Testing

[u/StillRocki]

How to you test to see if you are in ketosis?
I know the urine strips are not reliable. Wondering what everyone else is using?
I want to find out if certain things I am eating are possibly throwing me out of ketosis?

[u/ReverseLazarus]

What are your goals with keto?

[u/StillRocki → u/ReverseLazarus]

I did strict keto a few years ago and lost over 60lbs - but then gained 30 back over the last 2 years- I have gone off my keto diet for a few months at a time and am struggling to get back to the strict keto lifestyle- I find it so much harder now (especially now that I live with two people eating regular high carb food) so to make it doable I started eating more convenience food- like keto bread, low carb yogurt, Atkins snacks, Quest chips, etc. I feel like there are not results like before (which let’s face it results - weight loss for me- is what keeps me motivated).
I would like to find out if something in particular is kicking me out of Ketosis…so I can avoid that and enjoy the other snacks that are not.

[u/mustang19671967 → u/StillRocki]

My advice is stay away from keto bread chips candy etc cause thst has kicked me out and stalled me with the hidden stuff . I know it’s really hard . I use a keto mojo , expensive and no matter how hard I do keto and strick , I am usually 1.1 or 1.2 . Always under 20’carbs in total not net stuff.

[u/ReverseLazarus → u/StillRocki]

Ketosis doesn’t drive weight loss, a calorie deficit does. If weight loss is your goal then I don’t recommend testing at all since it’s giving you zero actionable data pertinent to your goal.

[u/Hantsypantsy → u/ReverseLazarus]

But it does decrease hunger which helps with weight loss. Not to mention, going in and out of ketosis makes you have to continually go through some of the less than great side effects - keto flu, body aches, etc. Knowing whether or not something is kicking him out of ketosis is exactly actionable because he knows what to avoid in the future.

Sorry OP, no advice from me. I've always used strips and felt that they were accurate enough. I have definitely found that keto bread and tortilla wraps will knock me out if I eat them regularly enough.

[u/ReverseLazarus → u/Hantsypantsy]

The decrease in hunger is never guaranteed and is different for everyone. Plenty of people experience the same hunger decrease eating 50-100g carbs ([r/lowcarb](r/lowcarb)) and plenty of others still experience hunger eating fewer than 20g carbs. There’s no reason to test since you’d be playing the game of trial-and-error with foods/carb/protein/fat intake to see what your specific sweet spot is, and ketosis isn’t always the main player there.

And the “keto flu” is pretty much optional since it’s primarily electrolyte deficiency, easy to avoid with proper sodium/magnesium/potassium intake. The body aches you’re describing are a symptom of deficiency, so testing for ketosis is not helpful for this either.

Our FAQ explains all of this and more.

[u/KCKetO → u/StillRocki]

Try carnivore. Eat as much as you want. Stay away from dairy. You will be in ketosis.

[u/MyNebraskaKitchen]

I use a breath analyzer, which I think is somewhere in between the urine test strips and a blood test for reliability and consistency.

Since my wife and I are both Type II diabetic (and she's insulin-dependent as well), severe ketoacidosis is a small but non-trivial risk. But the blood test strips are really expensive.

[u/Brudius]

I would say just track everything and read every label. I don't ever stress if I am in ketosis or not. Just a focus on knowing I'm consuming proper portions and carbs (or lack there of).

[u/Grey_spacegoo]

I use a blood ketone meter.

[u/d9c3l]

Ideally you want to use a blood meter like mojo keto, to check both glucose and ketones, but before I did all of that, the way I knew besides weight loss (though keto doesnt directly cause it but a tool to help make it easier when going towards a deficit) was the extra energy I had that I didnt have before (though that did kinda dip a couple of weeks or so later due to being sick before it rebounded). Long term, I wouldnt bother checking unless you want to see what might be suppressing your ketones and spiking your glucose. Always check the sugar alcohol as some of them do cause a glycemic effect. However do know the meters only check the excess in your blood and not being used so it's not always reliable especially when youre months into keto and fully fat adapted, your body produces less ketones or your body may be using them more when youre exercising, etc. There can be cases where cortisol can suppress ketones production (eg lack of or improper sleep schedule, the "dawn phenomenon", etc)

[u/Maximum-Abrocoma1510]

blood ketone meter is the one I’d use if you actually want to know. it measures beta-hydroxybutyrate directly, unlike urine strips which get less useful as you adapt