ketostix testing

I dont have the pack with me, so I dont know what 1.5 is, but the first colour, beige (I think) is not in ketosis, if you are showing any of the other colours, that means you are in ketosis. If it shows purple, that means you are dehydrated.
 
its the second pink one so i must be in ketosis,id blown it today as well so that will make me stay on track,brill.Thanks for ya help x
 
I dont have the pack with me, so I dont know what 1.5 is, but the first colour, beige (I think) is not in ketosis, if you are showing any of the other colours, that means you are in ketosis. If it shows purple, that means you are dehydrated.


if it shows purple it means your dehydrated??? are you sure??? reason I ask is because my peestick is deep purple no matter what time of day or night it is... and I drink 2litres of water a day. sometimes a little bit more... thats excluding the tea and coffee. Surely I cant be dehydrated. Its been a deep purple ever since I started... which is gonna be 3 months next week. :s
 
Cripes, I thought that the darker it was the better!!!! Can someone confirm please.....
 
Parkerela - ya are in ketosis, well done

FBTB - ya are dehydrated if ya are showing a deep purple. If ya are exercising as well its best to drink more than 2 litres that is recommended. Try drinking a glass of warm water in the morning to get rid of any toxins in your body and its also very refreshing. Also try and cut back on the amount of caffeine that ya drink as this can also show a purple reading as caffeine can cause your blood sugar to rise therefore resulting in a reduced loss and sometimes slow the weight loss down completely with some weeks not losing anything however this depends on the amount that ya consume in the day. If the reading still shows a purple reading it can also mean that ya have a bacterial infection. Hope this info helps! Take care
 
Parkerela your deffo in it,keep going :)
 
Parkerela - ya are in ketosis, well done

FBTB - ya are dehydrated if ya are showing a deep purple. If ya are exercising as well its best to drink more than 2 litres that is recommended. Try drinking a glass of warm water in the morning to get rid of any toxins in your body and its also very refreshing. Also try and cut back on the amount of caffeine that ya drink as this can also show a purple reading as caffeine can cause your blood sugar to rise therefore resulting in a reduced loss and sometimes slow the weight loss down completely with some weeks not losing anything however this depends on the amount that ya consume in the day. If the reading still shows a purple reading it can also mean that ya have a bacterial infection. Hope this info helps! Take care

wonderful!... well its definitely not the caffeine because
 
Parkerela - ya are in ketosis, well done

FBTB - ya are dehydrated if ya are showing a deep purple. If ya are exercising as well its best to drink more than 2 litres that is recommended. Try drinking a glass of warm water in the morning to get rid of any toxins in your body and its also very refreshing. Also try and cut back on the amount of caffeine that ya drink as this can also show a purple reading as caffeine can cause your blood sugar to rise therefore resulting in a reduced loss and sometimes slow the weight loss down completely with some weeks not losing anything however this depends on the amount that ya consume in the day. If the reading still shows a purple reading it can also mean that ya have a bacterial infection. Hope this info helps! Take care

wonderful!... well its definitely not the caffeine because I have 2 large mugs a day.. but with half a spoon of coffee each time.. coz Im not very big on tea or coffee. Since Ive started exercising I have been drinking a little bit more water...

reason why I am confused is because its been showing dark purple all the time since I started the diet. At that time I was not doing any exercise but I was drinking plenty water.... and definitely dont have any bacterial infections...

hmmm... im surprised that the pharmacist never said anything about that because I did tell her that my ketostix have been purple from the very beginning.. which I assumed meant I was big time in ketosis!... and she said thats good!!!!

Not on LT at the min so Im definitely not in ketosis... when I get back on I will keep an eye on this.

also... my weight loss for the past 2 weeks has actually gone up! and peestick was a dark purple too... I AM SO CONFUSED!!! lol

thanx for the advice tho miss unknown. but really I just cant think how much more water I could possibly drink. tbh I think these days I am managing about 3! so how can i still be dehydrated!!! :(
 
oh definitely dont have a bacterial infection. they would have told me from my urine sample when I went to docs the other day. Thank you for the info tho. :)
 
I've got to say I'm on about 3 litres a day plus a decaf coffee and I'm on the darkest colour on the ketostix too. I thought that it meant I was really in ketosis too. Show's how much we know! I don't think I could drink much more water. I'm already drinking so much more than before LT. I thought I was doing really well drinking that much now. Oh, well. Better keep an eye on it I suppose.
 
It depends on what kind of shade of purple ya guys are in, if its a dark purple to black then ya are having too much caffeine and are dehydrated, it doesnt mean that yas are not losing weight as yas still will be but not as much as others. Its better to drink as much as ya can and cut back on the caffeine, its not recommended to have any more than 1 cup of coffee on a vlcd however other based teas like green leaf, chinese tea or nettle tea are used as antitoxins and a great way to cleanse the body of any unwanted toxins. If you are exercising it best to drink a third litre of water to cover the amount that ya have lost due to sweating but no more than 4 litres a day. If its extremley purple colour ya could have a bacterial infection its doesnt mean that ya have a kidney infection, it could mean a number of other infections as well.
 
I found this here: Low Carb Luxury: Looking for Purple - Ketostix


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[FONT=arial, helvetica]A Quick primer on the Ketone Test Strips...[/FONT]

[FONT=arial, helvetica]Questions about ketones, ketosis, KetoStix, and its implications and misconceptions have always been one of the most common querries at Low Carb Luxury. We'll try and clear up some of those mysteries here.

[FONT=arial, helvetica]So... what are they?[/FONT]
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You'll hear them referred to as KetoStix (the original brand name), Urine Test Strips, Reagent Strips, Ketone Testing Strips, and Lipolysis Test Strips.

Depending on the plan you follow and whether you are new to this way of life, or an old timer from the 70's, you'll be referring to them as one name or another if your plan calls for being in Ketosis.

Please note, we're not here to debate the merits of Ketogenic vs non-Ketogenic diets here, so don't send me mail of disagreement. For me personally, being in Ketosis is my ideal state and keeps my body's systems at their best. The Ketosis we're talking about here is what Dr. Atkins refers to as "Benign Dietary Ketosis" (or BDK), and should never be confused with Acidosis — a dangerous state for diabetics and those in advanced starvation where acetone builds in the blood and tissues. People will sometimes tell you that producing ketones is dangerous for the body. This is simply misinformation. They're confusing ketosis (the state from a Ketogenic diet) with ketoacidosis (or acidosis) which occurs in uncontrolled diabetes and/or starvation.
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[FONT=arial, helvetica]Ketones?[/FONT] [FONT=arial, helvetica]
Ketones are incompletely burned carbon fragments. The very fact that they are less efficient as fuel is what makes them give you that 'metabolic advantage.' Some of the calories burned are not used to their full capacity... hence the person can eat more calories when in ketosis than when not, and still lose the same amount of weight.

Ketoacids are short (four carbons long.) It's important because in that way they are able to penetrate cells to feed them when there is no glucose present. The fat stores accumulate fat as very long fatty acids. They're ordinarily difficult to break down because they're so long.

When the body must use its fat stores for energy (our goal to lose weight), these fat cells begin to release the long fatty acids into the blood.

To be used as fuel, particularly by the brain, the fatty acids go to the liver where they are literally cut into two carbon fragments (ketoacids.)

They are then utilized (burned) by many tissues, including the brain. The brain operates just as well on a diet of ketoacids as it does on glucose. What's left (the incompletely burned fragments) are called ketones, and they are what spill into the urine to be swept from the body.
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[FONT=arial, helvetica]So in a nutshell...[/FONT] [FONT=arial, helvetica]
When the body is in the fat burning state — where it has no carbohydrate to burn and is breaking down body fat for fuel, the body is in a state of ketosis-lipolysis (ketosis for short.) This is the only metabolic pathway for fat breakdown (lipolysis.) Therefore, there is no lipolysis without ketosis, no ketosis without lipolysis. The two terms are biologically linked and, therefore, it is appropriate that they be linguistically linked.

So being in ketosis simply means that you're burning your fat stores and using them as the source of fuel they were meant to be.
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[FONT=arial, helvetica]This is where the test strips come in...[/FONT]
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While they are in no way necessary to the diet, most of us feel more secure with a way to test to know if we are in ketosis at any given time and at what level. The test strips provide a quick and private way to determine that. Simply dip the reagent end of the strip into a urine specimen (collected in a clean cup) and remove immediately. Or alternatively, (the method most of us prefer)
— wet reagent area of the strip by passing through the urine stream. Tap edge of strip to remove excess liquid and check color within 10-15 seconds against the color chart provided on all test strip brands' bottles.

A beige or cream color indicates NO KETOSIS detected. Any shade of pink/purple indicates some level of ketones in the urine. Some people get very hung up on the fact that their friend's/husband's/daughter's etc strip shows a darker color all the time, etc. We are all different. Some of us lose better (and feel better) at lighter or darker levels. You'll soon learn what feels right for you.
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[FONT=arial, helvetica]What if your sticks don't "turn"?[/FONT]
[FONT=arial, helvetica]A negative result does not always mean you're not in ketosis. If you're keeping your carbs below a certain level (different for different people, but the 20 to 40 carbs per day range is a safe bet), you're probably in ketosis. Some people use their ketones more efficiently, and indeed make fewer of them, hence their lack of "spill" into the urine.

Keep in mind, though, that it's possible to keep your actual carb count low (say at around 30 grams), and still side-step ketosis. The culprits? Most often it's from eating foods that contain even a small amount of "High Fructose Corn Syrup" (HFCS), which can cause a strong insulin spike and halt fat burning. HFCS is far more destructive to your health and your weight loss than regular sugar.

You might also be a person who reacts to aspartame intake with an insulin release. The Atkins Center reports up to 25% of people have such a reaction to aspartame (NutraSweet.)

An appreciable amount of trans fats in the diet can also halt weight loss and fat breakdown. Why? Because trans fats are artificial fats that the body fails to recognize as "real", and attempts simply to store them, taking an "I'll deal with it some other time" approach.
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[FONT=arial, helvetica]Are they right for me?[/FONT] [FONT=arial, helvetica]
In my personal opinion, if you become obsessive about your levels at every hour of the day and in comparison with others' or where you think you should be, then don't bother with the sticks. If you can use them sensibly — once a day or when you want to detect your level because of dietary changes etc, then they can be great tools. I probably use them 3 to 4 times per week.
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[FONT=arial, helvetica]Which ones and where?[/FONT] [FONT=arial, helvetica]
There are a number of brands to chose from. The original — Ketostix by Bayer — is the most common and the easiest to find in most pharmacies. If you don't see them, ask. Also, it can't hurt to price-shop. I've seen them anywhere from $9.99 to $24.99 in different stores. Many of the online low-carb and health/drug stores carry test strips as well. Some of these are "off-brands" and private label. There's Uriscan and Atkins label. It doesn't matter which you use, but I've found it's best to pick a brand and stick with it because they color slightly different and it can get confusing if you're brand-switching. Also remember, these are marketed ostensibly for diabetics to check for ketones where there should be none, so please ignore the paper inserts in the box if you're using the sticks for detecting ketosis from within a low carbohydrate (ketogenic) diet.
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Where do you get these sticks from?
 
Oh i'm not sure if I was allowed to copy/paste that info on forum, and am not sure how to delete it. Apologies :booboo:

PS...I love the smileys!
 
Thanks for that Demaris. I must admit throughout my time on LT my ketostix never registered more than pale pink, even first thing in the morning, but I had never cheated. I do drink a lot of decaff coffee with sweeters so I hope that isn't affecting me!!!

x
 
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