The Keto diet is an effective and popular diet for losing weight and improving health. When you follow this high-fat, medium protein, low-carb diet correctly the ketone levels in your blood will increase. Those ketones will be your body’s new fuel source, causing most of the health benefits of the diet.
When you’re following a Keto diet your body goes through a number of biological adaptations. These include an increased breakdown of fat and lower insulin levels. After this happens the liver begins to produce large numbers of ketones. The ketones supply your brain the energy it needs.
It is difficult to know whether or not your body is in a state of ketosis. Following are 10 ways to know you are in ketosis to help you figure this out.
10 Ways To Know You Are In Ketosis
1 – Halitosis (foul breath)
After achieving full ketosis people frequently report having bad breath.
This is very common. A lot of people who follow the Keto diet, and similar diets like Atkins, say their breath starts to smell fruity. Specifically, this is caused by acetone, one of the ketones that are expelled in both your urine and by exhaling.
Although breath like this may not be ideal in a social setting, it is a positive sign that you’re following the diet correctly and you are in ketosis. One way to deal with this is to brush your teeth many times a day. Another way is to chew sugar-free gum or sip on sugar-free drinks throughout the day.
If you choose to chew gum, or sip on drinks, read the nutrition labels for carbs to avoid elevating your blood sugar and coming out of ketosis.
2 – Losing weight
Both a Keto diet and a more traditional low-carb diet are good for weight loss
There are many studies showing you probably will lose weight in the short term as well as the long term from switching to a Keto diet. Weight loss can happen very quickly in the first week of the Keto diet. This initial weight loss is mostly from stored up carbohydrates and the release of water, though many dieters wrongly think it’s fat loss.
After the first week or so of rapid weight loss, you will continue to burn your stored fat as long as you follow the Keto diet correctly and remain in a caloric deficit.
3 – Increased ketones
An indication of being in ketosis is reduced sugar and increased ketones in the blood. As you continue with the Keto diet, your body will start burning fat and ketones for fuel.
Using a specialized meter is the most accurate way to measure the ketone levels in your blood. They measure how much beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) is in your bloodstream.
There is a consensus that ketosis, as it relates to the Keto diet, is defined as having 0.5 to 3.0 mmol/L of ketones in your blood. Measuring from a blood sample is the most accurate way to measure ketones. But that requires pin pricking similar to the way a diabetic person measures their blood sugar.
Should you be interested in testing your ketone levels, there is a good selection of meters offered by Amazon starting at about $30.
4 – Ketones in your breath and urine
An alternative to blood testing kits is breathalyzers, though not as accurate as blood analysis.
Breathalyzers monitor the level of acetone. Acetone is one of three major ketones produced while in ketosis. The amount of acetone is an indicator of your ketone level because more of it leaves your body during ketosis. Breathalyzers are fairly accurate but not like their blood testing counterpart.
Another method is to measure your urine daily with urinalysis test strips. This measures the level of ketones being expelled through your urine. This is the least expensive way to measure ketones, but it’s also the least accurate.
Both breathalyzers and urinalysis strips are available from Amazon.
5 – Hunger reduction
A lot of Keto dieters say they have less of an appetite following the Keto diet.
The reasons are still being investigated. But the current thinking is the reduced appetites may be due to the increase in protein and vegetable consumption, as well as changes in your body’s hunger hormones.
Possibly the ketones have an effect on the brain reducing the appetite.
6 – More energy and focus
Oftentimes a person will experience fatigue, brain fog, and feeling a little sick when they first start the Keto diet. This has been coined “Keto Flu”. But once they get past that hump, long-term dieters feel an increase in energy and focus.
Your body has to adapt to burning fat in place of carbohydrates when you start the low-carb Keto diet. Then as you move into ketosis your brain has to adjust to using ketones instead of sugar for its energy. It can take a little while for your body and brain to adjust.
Ketones are very powerful fuel for your brain. Ketones have been tested clinically for treating brain diseases, concussions, and memory loss. So it shouldn’t be a surprise that people frequently feel improved brain function and focus when they’re on a Keto diet.
Drastically reducing your carb intake will stabilize your blood sugar, further increasing brain functioning and focus.
7 – Fatigue
One of the biggest problems people have when starting the Keto diet is fatigue. This frequently makes the would-be dieter quit before they achieve full ketosis and see the benefits of the Keto diet.
Fatigue is a natural side effect of starting a ketogenic diet. It’s caused by making our body shift from a long-term carbohydrate-heavy diet to a low-carb diet very quickly. This shift in your won’t happen overnight. It will take from 5 to 30 days to get into full ketosis.
Since electrolytes are lost due to the quick reduction in your body’s water content and the reduction of salt in the diet, consuming extra electrolytes can help reduce fatigue.
8 – Performance decrease
Along with feeling tired from fatigue the Keto dieter may feel a decrease in physical performance. This is mostly due to there being less glycogen stored in the muscles that provide the primary and most efficient energy for any high-intensity activities. After a short while, many Keto dieters will see their performance become normal. In some endurance sports performance may even improve with the Keto diet. Additionally, you will increase your ability to burn more fat while exercising.
There’s one study that showed athletes on a Keto diet burned up to 230% more fat while exercising versus those who weren’t following Keto. It’s unclear if a Keto diet will maximize performance for an elite athlete, but once you are fat-adapted you shouldn’t have any trouble with general exercise and recreational activities.
9 – Digestion problems
For most of us, a Keto diet brings with it a major change in the kind of food we eat. Digestion problems like constipation or diarrhea are common at first. Most of these problems will cease after a transition period. But it’s important that you be aware of which foods cause you problems, and avoid them or minimize their consumption. Additionally, be certain to include lots of low-carb vegetables that have plenty of fiber, and consume a diverse range of foods. The lack of variety, in any diet, can lead to an increased risk of digestion and nutritional problems.
To help you plan your Keto diet you may want to try this online custom keto diet planner.
10 – Trouble sleeping
Even though many Keto dieters say they sleep better than before they started the diet, it’s common for some people to have trouble sleeping when they first start dieting. The sleeping issues usually go away in a couple of weeks.
This was a list of 10 ways to know you are in ketosis. Sooner than later, by following the Keto diet correctly you will enter a state of ketosis.
If you’re interested in the science and want to know exactly what your ketones are, use one of the measuring methods we talked about here (analyzing your blood, using a breathalyzer, or urinalysis strips)
But in the end, if you’re following the diet, feeling healthy, and losing weight, there really isn’t a need to be preoccupied with your ketone levels.
