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New diagnosis, I dont understand ketones!

T

Type2Wife

Member
Messages
5
Type of diabetes
Family member
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Husband diagnosed last week. He is overweight by about 5 stone, the diet was always going to start tomorrow!

We have agreed to diet together as I need to lose a couple of stone too, but I understand that dieting involves the body burning fat instead of glucose and therefore producing ketones. But I read on here that ketosis is a bad thing! We are very confused.

We have read the information about Prof Taylors work, and are keen to try weightloss in order to control his condition better with low carbing but all the low carb books I have borrowed rave on about getting the body into ketosis.

We have spoken to the GP and all he said was yes it was good to lose weight but that he will still need medication and that we wont get a BG monitor as he doesnt need one. We disagree and have one on order, should we order some ketone test sticks too?

So, what is the advice re dieting and ketones with a newly diagnosed T2, his last fasting level was 9 if that helps. Cholesterol not tested yet.

Thank you for helping and sorry if I have got anything wrong, this is my first post!
 
Burning fat does create ketones but this is not a problem unless blood sugar is also elevated probably into the 20s. When you have ketones with high blood sugar you have Ketoacidosis (DKA) which can be dangerous as the blood becomes acidic. Burning fat to reduce weight and hence blood sugar is in general not a problem despite some 'experts' saying it is. Many athletes go into ketosis when available carbs run out. The GP is not right to say you will need medication; he should have said you may still need medication.
 
Thank you both :)

And dont get me started on the GP......or the diabetes nurse either come to that. They seem to be the medical equivalent of "computer says no". Very frustrating.
 
You would normally check ketone levels when you have unexplained high BG to determine if the the cause of the high BG is simply a missed insulin injection (e.g. A bottle of Lucozade without insulin will give you sky-high BG but this is not a medical emergency) or an absolute insulin deficit (if there is no insulin, your cells can't use the glucose in the bloodstream and will signal your liver to dump more glucose I.e. unexplained high BG with ketones strongly is a symptom of dangerous chain reaction - DKA which is a medical emergency).

Afaik checking ketones to monitor the progress of your diet is nothing more than snake oil salesmanship.

On the other hand, there is a possibility that t2 is a misdiagnosis since basically anyone not a child or in DKA is assumed to be T2. On balance, I'd suggest to keep an eye on his fasting levels and go get some ketone testing strips (they are expensive, but every pharmacy should carry them) if fasting levels go over 15 mmol/l.
 
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