How can I tell if I am in ketosis?
Ketosis is that magical state when you have exhausted your blood glucose and now you start burning an alternate fuel source — your own stored fat.
Okay — its not magic. It’s just basic physiology. But it is DIFFERENT than what you are used to.
Are you new here? Step one: read What the hell is nutritional ketosis?
How long does it take to get into ketosis? Well, IF you are keeping your carbs below 20 g daily AND you have enough fat and not too much (excessive) protein — it can take anywhere from days to weeks. Mileage varies.
Here are some milestones to look for to keep you on track.
7 ways to tell if you are in ketosis
1. Funky mouth
Your keto mouth is a fascinating place. You will have a distinctive metallic-ish, sometimes sweet taste. Why? Because you are making the ketone acetone and then you breathe out that delicious funky brew.
Some find it nasty (solution — drink lots of water). Some find it a little sweet.
You can even use your breath to quantify your level of ketosis with a breath analyzer. Most people say that this is not a terrible effective method. I just can’t be bothered. I can just feel that “funky keto feel” in my mouth.
2. Keto strips/Urine strips
This is a fun science experiment!
You pee on a little paper stick (or dip it in a cup of your urine — even more fun! You will feel like a real scientist!) and then the strip turns colors which correlate to how many keytones were found in your urine. The more purple — the more keytones.
I bought a kit, because it was cheap ($10) and I like science. And I like to freak out my family with my pee cup in the bathroom. But I only test every few days — sorta like “Hmmm. yep. I thought so. Still purple.” BUT if I get weak and eat too many carbs one day, this will be useful to see if I have been kicked out of ketosis from a cheat. So, it’s a easy tool.
(Side note — if you take exogenous keytones — you will pee those out too and those will make your pee test positive for keytones. BUT it is unclear whether that means you are REALLY in ketosis. Science is fun — right?)
3. Blood testing
This is, by far, the most effective and scientific way to test your ketone level. This is also the most expensive ($30-$50) and means you have to prick your finger every time.
Nutritional Ketosis is defined as blood ketones somewhere between 0.5–3.0 mmol/L.
Once again, I skip this because I have all the other stuff which indicates I am in ketosis, so I don’t feel the need to add a layer and I don’t like to poke myself.
4. Just not hungry anymore
How does that work? Ugh. You will have to wait for the science until I have time to research ghrelin and insulin and how they all work together.
Here’s the deal. You just stop giving a fuck about food. No cravings. No obsessing about what you will eat. You just don’t really care about food anymore. It’s like someone switched off a switch.
If you don’t care about food at all anymore (and you didn’t just binge eat a whole plate of nachos) — then you are likely in ketosis.
5. Fat falling off your body
Okay, that seems a little extreme. I may exaggerate. It’s not like you are going to find little puddles of fat around your house.
BUT — one way to know if it is happening is that you may steadily and easily lose weight. And not just any weight. Fat. Gone. A pound or two every week.
6. Unusual levels of focus and mental clarity
Let’s start with the bad news here — and there IS bad news. BEFORE you get to the happy mental clarity zone, you will likely go through a hellish week or so of “keto flu”. That is code for fucking kill me now, headache, muzzy headed, yuggy, brain fog, blerghs. So, that sucks.
BUT after you get through that and adapt, BOOM, mental clarity and the odd ability to focus. No afternoon slumpy time. No morning fog. Just a happy alert brain. Most of the time. Cah-ray-zee.
7. Can’t sleep
For many people this is fleeting but also -whew! Five am rolls around and you are like “LET’S GO!!!!! DAYTIME!!!! WHERE’S THE EFFING SUN! I WANT TO MAKE STUFFFS!”
And everyone else in your house is like, “shut the eff up and sit the hell down.”
Your house will be super clean and your to do list will shrink. And if you are me — you will go online and buy stuff, or you will start a new medium blog about ketosis — so try to avoid that.
