Why is technique important when measuring ketones in breath?
Posted by Michel Lundell on
-
Tidal Volume (TV): This is the amount of air inhaled or exhaled during normal breathing, without any extra effort. It's typically about 500 mL in adults.
-
Inspiratory Reserve Volume (IRV): This is the additional amount of air that can be inhaled after a normal inhalation. It represents the extra air that can be drawn into the lungs with a deep breath, over and above the tidal volume. In adults, it's usually about 3000 mL.
-
Expiratory Reserve Volume (ERV): This is the additional amount of air that can be exhaled after a normal exhalation. It's the extra air that can be pushed out of the lungs with force after a normal breath, beyond the tidal volume. In adults, it's typically around 1200 mL.
These volumes are key components of lung capacity measurements and are important in assessing respiratory health.
The highest concentration of breath ketones are in the lower part of the lungs. This means that tidal volume needs to be exhaled first, to be able to reach the expiratory reserve volume to get a higher and stable concentration.
In a coming blogpost I will describe a simple experiment that you can do with your Ketonix to vislualize this!