On T-Dawg Diet–thanx for the responses to my last query guys. All pretty new to me, and so I bought the sticks to test for ketosis. My results on the color scale showed “moderate”, the in depth literature attatched says that means 40 mgdl of acetoacetic acid present. Does this put me “in ketosis”? Is this alot or is this about right. Chris I’m taking you at your word that it’s my diet and enjoying this whole educational and experimental process (thanx for your response to my last post). Any insight would be appreciated. Thanx
Bill and Brock say that if you’re getting under 100 grams of carbs per day you’re in ketosis, regardless of what the sticks say. I tend to agree. I think keto sticks are overrated and largely unnecessary. I’ve never used them in any low carb diet I’m tried or written myself. If you’re losing fat, who cares if you’re officially in ketosis or not. It’s all about the mirror, baby! My 2 pennies.
Hey man, Ketostix are worthless if you are intaking alot of water. they measure the concentration of Ketones in the urine, which is not a good way to measure. I piss 72 times a day and am not in ketosis according to the stix, but I bet I piss out more ketones than someone who shows it in their urine and only goes 5 times a day.
Chris is correct. The ketostix only tell you that ketones are spilling over into the urine and many things can alter the concentration. You can still be in ketosis without showing any ketones in the urine. In general, if you consume less than 100g of carbohydrates per day then you are technically in ketosis. Ketosis meaning that you are producing ketones. I’ve personally experimented with different levels of ketosis and find no benefit from being in deeper. As a rule I’ve found that the deeper in ketosis you are then more water and muscle you lose. The less carbohydrates you consume the more protein is needed by the body. The body must keep a steady level of glucose for the brain and if some carbohydrates are not consumed then it uses protein for gluconeogenesis to keep it steady. I wouldn’t suggest going over 50g of carbohydrates though unless it’s on a workout day. Eat a small amount of complex carbs before your workout. After a workout take 1g of carbohydrates per kg of lean bodyweight with your protein but not going over 100g. Add some creatine and glutamine in the mix as well. It is a good idea to take 600-1000mg of alpha lipoic acid with this and better yet use metformin. Do not consume any fructose of this diet! It will keep you from acheiving ketosis again because it replenishes liver glycogen too fast. If you adjust your diet to what suits you best, it is possible to actually lose fat while gaining muscle.