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Type 2 Best time to test for ketones

Swiggy

Well-Known Member
Messages
330
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Diet only
I have been firmly sticking to lchf since the end of January but my fbg hasn't dropped. I started testing before and after meals and I am usually back to within .3 mmol of my pre meal level after two hours.
I have completely cut out all the obvious carbs - bread, rice, pasta, fruit etc. I don't have a sweet tooth so I don't eat cake, biscuits, sweets or drink fizzy drinks.
I have been checking labels and weighing out portions and I am confident that I have only gone above 40g of carbohydrate on fewer than six days since starting lchf and I haven't been eating huge quantities of protein.
I feel great. I haven't been hungry and I feel satisfied after eating small meals. After gaining five pounds since starting I decided that I was embracing cream too enthusiastically and cut back to 100ml a day and I am happy to report a two pound loss this week.
Apologies for the amount of background but I have two questions.
Can you be burning fat and still have blood glucose levels in the sevens and eights?
What's the best time to check urine for ketones? I have bought some Bayer Ketostix which are due to be delivered today.
 
LCHF won't immediately eradicate higher than ideal fasting BG levels. Although you are LCHF, your body will still be converting protein into glucose; a process known as gluconeogenesis. The situation manifests itself in a similar fashion for a lot of T1's, where we still need insulin for meals that don't contain carbs but do contain protein.

Insulin resistance and dawn phenomenon are a further two factors which will increase your fasting BG. Insulin resistance tends to improve with weight loss and increased activity levels. Dawn phenomenon however is more or less a permanent battle that many diabetics have to deal with...

In terms of when to test your ketones, I wouldn't have thought it would matter much. If you are aiming for a state of permanent ketosis then any time of day should be fine in my opinion.
 
Hi @Swiggy My answers are:
  1. I think proteins are the key, if you eat a lot, then gluconeogenesis will operate and that will increase your blood glucose. So I limit my proteins to 0.8g/kg of target body weight. However, as @GrantGam says, there are many other factors involved. For me, though I seem to be particularly susceptible to increased bs and weight if I eat more protein.
  2. I don't think it matters much, but I test at 21:30 every night, because that's definitely 2 hours after my last food of the day and it allows me to set an alarm on my computer so I don't forget. I also think it's a good idea with any series of readings to keep variables under control as much as possible. I always weigh and test my fasting bs at the same time each day.
Hope that helps.
 
Thanks @GrantGam. I thought I must be doing something wrong when my fbg didn't go down after more than a month. I am sure that I will be able to stick with low carb long term and hope that my levels will improve over time. The postie has been and nothing for me so I will just have to be patient.
 
Ooh @BrianTheElder you have just identified a huge error in my approach. I have been weighing my protein but I was using my actual weight and not my target weight which means that I am eating at least 30g too much. That will make a big difference won't it?
 
I think the ketone urine testing strips have a fairly hefty time delay too. Meaning that you may be measuring ketones from hours earlier.

Basically, I'd test at a time that suits you - and for no other reason
 
Hi. All I can say is, if I ate 30g extra protein it would make a big difference. But everyone is different. One thing is that some people think exceeding the protein you eat may be harmful, again a personal choice. You certainly need a minimum because protein is used by the body for repair and growth.
I use a ketone meter, but the strips are expensive. The cheapest I have found are "On-Call" ketone and glucose meter and strips, but even then the ketone strips are about 80p each. The urine strips are a good idea to start with, but aren't particularly accurate and the further you progress with ketosis, the less indicative they become.
 
Thanks @BrianTheElder I have a feeling my enthusiasm for urine testing may prove to be short lived. As long as my sugar levels come down and I lose some weight I will be happy.
 
Swiggy said:
Thanks @BrianTheElder I have a feeling my enthusiasm for urine testing may prove to be short lived. As long as my sugar levels come down and I lose some weight I will be happy.
Click to expand...
Hi @Swiggy Those are my goals as well and I'm sure it will go well for you. Some of my advice was influenced by my own diet which is ketogenic, but a LCHF diet with 40g +/- of carbs a day is fine for most people.
 
I know when started low carb I was somewhat over enthusiastic with the protein and had too low fat so did not work too well .
If cutting down a bit on protein does not work then looking at the hours you eat may be a thought .What helped me was not eating after 5 pm and having a 16:8 pattern of eating ( no food for 16 hours a couple of meals and no snacking in the 8 ).. you can move the 8 hours you want to eat to suit so for example if you want to eat at 8 pm then you skip breakfast . This for me brought down BS to 5s and 6s with the only odd 7's and 8 . Obviously if you are taking meds which need to be taken with food then this may not suit and it is highly personal whether fasting suits your life style.
 
Thanks @dipsydo, I think that I might give this a try. I don't take any meds and I think this might fit in with my work routine.
 
I am only a few months from diagnosis, and have proven that the Human body is not a machine.
First I saw that eating the same foods does not always produce the same BG levels, but that usually the numbers fall little by little as the weeks pass - except for the days when they don't.
They I found that some days I longed for different foods - sometimes fish, sometimes beef, sometimes anything sweet. Eating anything else did not help at all, so I ate what I wanted, and it seems to sort out the problem.
Some days I did not want to eat - so I didn't. I don't have any sort of routine or rule to stick to.
Lastly, I eat the fat which comes with the meat I cook - except for bacon, if it cooks out it is thrown away. I have fat from goose, beef, lamb - so I cook with it. I do throw away the used fat, don't endlessly reuse, I wipe out the cast iron frying pans and then put them over the gas flame to burn off any residue. They are like glass, and look like non stick coated - which I suppose they are, in a way.
 
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