Ketones are the byproduct of burning fat for fuel. Ketosis is the state where your body starts to burn ketones for energy instead of glucose. One can achieve this through fasting, dieting, or exogenous ketone supplements. In this article, we will discuss why using these compounds in your diet may provide you with a number of benefits!
Contents
What are Ketones?
A ketone is simply a byproduct of fat oxidation. Your body can make energy when it breaks down fat. When this happens, ketones are made. This is good because if glucose is not available, you can use the ketones as fuel instead.
Ketones are a good source of energy for your body. When you eat less food, your liver can make more ketones. Ketones are good for weight control too!
Why Use Ketones?
Ketone bodies produce in the liver when carbohydrates aren’t available to break down into glucose, or from your body fat. They serve as a great energy source if you find yourself in a situation where glucose isn’t readily available. When the body shifts to using ketones for energy, one can refer to it typically as being “in ketosis” or having nutritional ketosis.
Ketone bodies are also useful for keeping your blood sugar more stable when you are on a low-carb diet. Due to the fact that they help regulate blood sugar levels in a way similar to how insulin does, it is not uncommon for people who are living with type II diabetes and/or pre-diabetes to turn ketones into an alternative energy source.
Symptoms Of Diabetic Ketoacidosis
Following are the symptoms of DKA are:
- Dry mouth and tongue
- Thirsty, Feeling very hungry all the time.
- Feeling sick to your stomach or throwing up (vomiting)
- Fruity smell
- Drowsiness/confusion
- Thirsty but not urinating much
- Shortness of breath or rapid breathing rate.
- Vomiting and abdominal pain that may come with nausea and diarrhea
- Muscle cramps or aches
- Fever
These are all the symptoms of DKA
Who Needs a Ketone Test?
Ketones or ketone bodies are a point of discussion for some time now. When we talk about these chemical compounds in the context of our diets and nutritional intake, there is typically one type that comes up: beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB). It’s likely that you’ve heard of BHB and the ketogenic diet before, but what exactly are these molecules and why should we care so much about them?
Beyond anything else, it is important to understand that there is a significant difference between nutritional ketosis (which typically produces elevated levels of beta-hydroxybutyrate) and diabetic ketoacidosis (which typically produces elevated levels of acetoacetate and beta-hydroxybutyrate).
Benefits of Ketone Bodies
Ketogenic diets act as a therapy for epilepsy for some time now. Diets that are high in fat and low in carbohydrates can help improve the lives of those who suffer from this disease by reducing seizures and other symptoms that come with it.
The use of ketone bodies as an energy source is also becoming more and more popular due to their ability to promote mental clarity, greater physical endurance, and more stable energy levels. Many athletes are turning to ketogenic or low-carb diets in order to get the most out of their body’s ability to function on this type of alternative fuel source.
Who Needs a Ketone Test?
The best way you can determine whether or not your diet is effective at helping you produce ketones is by monitoring your urine for elevated levels of acetoacetate (AcAc). If the test comes back positive, it’s likely that your body isn’t using those ketone bodies as an energy source and they are simply processing through the kidneys.
If you find yourself in this situation, try reducing your carbohydrate intake or potentially increasing the amount of exercise you are doing. You can also try changing up the type of foods that you are eating, as some people have better luck with fatty meats while others prefer low-carb vegetables.
There is no need to purchase expensive testing strips in order to determine whether or not your diet has effectively increased ketone bodies in your body. By monitoring the color of your urine, you can get a pretty good idea of what is going on within your body and adjust accordingly if necessary.
Urine Test
A ketone urinalysis is a test that measures the amount of acetoacetic acid and beta-hydroxybutyric in the urine. The more ketones present, generally means that you are consuming fewer carbohydrates or sugars such as bread, pasta, etc. This will allow your body to start using fat as an energy source, which will result in weight loss. This test helps to monitor your progress as you are on a ketogenic diet, by checking the levels of ketones that excrete out of the body on a daily basis.
Blood test
Even though you can measure ketones with a blood test, it’s not the most accurate method. It only shows your current state at that moment and changes throughout the day.
Breath
The best way to test for ketone levels is by measuring acetone in the breath using a handheld monitor or machine that calculates results from a breath sample.
Advantages of Adding Ketones to Your Diet
The advantages of using them in your diet:
- Ketones have many advantages for those who are trying to lose weight.
- In fact, there are over 100+ benefits that come from using them in your diet!
- They can help you burn fat faster and create a powerful energy source at the same time.
- It is difficult for most people to do two things at the same time. This becomes troublesome for their body to work on energy and fat at the same time.
- It is difficult for most people to do two things at the same time. Their body can’t work on energy and fat at the same time.
What Do The Results of Ketone Test Mean?
Ketones, most commonly describe the meaning of keto-adapted. Ketone bodies are a kind of energy. Your body can use ketones as fuel if it is not getting enough carbs from food.
The ketones are the result of your body breaking down fatty acids. Ketones are when your body doesn’t have carbs. It makes them from fat. Ketones are made of energy molecules. Your blood sugar level will then become lower than usual, which forces the body to use ketones for energy.
Ketosis can be achieved by following a low-carb diet (where you eat 20g or less of carbs per day), fasting, exercising intensely on an empty stomach, or taking supplements that contain exogenous ketone bodies. The process where your body produces enough ketones to be used as a source of energy is called ketosis.
Ketones are made when your body uses fat for energy. To find out the level of ketones in your blood, breath, or urine, you can test them. If you have a lot of ketones in these tests, then it means that you are following a low-carb diet and using fat for fuel instead of sugar.
Your body can use ketones for energy instead of glucose/sugar. This is good for your health because it means that your cells can use fat instead of sugar. Your cells change to this after three weeks. Then you can replace carbs with other sources of energy, such as ketones.
You can get an accurate result by testing your blood or breath for the levels of ketones in your body. Ketone test strips are also available to measure urine levels but these aren’t always reliable and give a false reading which is why we recommend using one of our blood testers instead!
What happens after a ketone test?
Once a person has taken a ketone test, there isn’t much else that needs to happen. Ketones are a type of molecule that your body creates when it isn’t getting enough glucose. A test can show you how much ketones you have in your blood, and tell you if they are too high or too low.
If you are trying to lose weight, you can check your ketone levels. This is a good thing to do after 3 hours. There is no set time for how long you should wait before checking again, but many people choose to wait 3 hours between checks.
You can tell if your body is in ketosis by testing and monitoring the ketones. Knowing when to eat carbohydrates, as well as what types of foods to eat when you are in ketosis, is important.
Conclusion
Ketones are a type of molecule that produces when the body breaks down fat. This process creates energy for cells in the brain, heart, and muscles to use as fuel. The ketone diet was developed by doctors to treat some conditions. It can help people who have low blood sugar levels or don’t have enough insulin in their bodies. But some people think that this high-fat diet might not be better than any other type of diet for weight loss, even if it is only being used for that reason.
Do you want to get rid of diabetes? Join our online diabetes consultation program and reverse your Diabetes naturally through lifestyle changes such as a Personalized Diet plan, Exercise, dieticians, and health coaches.
