Here is the info I have on this topic:
Ketosis: a condition in which the body will turn to fat for fuel and is
producing ketones as a byproduct. This change in metabolism occurs when the body
no longer has incoming carbs to produce glycogen and after the liver has been
depleted of stored glycogen. When either stored body fat or incoming dietary fat
is used as fuel it breaks down into ketones.
Ketones can be used as fuel for your body or discarded via your breath or
urination. It is the rise in ketone production that means you are in ketosis.
Take note that although you are in ketosis this does not mean that you are
*only* burning bodyfat. The released ketones may be from either bodyfat or
dietary fat.
Why: We want to be in a metabolic state where, without incoming carbs,
and without consuming too many grams of dietary fat or protein, our bodies will
be burning stored bodyfat as fuel. Positive side effects of being in ketosis are
that it can be protein sparing (allowing us to retain lean body mass) and that
it can lead to a decrease in appetite for some people.
NOTE: Ketosis is NOT ketoacidosis. There are two types of ketoacidosis:
diabetic ketoacidosis (which is due to simultaneous rise in blood glucose and
blood acidity) and alcoholic ketoacidosis (which is due to heavy alcohol
consumption without food intake). If you do not fall into either of these groups
your body should have the feedback loops that will keep ketone production in
check. Ketones are produced daily by most people to some degree and are a part
of the body's system of survival.
See http://members.tripod.com/~Dietman2/ketosis.html
for more on this subject.
"Ketosis is a much-misunderstood subject, so let's go into a little detail.
Ketones (ketone bodies, the actual scientific name) are made when fat breaks
down. ....the state of having a measurable level of ketones in your blood.
Ketones are an intermediate stage of fat breakdown, and not only are they not
poison as described by several health writers, but they're used as fuel by most
of the body's tissues including the brain. The heart, in fact prefers ketones to
all other fuel. The diet causes the breakdown of fat, producing an abundance of
ketones ...The body releases them via the urine, the stool, and the breath.
Since ketones are incompletely burned fat, any that you get rid of without
actually using them for energy means you are ditching unwanted fat without
having to actually burn it off. "
(pgs 148-150 of Protein Power)
___________________________________________
As taken from [email protected]
Question: Does the color I get depend on how much water I drink?
This is not the way ketosis works, but is a myth that continues to be
perpetuated because it logically sounds like it should be true. Ketones are only
present in the urine if there are excess ketones in the bloodstream, and then
these excess ketones "spill over" into the urine. This can happen at
various times during the day. Your level of blood ketosis fluctuates all day
long depending on what you eat, and there may or may not be an excess amount to
spill into the urine at any given time.
The amount of ketones is not static in either the bloodstream or the urine, and
their presence in the urine is simply excess that spill over once the blood
ketosis level reaches a certain level.
A dark reading indicates nothing more than the fact that the bloodstream
happened to contain a lot of ketones at that moment, and spilled a lot of them
into the urine at that moment. This is why even if you read negative at
certain times during the day it doesn't mean you are out of ketosis; it just
means that your bloodstream isn't making excess ketones at that moment.
You don't go in and out of ketosis all day depending on your stick reading, even
though you can test positive at one point, and ten minutes later be negative, or
vice versa.
It's also important to know this -- even though the stick is dark and reads
"large," this does not indicate a "large" amount of ketones
for our healthy kidneys to handle. Don't be scare by that "large"
label. Don't forget, these sticks were originally made for diabetics, not
dieters, and a "large" reading to them indicates something
completely different than it does for us dieters. In general, these stix are
also meant for screening purposes and not to make any definitive diagnoses.
If a stick turns up a positive reading of any kind, it's a signal for a doctor
to do further testing. Drink lots of water, yes, as this diet is a diuretic and
you need to replace fluids... but don't do it simply to change your Ketostix
color from dark purple.
--Nancy Eaton (who formerly was a clinical consultant for Ames, which is now
Bayer, who makes Ketostix and many other kinds of diagnostic test strips and
equipment)
Ketostix measure the presence of ketones in the urine. It is important to
remember that the sticks only tell you the level of ketones you are excreting
through your urine. Readings can vary widely due to many factors: how many
ketones are used for energy needs, how well hydrated you are (the more water
taken in the more diluted the excretion), how much dietary fat is being burned,
and the sensitivity of the ketostix themselves (they do not register low levels
of ketone and they are very sensitive to contamination and age). The strips show
the amount of ketones being release by the change of color on the testing area.
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