there. Consider it your fuel tank. No estimates, no deciphering, just an accurate blood-ketone reading.  

Bottom line: The blood meter is the gold standard for measuring your level of ketosis because it measures the predominant ketone body used as fuel for the body. It’s a quantitative measurement providing real-time insights into your metabolism and considered the most accurate of all testing methods.

The Final Word

Whether testing ketones to confirm the effectiveness of a nutrition, exercise, or wellness plan, the most accurate and reliable way to accurately test your ketone levels is with a blood meter. Although urine and breath tests show ketones, these tests don’t give accurate depictions of your blood-ketone levels and they don’t test the right kind of ketones. This inaccuracy can lead to false conclusions of whether or not you are in ketosis as well as a false understanding of how your body is responding to different variables while on a ketogenic diet or therapies. 

Watch this video as Thomas DeLauer, Celebrity Trainer and Health Author explains the difference between blood, breath, and urine strips. 

The post Testing for Ketosis: The Difference Between Blood, Breath, & Urine appeared first on KETO-MOJO.

Understanding Ketone Levels

So what level of ketones indicates ketosis? When discussing ketone levels/levels of ketosis, keto experts often cite The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living and The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Performance, by Stephen Phinney, MD, PhD and Jeff Volek, PhD, RD. They suggest nutritional ketosis begins at molecular concentration levels of 0.5 mmol/L. That means that the minute you cross that 0.5 threshold, you’re “in ketosis.” From there, nutritional ketosis is considered “light” through 1.0 mmol/L (light is still good!), then becomes “optimal” in the 1.0 mmol/L through 3.0 mmol/L range. But if you look at the graph below, there is nuance within these ketone zones.

So, how do you know what ketone level to aim for? It depends upon your goals. The optimal ketone level will be different if your goal is to lose weight than it is if you want to prevent illness, improve mental clarity, or become more physically fit. That’s why it’s helpful to reference a ketone levels chart. View our Ketone Zone Chart below.

What Should Your Ketone Level Be?

If your primary goal for integrating the ketogenic diet into your life is weight loss, achieving “light nutritional ketosis,” or 0.5 mmol/L-1.0 mmol/L, is a good starting point. From there, aim for “optimal ketosis,” which is when your ketone levels are between 1.0 mmol/L-3.0 mmol/L. People looking to use the ketogenic diet for therapeutic benefits for medical conditions such as epilepsy, cancer, or endocrine and metabolic disorders, are generally directed to aim for much higher ketone levels—specifically in the 3.0 mmol/L -5.0 mmol/L range, or somewhere between. Those who are fasting or eat a much higher fat-to-protein ratio will look to levels in the 3.0 mmol/L-8.0 mmol/L range. But you don’t need to go there. The optimal ketosis range is called “optimal” for a reason, and it’s exactly where you’ll want to be for weight-loss and general health purposes, and you’ll eventually get there if you practice patience and get in the groove of eating a keto diet.

Ketones and Exercise

Does exercise affect ketone levels? Yes, but the effects differ from one person to the next. Still, generally speaking, anaerobic exercise (usually short duration and high intensity, like heavy weight training, sprinting, or jumping) will decrease circulating ketones, cause blood glucose to go up slightly, and cause ketones to temporarily go down. With aerobic exercises, such as swimming, walking, jogging, and cycling, you’ll generally notice an increase in circulating ketones. Does this mean you do not want to do anaerobic exercise while on a ketogenic diet? Absolutely not! Watching your ketone levels will help you understand how your body responds to various foods and activities, and knowing how your body responds will help you adjust your nutrition and food choices to properly fuel your body and maintain optimal ketone levels.

A Word of Warning

No matter the goal, no one should aim for the orange or red zones; they’re nearly impossible to achieve anyway and don’t increase the diet’s benefits. The only people who should be concerned about approaching them are type 1 diabetics because they face the potential of producing a diabetic complication called ketoacidosis, a serious condition that requires urgent medical attention. For them, the reward may not be worth the risk, which is why we recommend people with type 1 diabetes develop a diet plan with their care provider. In fact, anyone exploring the keto diet should discuss the best strategy with their medical provider, as there may be risks connected to other pre-existing medical conditions, such as kidney stones, hypercholesterolemia, or a family history of heart attack or stroke under the age of 60 years.

Your level of ketosis is not meant to be yet another thing in your life to stress over. Instead, consider it a tool to help you evaluate and adjust your eating habits as you follow your keto journey. Keep refining your choices as you go and you’ll reach your optimal levels, enjoy an invigorating and healthful way of life, and even easily slide into those too-tight jeans you’ve been eyeing in the back of the closet.

Tracking Your Ketones

Keto-Mojo makes it super easy to track and monitor your ketones, view trends and graphs, and even share readings with your healthcare provider. All you have to do is download the free app and sign up for a MyMojoHealth account on the app.  You’ll be able to store an unlimited number of readings, review your readings on multiple devices, view readings in multiple graphs, order supplies right from the app, and even connect your readings to other popular health apps.  Learn more here.

The post What Should Your Ketone Levels Be? appeared first on KETO-MOJO.

STEP 1

Prep your hands to avoid a contaminated test result:

• Wash your hands with warm water, then dry them thoroughly.

• Or, use an alcohol swab to sterilize the part of your finger that you will prick.

STEP 2

Prep your lancing device:

Twist off the top of the lancing device. Then take a new lancet and insert the lancet into the device. Press down firmly on the expansion gap, then twist off the plastic lancet cap and place the device cover over the lancet.

Adjust the depth selector. There are five settings for the depth of the lancet’s pierce, ranging from the lightest to deepest, to accommodate everything from soft or thin skin to thick or calloused skin. Choose the depth that you think is best for you; with experience, you’ll find the optimal depth for your skin. For average skin, we suggest starting in the middle at number 3.

Watch our quick video on preparing the lancet device.

STEP 3

Prep your hands to encourage better blood flow:

• Rub or massage the area to be pricked; warm hands result in better blood flow.

• Shake your hands energetically.

• Grip the finger you are going to test with your index finger and thumb of your other hand and squeeze for about 12 seconds before using the lancet. This increases hypostatic pressure.

STEP 4

Insert a fresh, unused Keto-Mojo glucose or ketone strip into your Keto-Mojo meter:

Make sure the strip is pushed all the way down in the port. Your meter will automatically turn on when a strip is placed in the meter. We suggest starting with the glucose strip because the reading takes only five seconds (versus nine seconds for ketone readings).

DO NOT touch the top of the strip where the blood will be absorbed; otherwise, you may contaminate the sample and get an inaccurate reading.

Make sure the strip is facing up. With the strip color (blue or brown) facing you, insert the electrode end into the top of the meter.  You’ll see the blood channel (a little runway) on the top of each strip when they are right side up.

Wait for the meter to display a flashing droplet icon on the right-hand side of the meter screen. After the strip is placed into the meter, meter will display the droplet icon above an image of the strip. The icon will flash on the meter screen which signifies that the strip is now ready to accept your blood sample.

STEP 5

Prick your finger with the lancing device:

Test on the side of your finger where the skin tends to be softer and the prick is less painful. For men or people with calloused hands, use your ring or pinky finger. If you test regularly, alternate fingers, primarily for comfort.

Wipe away the first blood droplet with a clean paper towel or tissue to ensure a more accurate result. Sometimes you’ll get more interstitial fluid (the substance just below the skin) with the first droplet than capillary blood. Note that tissues with lotion or aloe should not be used.

Apply gentle pressure to help form a blood droplet. Avoid excessively squeezing your finger after you’ve pricked it as that can increase interstitial fluid and affect the accuracy of your results.

If you are having difficulty forming a blood droplet, you can use gravity to help by lowering your hand below hip height and gently squeezing your finger. Start at the part closest to your palm, and work your way down your finger until a blood droplet forms.

STEP 6

With the strip firmly in the meter, bring the tip of the strip to the droplet on your finger:

On contact, the strip will draw the blood into the blood channel via capillary action.

Do not place blood on the top of the strip (vs the tip of the strip). You’ll get an error message.

Make sure you get a good fill. If the blood sample is too small, you may get an inaccurate reading or you will get an error message. Keep the strip to the blood droplet until you see the channel is completely full with blood and the meter starts to countdown. Then remove.

Watch the meter screen for your reading; glucose results will appear in 5 seconds and ketone readings show up in 9 seconds.

STEP 7

Testing with a second strip:

If you are testing both glucose and ketones, you can conduct the tests back to back; after your first reading displays, remove the strip and place the other strip (ketone strip, if you started with glucose) in the meter. Remember not to touch the end of the strip that receives the blood.

If you have a large enough blood droplet from your first lancet pierce, you can apply that to the tip of the ketone strip. If not, reactivate the lancing device by pulling back on the bottom and prick another sterilized area (it can be the same finger), touch the blood droplet to the end of the strip, and wait for the results.

 

To learn more about what your glucose and ketone readings should be, click here and here.

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Bio-Individuality & Testing for Trigger Foods in 3 Easy Tests

To discover trigger foods that may kick you out of ketosis, you will conduct 3 ketone and 3 glucose tests all in one day to see if the food you eat during the test adversely affects your ketone and glucose levels, and thus impedes your ability to reach optimal ketosis.

 

Required tools:

Keto-Mojo meter

3 ketone strips

3 glucose strips

3 lancets

Test 1 – Your Preprandial (before eating) Baselines For Ketones & Glucose

The purpose of this test is to get your preprandial (before eating) or baseline reading. You need this so you can compare it to the results you get after you eat the food in question. The best time to conduct this test is fasted, before breakfast or at least 3 hours after your last meal (or 3 hours after any food). For a step-by-step guide to testing, click here.

• Record your readings.

 

Test 2 – The Postprandial Test That Hints At Your Reaction To A Food In Question

The purpose of this test is to introduce a food in question to your diet and see how your body responds 60 minutes later. It is best to eat JUST the food in question, if possible. The more ingredients mixed with it, the more variables in the equation. We suggest eating the recommended or typical portion size for that food. If you are trying out a keto snack, eat the portion size on the package.

• Record your readings with each test and the food you ate including the portion size.

 

Test 3 – The Postprandial Test That Tells You What You Need To Know About The Food In Question

This is the test that allows you to see how quickly your ketones and glucose recover (or don’t) from the food you ate. Wait at least two, ideally three hours after eating.

• Record your readings.

Your Ketone Readings

Your ketones should not drop more than 0.5-1.0 mmol and
should return to baseline in 3 hours.

Your Glucose Readings

Your glucose should not increase more than 30mg/dL and
should return to baseline in 3 hours.

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