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  #1   ^
Old Tue, Dec-10-19, 21:21
Molly B's Avatar
Molly B Molly B is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 828
 
Plan: Low Carb/High Fat
Stats: 271/262.6/170 Female 5'4"
BF:
Progress: 8%
Location: North central HOT Florida
Post About those Ketostix... have you ever tried using one on your saliva?

I sure hope this post is in the right place. I'm probably going to look like a real idiot for asking this, but you know those Ketostix? That you pee on to see if you are in ketosis? (But the are REALLY for diabetics to check for ketoacidosis!) Well, I bet a lot of you have used them, just to see, like I have, if you are on the right track, diabetic or not...

Okay, so they ONLY check for acetone. From what I've read in this doctor's book about ketogenic diets. They do not check for the BHB, (Beta-Hydroxybutalate, I believe, something close to that), which is the ketone we are all REALLY interested in. That is the magic ketone, the one that let's us know if we are in ketosis or not. You need one of those fancy glucose/ketone meters and $$$ strips to check for BHB.

Well, either way, I've been in heavy enough ketosis before that my breath was making people back up! Yeah, the keto-breath was bad. But ohhhh how it delighted me! Back up, buddy, I'm burning off my fat as we speak! Aren't you jealous? Sorry my breath is SHOCKING.

So I got to wondering. I know the ketostix only check for acetone. But when you have the dragon breath, you know you are burning fat, and the 'exhaust' of that fat burning is the smelly acetone. It comes out in your pee, your breath, your pores via sweat. It practically oozes out of you.

SO-- can you put a ketostix in your watering mouth into your saliva and check for acetone? Will it show up? Is it an indicator of anything IF it does turn a darker pink/purple?

I tried it yesterday. I pee'd on a stick. Nothing changed. (I don't have the keto-breath, according to my husband and mom). But then I put one (a new unused ketostix) in a little pool of saliva I produced on my tongue, and darn if that ketostick didn't turn darker! Whaaaaa? What the heck? I haven't tried it again. I WILL. I'm just wondering what you guys think about this. I only have a couple of stix left, and I really wanted to wait until the keto-breath comes. But so far, I haven't really had it. Disappointing. I'm following a macro diet of 75% fat, 20% protein, and 5% carbs now for 20 days. Lost a few pounds. Just can't seem to get into ketosis like I want, though I do feel revved up, happier, more energetic, more alive somehow...... I know I'm on the right track.

What is your thoughts about the ketostix? If I had more, I'd be doing more testing. Any comments? (And thank you!)
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  #2   ^
Old Tue, Dec-10-19, 21:41
bluesinger's Avatar
bluesinger bluesinger is offline
Doing My Best
Posts: 4,924
 
Plan: LC/CancerRecovery
Stats: 170/135/130 Female 62 inches
BF:24%
Progress: 88%
Location: Nevada Desert, USA
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Interesting. I'll bite.

7:30pm
Ketostix
Mouth, pale pink
Urine, light purple
Blood Glucose Meter, 1.0 mmol/L

I'm in maintenance and thus eat more lc vegs.
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  #3   ^
Old Tue, Dec-10-19, 22:24
jschwab jschwab is offline
Senior Member
Posts: 6,378
 
Plan: Atkins72/Paleo/NoGrain/IF
Stats: 285/220/200 Female 5 feet 5.5 inches
BF:
Progress: 76%
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Oh, that's interesting. I use them for feedback and to anticipate how I will feel. Burning up purple, I take it easy to adjust. Never tried it with saliva. Will report back.
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  #4   ^
Old Thu, Dec-12-19, 14:23
Robin120's Avatar
Robin120 Robin120 is offline
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Posts: 4,140
 
Plan: low carb
Stats: 171/125/145 Female 5'9
BF:
Progress: 177%
Location: DC
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Can't say that I have.
Maybe it was detected in saliva but not urine of you were well hydrated? The more hydrated you are, the more diluted the ketones become.

Fun side note: as a child (so early 90s) my Dr would have my mom dip one in a soda if we were at a restaurant to check it was diet (i was skinny kid and had a number of wait staff slip me regular thinking I had crazy mother). I was always mortified, but it works
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  #5   ^
Old Thu, Dec-12-19, 16:39
Meme#1's Avatar
Meme#1 Meme#1 is offline
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Posts: 12,456
 
Plan: Atkins DANDR
Stats: 210/194/160 Female 5'4"
BF:
Progress: 32%
Location: Texas
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Robin120
Can't say that I have.
Maybe it was detected in saliva but not urine of you were well hydrated? The more hydrated you are, the more diluted the ketones become.

Fun side note: as a child (so early 90s) my Dr would have my mom dip one in a soda if we were at a restaurant to check it was diet (i was skinny kid and had a number of wait staff slip me regular thinking I had crazy mother). I was always mortified, but it works


Both of these tips are great and I've never read about them before.
Yes, test those diet drinks. I ordered one for the first time in a couple f years and I could swear it was full sugar. I'm going to put a couple in my purse now.
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  #6   ^
Old Tue, Dec-17-19, 13:07
Kristine's Avatar
Kristine Kristine is offline
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Posts: 25,581
 
Plan: Primal/P:E
Stats: 171/146/150 Female 5'7"
BF:
Progress: 119%
Location: Southern Ontario, Canada
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I just tried the ketone strips in my Diet Pepsi, and my DH's Dr Pepper. There was no difference, although they both looked a little bit falsely dark because of the brown colour. Robin, are you sure your mom wasn't using the old Bayer DiaStix? Those measured both ketones and glucose. That's what I'd buy if I wanted to test restaurant drinks.

As for saliva ketone levels... I'm not sure that works. I'm pretty sure most of the "bad breath" ketones are being excreted out of your lungs, not your mouth. I would assume that there are too many confounders in your food, drink, and even mouthwash that could cause false positives. Even if you rinse the heck out of your mouth with water, well... you'd be washing away the ketones, too.
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  #7   ^
Old Wed, Dec-18-19, 17:09
Robin120's Avatar
Robin120 Robin120 is offline
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Posts: 4,140
 
Plan: low carb
Stats: 171/125/145 Female 5'9
BF:
Progress: 177%
Location: DC
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Kristine
I just tried the ketone strips in my Diet Pepsi, and my DH's Dr Pepper. There was no difference, although they both looked a little bit falsely dark because of the brown colour. Robin, are you sure your mom wasn't using the old Bayer DiaStix? Those measured both ketones and glucose. That's what I'd buy if I wanted to test restaurant drinks.



Definitely could have been- I was only 8, so I have no idea. Sorry guys!
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  #8   ^
Old Sat, Aug-22-20, 16:53
BlueVelvet's Avatar
BlueVelvet BlueVelvet is offline
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Posts: 197
 
Plan: Atkins NDR (2002)
Stats: 270.2/236/165 Female 5ft
BF:
Progress: 33%
Location: UK
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You could be in ketosis and not have the noticeable "keto breath" or register on the ketostix. Has your appetite dropped? Have you felt the weird switch over from sluggish, headache riddled "keto-flu" to having more energy and mental clarity? You say you've lost a few pounds, but sometimes ketosis can see you lose the initial bunch of pounds via water-weight, then really slow down for a while before you get a bit of a "whoosh" loss.

I can see from your macro stats that you are keeping your fat percentage high and your protein low, with carbs at the lowest percentage. But how do those percentages break down in terms of actual numbers? How many carbs a day are you consuming? Is your overall food intake still very high in calories? Are you consuming so much protein that some of it is converting to glycogen?

Even if you're taking in 20 carbs a day or fewer and your protein isn't excessive, human bodies are annoyingly idiosyncratic in the way they operate. Any number of things could be causing a slow weight loss. Meds, health problems, stress, age, low carb products with ingredients like sugar-alcohols that you're more sensitive to, which pull you out of ketosis. Plus our bodies really don't want to give up their fat stores!

If you're keeping to your plan, keep on keeping on! We all want those big losses and expect to see them early on. But sometimes we just need to have patience, not jump on the scale every day and give it time. This is a long-term WOE. There will be many slips, stalls, highs, loss and tinkering ended to find out what works for you and what will eventually be your maintenance diet. Re-read all the info pertaining to your plan of choice, stick to it and give it the good old 'college try' before worrying that something isn't right or working properly.

Good luck!

Blue
💙
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  #9   ^
Old Sat, Aug-22-20, 18:06
Ms Arielle's Avatar
Ms Arielle Ms Arielle is offline
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Posts: 19,176
 
Plan: atkins, carnivore 2023
Stats: 200/211/163 Female 5'8"
BF:
Progress: -30%
Location: Massachusetts
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Checking saliva would be sooooooo much easier than testing urine!!!
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  #10   ^
Old Sun, Aug-23-20, 19:34
BlueVelvet's Avatar
BlueVelvet BlueVelvet is offline
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Posts: 197
 
Plan: Atkins NDR (2002)
Stats: 270.2/236/165 Female 5ft
BF:
Progress: 33%
Location: UK
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Absofrickinglutely!
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  #11   ^
Old Sun, Aug-23-20, 19:52
Ms Arielle's Avatar
Ms Arielle Ms Arielle is offline
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Posts: 19,176
 
Plan: atkins, carnivore 2023
Stats: 200/211/163 Female 5'8"
BF:
Progress: -30%
Location: Massachusetts
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rofl
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