I understand that most of the success of the keto diet is that simply getting close is still a great achievement (gives you the benefits of all of the low carbs diets out there), but achieving actual ketosis seems pretty rare. Has anyone here gone as far to not only take the steps and time to get their gki under 9, but also to get the blood tester to know for sure? If so I would love to hear stories about the process. How long it took to get <9, how long you stayed there, how easy was it to get pushed back out, how being in that state objectively felt, is ketosis a noble goal, just a fad? TIA!

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Posted by McLemore

Member since Dec 2003

35721 posts

Posted on 8/6/18 at 12:09 am to Kingpenm3

quote:
but achieving actual ketosis seems pretty rare

I'm not sure where you're getting your standard for "actual ketosis." I range from .7 to 3.0 mmol/l these days (higher w exos) and am absolutely fat adapted and in nutritional ketosis if you use Phinney's standards.

Give it a name, I guess.

eta: I've never tested my blood glucose at the same time as my ketones. let's say my blood glucose is at 80 and ketones at 2.0. 80 / 18 for the mg/dl to mmol/L conversion = 4.4
4.4 / 2 = 2.2

this would be fairly regular for me.

even if my glucose were 90 and ketones at 1, that's a 5. still strong.

Am I doing the calculation right?

let's say 95 blood glucose (which I've only had right after a PET scan), and .5 ketones (Phinney's minimum), that's 5.27 / .5 = 10.5 I would almost have to try to get that high.

This post was edited on 8/6/18 at 9:04 am

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Posted by Kingpenm3

Xanadu

Member since Aug 2011

10024 posts

Posted on 8/6/18 at 9:17 am to McLemore

quote:
Am I doing the calculation right?

Yes, sorry, I had been reading about gki and not bhb readings.

quote:
I'm not sure where you're getting your standard for "actual ketosis." I range from .7 to 3.0 mmol/l these days (higher w exos) and am absolutely fat adapted and in nutritional ketosis if you use Phinney's standards.

Cool deal. I've met plenty of people who are on a keto diet, but not any who checked to verify.

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Posted by McLemore

Member since Dec 2003

35721 posts

Posted on 8/6/18 at 9:25 am to Kingpenm3

quote:
I've met plenty of people who are on a keto diet, but not any who checked to verify.

yep. and sorry if i sounded snarky. i didn't mean to be. i just hadn't ever broken down the gki, so i was thinking maybe it was not in line with my experience with just testing ketone mmol/L.

there's no way i would be in ketosis if my glucose levels were high though. i think my meter will test both--just need to get some glucose strips for it.

it took me a while to get to where i could stay steadily in ketosis and reenter it quickly after carbs. long, steady, aerobic exercise and fasting go a long way.

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Posted by BRIllini07

Baton Rouge, LA

Member since Feb 2015

3213 posts

Posted on 8/6/18 at 12:05 pm to Kingpenm3

Sure have! That's how I found out I was diabetic.

Since I got there through disease and not diet I don't have much for advice. However, at that blood condition (in my case high blood sugar and high ketones)I still felt great and had full energy. Based on weight loss I was in this condition for about 3-4 months.

As part of my treatment I had to back myself out of ketosis (to confirm my body could at least use glucose again), this took about 2 weeks even with normal blood glucose levels.

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Posted by FatMan

Louisiana

Member since Oct 2016

2079 posts

Posted on 8/6/18 at 4:09 pm to Kingpenm3

I check blood ketones daily using an Abott Precision Xtra, every morning I range 1.5-4.0 mmol. My fasting blood glucose is usually 90-130 (I have type 1 diabetes).
I have stayed in optimal ketosis for nearly 18 months...
It is not hard to get into or stay in ketosis IMO.

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