Stephen Decker
Aug 9, 2017 · 2 min read

Ketosis. Ketosis. Ketosis.

There seems to be a lot of concern about knowing numbers when going keto, and I’m not quite sure that matters a whole lot to the average weight loser who just wants to look better naked (persons with medical reasons have a bit more reason to track ketones and are exempt from this post).

The famous Ketosis Curve, as produced by Volek & Phinney

I see a lot (and I mean a LOT) of people always concerned with ketosis. “Is protein too high?” “Will food X knock me out of ketosis?” “Get your daily ladle full of coconut and MCT to put you back into ketosis!” “If you’re not losing fat, keto harder!”

All moot, if you ask me. Here’s my rationale.

1. You don’t need ketones to lose weight.

As I stated earlier, ketones may be a sign that you’re losing weight, but you can lose weight with and without ketones being present. If your goal is weight loss/body recomposition, you’re better off tracking actual progress on a scale or with a BIA (or a scale with a BIA). Note: BIA isn’t really a great way to directly analyze BF%, but it is probably an OK tool to assess changes in body comp over time. For a true assessment, consider a DEXA.

2. It’s expensive.

It doesn’t take much digging to find a really expensive blood ketone kit (really expensive? Maybe I say that because I’m on a student budget, haha, JK, sorta). Nevermind the fact that the test strips cost about $3 per test.

3. If it’s not expensive, it’s useless.

There are cheap urine test strips that a lot of people use, but they’re semi-quantitative (meaning all they really do is tell you a ballpark estimate) or qualitative tests (meaning they only tell you if ketones are present). These tests are kinda good at telling you if you’re close, but close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Plus if you’re close to being in ketosis and you’re seeing success, does it really matter which side you’re on? And if you’re close (or in ketosis) and you’re not losing weight, does it matter?

All in all, it’s pretty useless to track ketones regularly. Epilepsy cases have a much more pertinent reason to stay in ketosis, and therefore would have reason to measure ketones regularly. The average Joe or Jane? Not so much.

Stephen Decker

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Ph.D. student at UMass Amherst. A lifelong student in health, fitness, philosophy, and all things under the sun. Love ideas, but love sharing ideas more.

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