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How to Check Your Ketone Levels

Ketones are present in your urine and blood, and can be easily detected. Here are a couple simple ways you can measure and check the level of ketones in your body.

Image by Jazmin Quaynor

Keto is a low-carb diet that uses foods moderate in protein and high in fats. This not only helps you lose weight and control your sugar intake, but it offers several other health benefits. The goal of diet enthusiasts following keto diet is to achieve a state of ketosis. It is a natural state that enables your body to burn fat for energy and fuel instead of sugar (or carbs).

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But how do you know when you’ve reached ketosis?

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Luckily, in this article, we show you some simple and accurate ways you can measure and check your level of ketones.

Measuring Ketone Levels in Urine

"Nutritional ketosis is safe fro most people and shoud not be confused with ketoacidosis, a severe complication of diabetes."

One of the more economical and convenient ways to measure your ketone level is to use urine strips. These strips are relatively inexpensive and are readily available at a local pharmacy or online. It is recommended to check your ketone level with the urine strips at the same time each day to be consistent with your daily comparisons.

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To measure ketone level, you need to;

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  • Wash/sanitize your hands

  • Take your urine sample in a container

  • Dip the absorptive part of the strip into the container for 1 to 2 seconds, and then remove

  • Wait the recommended time (according to the strips purchased) to check the reading

  • Compare the color with the chart on the package

  • Dispose of the strip and wash your hands]

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According to healthline.com, they recommend a blooe ketone rainge for nutritional ketosis to be between 0.5 and 3.0 mmol/l. They also state, “Nutritional ketosis is safe fro most people and shoud not be confused with ketoacidosis, a severe complication of diabetes.”

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Measuring Ketone Levels in Blood

You can also measure ketones using a blood meter. It is a more accurate way to check the ketones in your body. The blood meter gives a specific readout of your ketone level and leaves out the guesswork of matching colors  But, typically, the device is for diabetic people to check ketones levels in the blood and are often more expensive than urine strips.

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To measure ketones in blood you need to;

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  • Wash/disinfect your hands

  • Insert the lancet with the pointer, following the instructions provided

  • Insert a ketone strip into the meter

  • Prick your fingertip to draw a blood drop with the help of a lancet

  • Let the ketone strip assimilate with the blood

  • Take note of the result

  • Dispose of the blood strip

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