What Should Your Ketones Readings Be?
Mr. Mojo here. The number one question I get is what should my ketones and glucose readings be? Let’s cover over that. For ketones, ideally, you should be between 0.5 and three. That is the optimal zone for nutritional ketosis according to professors Volek and Phinney who wrote The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living. Now, sometimes if you’re fasting, you might get higher ketones going above the three. That’s the therapeutic side. Now, if your ketones are under 0.5, that is not nutritional ketosis. So, you want to take a look at what you’re using in your diet that could be affecting them.
What Should Your Glucose Readings Be?
Now, let’s take a look at glucose. The ultimate glucose range should be between 83 milligrams per deciliter and 100. Now, when you test in the morning when you first wake up, you could have something called the dawn phenomenon which means it gives you a cortisol spike which increases your glucose. We want to wait till that blows off. Now, for some people, that could be about an hour. For others, it might last a little bit longer. You need to work out what your bio-individuality is and be testing on a regular basis at the same time in the morning that is right for you. Now, when fasting, you might see lower glucose measurements. That might be under 83. It may be into the seventies and for some people, an extended fast is into the sixties. If we’re seeing measurements over 140 in the morning, that gives us pause for concern. We definitely suggest that you go to your primary care physician.
When Should You Test?
When else should we test? Well, what I like to do is sleuth out foods that could be causing me a problem. I test just before my lunchtime and then about an hour after eating my lunch and I want to make sure that I’m not having more than a 30 milligrams per deciliter rise in my glucose measurement. That way I’ve had a nice low carb meal. If I’m seeing more than a rise for that, I want to readjust what I’m eating in that respect. Another time I like to test for my glucose or for my ketones is just before my evening meal. Generally, you will find that your ketones are lowest in the morning and they are highest just before your evening meal. With your glucose, you want to make sure that you’re maintaining generally a steady state throughout the day when you’re doing that. When you’re sleuthing out those foods using your glucose meter, generally after a meal, you’ll see a 30-point rise. That’s about an hour after but you also want to make sure that your glucose levels are also coming down within about two to three hours after that. When you have something to eat that has carbohydrates in it, you’ll see your glucose level go up and then it will drift down to your baseline, your bio-individuality. When you are first starting your ketogenic journey, you might find yourself testing quite a lot. I love to test a lot when I’m first starting because I’m trying to work out what works right for me. You test and you’re in ketosis, you test, you’re in ketosis and things are going wonderful. You’re in ketopia and then after a while, as you adjust the foods in your diet, you find that the need to test lessens and that’s fantastic because you’ve worked out what you need for your body and your bio-individuality. We at Keto-Mojo, we are the training wheels for life. We’re there to help you on your journey but after a while, it’s time to cast off those training wheels but remember, if you’re falling back into old habits, you can start testing again to reboot and get yourself back to center.
