I was having a hard time raising my level of Ketosis, so for the last 2 days instead of the big leafy salad I have ate sauteed brocolli and cauliflower or boiled cauliflower mashed up to simulate mashed potatoes with butter on it .

I am well into the dark purple colors of K now and I feel fantastic.

My wife was skeptical too (she is 8 or 9 lbs over her desired weight)
She has been eating a lowered carb menu and staying away from sugar and all her "Lite" this and "Lite" that crap and she was very shocked to see that she has lost 3 lbs on her scales and has no idea why
She has been munching on my pork skins ... which she hated before.... gets into my whipping cream
(I am thinking of putting this stuff all over her body and...)

Anyway

She is not a skeptic anymore
And as USUAL the man proves why he is the superior sex once again

Jeff

Deeper purple does not mean better.

It simply means you are dehydrating. There are no "levels" of ketosis. You are either in ketosis or you aren't. You won't burn fat faster being purple.




umm no comment

I am not to the deepest purple level...
I am at the one below it
I just went up a shade today

I drink well over 100 ounces of clear pure NC water a day


I feel great
Just got finished with a nice bit of corned beef and cabbage
Hope you have a great day the weather here in NC is great

Jeff

btw I did test first thing in the morning this time and that may be the reason for the change in color.

I had been testing in the evening
Thanks for your help


Jeff

Jeff,

Testing at night does normally show lighter levels on the ketostix. Mainly because of the water you drink and/or daily exercise.

Since you noticed the change due to testing in the morning, unless you get up during the night to drink several glasses of water, the ketones in the morning are more concentrated (due to lack of water intake) making the strips darker.

I never mentioned deepest purple...I just said there is no level of ketosis. You are either in or out. I am very glad you are feeling great as well.

Have a good day.

I think it might be worth a debate here about ketostix and the colour purple and what it all means.

The reaction of acetoacetic acid with the nitroprusside in the strip is a progressive reaction. It is a true measurement.

The strips are not like a pregnancy test positive or negative.

The mesurement by gradation of colour shows mmol per litre

Trace 0.5
small 1.5
moderate 4
large 8+

The following is a quote from Atkins Basic Diet Manual:

"If it is light purple, you're burning fat slowly. If its dark purple, you're deeply into ketosis, and the fat is flying off. In spite of your natural temptation to lose weight quickly, the proper degree of purple is the one that makes you feel physically at your best.

Use your urine testing stix at the same hour each day. Usually evening is best. That's when you'll get the deepest reaction.
The stix should start turning purple on or about the third day of induction"

An FAQ on the Atkins site also says:

"When your body releases ketones in your urine, it is chemical proof that you’re consuming your own stored fat. And the more ketones you release, the more fat you have dissolved."

We do know that the more water we drink the more dilute the urine will be and this can affect the darkness of the reaction.
You are recommended by Atkins to drink at least 8 glasses of water a day. Drinking less does not necessarily mean that you are dehydrated.

If the stix are in the darkest purple above 10mmol/L it is possible that you have not had enough water but the stix of them selves are a measure of ketones and not hydration. Diabetics drink gallons. This is a major symptom of the disease. The strips are specifically designed for them.

False positives for ketones may occur with highly pigmented urine.
But this does not mean the darker urine you get in the morning. Very dark pigmented urine is normally a symptom that needs a doctor to investigate. As said earlier the typical reaction is less in the morning because the number a ketones is less and higher after you have been up and about and after vigorous exercise. (Agonycat is suggesting the reverse)

The point for Low carb dieters following a ketogenic diet like Atkins is to use the stix as a guide to when you are in ketosis but still eating good, quality, and sufficient protein and low carbohydrate foods.

Anorexics and those on starvation diets will go into ketosis too but low calorie and starvation is not what this is all about.

So in a sense Agonycat is right, we should use the stix as.... in ketosis/out ketosis or as most of us do. ........
don't bother to buy a second bottle!

Your wife is puzzled as to why she is losing while eating fat instead of her "Lite" substitutes. Suggest that she go and read labels. Most "lite" products have removed that fat, but added up to THREE sources of sugar to give SOME flavour to the stuff.

These are SUGAR: dextrose, corn syrup, corn syrup solids, maltilol, honey, mon and diglycerides, fructose,and anything that ends in -ol. From earliest human times, sugar was an exception not an everyday food. That's why it's a TREAT. And only in the last 100 years have people had access to sugars every day. Fat is inherent in almost every protein food known. And we can't exist without protein.

Remember what is quoted in Atkins books: the studies which concluded that dietary FAT was the source of obesity and heart disease could JUST AS EASILY been interpreted to conclude that carbohydrates were the cause. But who funded the studies? Carb processers.

Hmm why would Atkins say its better to test in the evening because thats when the results will be darker if water dilutes it..

I would think at night we'd have alot of water in us from drinking it all day..
.. Which would make it a lighter color.. (I think anyways)

Weird

Slim

Testing at the same time each day seems sensible to keep consistent day to day. It is a bit like weighing yourself and taking blood pressure it goes up and down during the day and depending on what you are doing. I have absolutely no idea the extent of dilution through water it may not be all that great. I expect it will vary enormously from bladder to bladder.

I can confirm that if there is a colour change at all, for me, which is all I can really confirm, it is a deeper reaction in the evening.

So for me it holds true. But largely irrelevant. There is more to life than worrying about the colour of ketostix I have a painted door to watch dry!

Atkins expects there to be more ketones in the evening because most of us use the greater part of our energy during the day. So more fat would be burned and more ketones be present for testing.

At the same time, I have read that you should test about 4 times on one day after you are in ketosis to find out when YOU put out the highest level of ketones.

And above all, just use the stix as very inaccurate inidication that you ARE or are NOT in ketosis. Don't obsess about HOW pink or purple. I lost 40 pounds while staying only pale pink.

At the Aktins Center in NYC, they don't even consider the stix as accurate. Patients breathe into a machine which records the ketones in the breath, since MANY more leave the body by that method.