IM a type II diabetic... just borderline.. but a diabetic non the less... since I started low carbing my sugar has been perfect.. but am not loosing weight. I went out today and bought ketostrips... I took a reading and it was one block above neutral...
after reading ten pages of instructions about the strips.. one thing jumped out at me.. it said if the strip runs to the purple side... I am in grave danger... call my doctor immediatley,,because I am burning fat...seems if a diabetic burns fat they have a big problem.. yet i see non diabetics saying their strip is deep purple..
So I am really confused.,, I went on a diabetic forum here and the last post in that forum was three weks ago.. so I am not going t get any help in there
if I can not pass fat via urine.. does this mean a diabetic can not loose weight??
Please help
Bill ( ET )

Hi Bill!

Those directions on your test strips are not giving you quite all the information. If a diabetic whose blood sugars are not controlled (ie too high) tests purple on those test strips, there is definitely a problem. It means that they are headed for diabetic ketoacidosis and need to contact their doctors immediately. What the directions don't tell you is that there is another condition under which the strips could test purple called dietary ketosis which is totally harmless. In both cases, you are burning fat, but for totally different reasons. In the diabetic's case, their strips turn purple because their blood sugars are too high from too much sugar and/or carbs and there is no insulin (or not enough) to allow the body to get that sugar out of the bloodstream and into the cells to be utilized for energy. The cells realize that they have no energy source, so begin burning fat for what they need to survive. The combination of high blood sugar/no insulin and fat burning is what leads to ketoacidosis. Remember...you need both a high blood sugar AND no insulin to get into this kind of trouble.
In the low carber's case, the body is burning fat because it has no other readily available energy source (carbs) and the blood sugars are low (normal) along with normal production of insulin (or at least enough to keep too much sugar out of the blood stream). Ketones are a by-product of fat metabolism, but having them in your urine is not necessarily an indication of a serious medical condition unless your blood sugars are also very high. BTW...don't shoot for purple on the test strips, light to moderate is better. Purple usually indicates that you are not drinking enough water and are dehydrated when low carbing. HTH

Lisa :
Thanks so much, this has taken a load off my shoulders... it is difficult trying to loose weight. But I am totally commited to fine tuning my eating habits.. I hope that low carbing and the fact that I am not taking any med for diabetos since i statred this WOL...will at some point stabilize my insullin.. I am taking L-Carnitine to help my sluggish metabolism.. Im using 1500 mg so far. since monday this week.. but Ive only dropped a pound since I started three weeks ago..maybe you can take a look at my journel Lisa and tell me what you think..
Thanks again
Bill ( E-T )

Bill...

Glad I was able to ease your anxiety about the ketosis/ketoacidosis thing. A lot of "experts" seem to have them confused. I only looked at the last 3 days of your journal, but my first impression is that you may not be getting enough calories. The past 3 days, you are getting barely enough to meet your basal metabolism. You also look a little light on the veggies, but not bad. Try upping your calories just a bit and keep at it. Let us know how you're doing.