Questions about ketones, ketosis, KetoStix, and its implications and misconceptions have always been one of the most common queries I receive from people.
I'll try and clear up some of those mysteries here.
What is Ketosis?
When the body is in the fat burning state - where it has no carbohydrate to burn and is breaking down body fat for fuel, the body is in a state of ketosis-lipolysis (ketosis for short) This is the only metabolic pathway for fat breakdown (lipolysis) Therefore, there is no lipolysis without ketosis, and no ketosis without lipolysis. The two terms are biologically linked and, therefore, it is appropriate that they be linguistically linked.
So in layman terms being in ketosis simply means that you're burning your fat stores and using them as the source of fuel they were meant to be.
What are Ketones?
Ketones are incompletely burned carbon fragments. The very fact that they are less efficient as fuel is what makes them give you that 'metabolic advantage.' Some of the calories burned are not used to their full capacity... hence the person can eat more calories when in ketosis than when not, and still lose the same amount of weight. But lets not think of this as some magic pass to simply eat more; there are rules to achieving and maintaining a state of ketosis.
Keto-acids are very short in structure (only four carbons long). This is important because in that form they are able to penetrate cells and feed them when there is no glucose present. The fat stores (yes those areas under your skin you want to get rid of) accumulate fat as very long fatty acids. They're ordinarily difficult to break down because they're so long.
When the body must use its fat stores for energy (our goal to lose weight), these fat cells begin to release the long fatty acids into the blood stream.
To be used as fuel, particularly by the brain, all fatty acids go to the liver first where they are literally cut into two carbon fragments (keto-acids)
They are then utilized (burned) by many tissues, including the brain. The brain operates just as well on a diet of keto-acids as it does on glucose. What's left (the incompletely burned fragments) are called ketones, and they are what spill into the urine to be swept from the body.
How do I get my body into Ketosis?
You need to understand the basics of nutrients, and how to read a nutrition label.
1g of fat = 9 calories
1g of carb = 4 calories
1g of protein = 4 calories
In Keto-diet you really need to only pay attention to one thing to reach ketosis, and that is the amount of "net carbs" per day. Net carbs refers to any carb that is not fiber.
Fiber is not digested by the stomach and passed through to the intestines and then the colon. Therefore, to get your net carbs for a food, you subtract the fiber number from the total carbohydrates number on your foods label.
You need to pay a bit of attention to your protein intake. As a general rule through most keto diets, you should aim to get .8g of protein per lb of body weight in your diet. To get this number, multiply your body weight by 0.8.
Regardless of what you've been told by the media and the "food industry propaganda machine", fat will make up the rest of your nutrients (YES FAT!). Depending on what your caloric goals are going to be, the rest of the calories will be just fat!
What are KetoStix?
You'll hear them referred to as KetoStix (the original brand name), Urine Test Strips, Reagent Strips, Ketone Testing Strips, and Lipolysis Test Strips.
Depending on the plan you follow and whether you are new to this way of life, or an old timer from the 70's, you'll be referring to them as one name or another if your plan calls for being in Ketosis.
While they are in no way necessary to the keto-diet, most of us (followers) feel more secure with a way to test to know if we are in ketosis at any given time and at what level (yes there are color levels like in karate or kung-fu! lol). The test strips provide a quick and private way to determine that. Simply dip the reagent end of the strip into a urine specimen (collected in a clean cup) and remove immediately. Or alternatively, (the method most of us prefer) - wet reagent area of the strip by passing through the urine stream. Tap edge of strip to remove excess liquid and check color within 10-15 seconds against the color chart provided on all test strip brands' bottles.
A beige or cream color indicates NO KETOSIS detected. Any shade of pink/purple indicates some level of ketones in the urine. Some people get very hung up on the fact that their friend's/husband's/daughter's etc strip shows a darker color all the time, etc. We are all different. Some of us lose better (and feel better) at lighter or darker levels. You'll soon learn what feels right for you.
What if your sticks don't "turn"?
A negative result does not always mean you're not in ketosis. If you're keeping your carbs below a certain level (different for different people, but the 20 to 40 carbs per day range is a safe bet), you're probably in ketosis. Some people use their ketones more efficiently, and indeed make fewer of them, hence their lack of "spill" into the urine.
Keep in mind, though, that it's possible to keep your actual carb count low (say at around 30 grams), and still side-step ketosis. The culprits? Most often it's from eating foods that contain even a small amount of "High Fructose Corn Syrup" (HFCS), which can cause a strong insulin spike and halt fat burning. HFCS is far more destructive to your health and your weight loss than regular sugar.
You might also be a person who reacts to aspartame intake with an insulin release. The Atkins Center reports up to 25% of people have such a reaction to aspartame (NutraSweet.)
An appreciable amount of trans fats in the diet can also halt weight loss and fat breakdown. Why? Because trans fats are artificial fats that the body fails to recognize as "real", and attempts simply to store them, taking an "I'll deal with it some other time" approach.
Which ones and where?
There are a number of KetoStix brands to chose from. The original - Ketostix by Bayer - is the most common and the easiest to find in most pharmacies. If you don't see them, ask. Also, it can't hurt to price-shop. I've seen them anywhere from $9.99 to $24.99 in different stores. Many of the online low-carb and health/drug stores carry test strips as well. Some of these are "off-brands" and private label. There's Uriscan and Atkins label. It doesn't matter which you use, but I've found it's best to pick a brand and stick with it because they color slightly different and it can get confusing if you're brand-switching. Also remember, these are marketed ostensibly for diabetics to check for ketones where there should be none, so please ignore the paper inserts in the box if you're using the sticks for detecting ketosis caused by a low carbohydrate (ketogenic) diet.
Resources
- "Ketogenic Diet" e-book by Lyle McDonald: http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=57b4764e429d66d7d6baebe61b361f7ce04e75f6e8ebb871
- http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=136206003317 (the guy sounds a little angry at the world of "wobbling fatties" but he does have great info there)
- http://www.google.ca/#q=ketosis+101
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