Testing blood ketones (β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB)) with a blood ketone meter is the gold standard for understanding your personal ketone metabolism. However, you may not be sure when to track as ketone levels are highly individual and vary between people and throughout the day.
For this reason, Ketosource created and tested a protocol that allows you to know your ketone range and average which will give you the confidence to leverage your ketone metabolism for fat loss.
When Is The Ideal Time To Check Your Ketone Levels?
Knowing when to test your (BHB) blood ketones can be difficult. This is why we have come up with a step-by-step guide on how to do it. All you need is your blood ketone meter, six ketone strips and six glucose strips.
Step 1. Choose a place to write down your readings. You can do this on your phone or in a notebook.
Step 2. Take your first reading first thing in the morning on an empty stomach. For example, at 8am upon waking.
Step 3. Take your second reading immediately before your evening meal on an empty stomach. For example, at 6pm before dinner.
Step 4. Repeat this process for 3 days to get an average ketone reading and to understand your ketone level range. This is important to note as any singular data point can be a statistical outlier.
This will give you an understanding of your personal ketone metabolism. Below is a visual illustration of the steps.
What To Avoid When Testing Your Blood Ketones
There are a couple of things to avoid doing in order to get accurate results:
Don't eat or drink anything besides water for three hours before taking your blood ketone reading.
Don't exercise for three hours before taking your blood ketone reading.
How To Understand Your Results
Here is an example of what three days of testing and an average ketone reading may look like:
| Test Upon Waking |
| Test Immediately Before Evening Meal |
|
| Glucose | Ketones | Glucose | Ketones |
Day 1 | 5.2 mmol/L 93.6 mg/dL | 0.3 mmol/L | 5.4 mmol/L 97.2 mg/dL | 1 mmol/L |
Day 2 | 5.4 mmol/L 97.2 mg/dL | 0.5 mmol/L | 5.3 mmol/L 95.4 mg/dL | 0.9 mmol/L |
Day 3 | 5.1 mmol/L 91.8 mg/dL | 0.3 mmol/L | 5.3 mmol/L 95.4 mg/dL | 0.8 mmol/L |
AVERAGE | 5.2 mmol/L 94.2 mg/dL | 0.4 mmol/L | 5.3 mmol/L 96 mg/dL | 0.9 mmol/L |
In the case above the individual has a keto range from 0.4 mmol/L to 0.9. mmol/L. This means they are in appetite reduction ketosis for most of the day. Knowing this information can help them to make adjustments, such as taking C8 MCT oil in the morning, to elevate their ketone levels.
Another example would be a person whose keto range is from 0.2mmol/L to 3.5mmol/L This would give them a higher safety margin. They are clearly in appetite reduction ketosis and will get the fat loss benefits from the production of ketones.
The Dawn Effect
If your morning BHB ketone level is less than 0.5 mmol/L when you first wake up, it might be due to the Dawn Effect.
The Dawn Effect (otherwise known as the Dawn Phenomenon) is thought to be caused by cortisol and insulin which rise before waking. These hormone changes can temporarily raise glucose levels and therefore lower your circulating ketones.
To get clearer results you should wait two hours before taking your first reading.
Repeat Testing
A quick note on testing. Tracking your ketones can be disruptive to your daily routine as it requires you to limit food and exercise. So it's only worth repeating your One-Time Metabolism Status Check if your results look strange.
For example, it's worth repeating if your ketone level drops below 0.5 mmol/L when you don't expect it to.
Actionable Takeaways
Now that you have your ketone range you can confidently leverage your personal ketone metabolism to adjust and tailor your approach for optimal fat loss. Just remember to:
Take β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) blood ketone readings with a blood ketone monitor.
Write down these readings once in the morning and another before your evening meal.
To ensure accurate readings: avoid eating, drinking (except water), or exercising for three hours before each ketone test.
Wait two hours before testing if your morning ketone levels are below 0.5 mmol/l.
If your average reading is lower than expected adjust your diet or take C8 MCT oil to raise your ketone levels throughout the day.
Need More Help?
We understand this information might be a lot to take in. If you have questions or need a guiding hand, please don't hesitate to reach out and contact us. We're here to support you every step of the way.
Source:
Damien Blenkinsopp. 2018. “Ketone Bar Trial Results (Feb./ Mar. 2018).” Ketosource. April 12.