FAQ
What are the Advantages using a Ketonix?
- Measures breath ketones, a realtime indicator of ketosis.
- Reusable, measure thousands of times, at a one time cost only!
- The sensor does not need to be replaced after X times, it can be used for years!
How does Ketonix work?
Ketonix® analyses your breath for the ketone acetone.
When your liver turns fat into ketone energy, it makes acetoacetate. Acetoacetate is unstable and decarboxylates to acetone, which leaves your body through your breath. Because acetone comes straight from newly made acetoacetate, the more fat your liver is turning into ketones right now, the more acetone there is in your breath.
Don’t mix up breath ketones with blood ketones. Blood meters measure beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), a different molecule with a different job: it is a feedback signal, not a measure of production (see “Does breath and blood ketones correlate?” below). That is why Ketonix® was invented: to show how strongly your body is making ketones from fat, right now.
What is Ketosis?
Ketosis is when your insulin/glycogen levels are low and your liver starts to metabolize fat into ketone energy. When ketones fuel our brain we sense a high mental clarity and energy boost. Without the ability to get into ketosis when glucose and glycogen is low the human man kind would not exist.
Ketosis is not the the same condition as Ketoacidosis. Ketoacidosis is a complication of type 1 diabetes mellitus. It's a life-threatening condition resulting from dangerously high levels of ketones and blood sugar.
How do I interpret the value?
The value you get from the Ketonix® device is an indication of how much your body use fat as fuel.
By measuring often you could recognize how different lifestyle changes like food, fasting and exercise affects your body’s level of fat burning. As the value is dependent on your technique, it is very important to develop a good one.
The method of using breath and the dependency of technique values will be personal.
There are more factors than the nutrient macros carbohydrates, fat, protein and alcohol that influence your ketosis. Example; our body produce glucose as a response to physical activity and stress. Your body also obey your circadian rhythm and increase glucose and cortisol in the morning to wake you up.
Does Breath and Blood ketones correlate?
Only loosely. They show different moments in the same cycle, so they aren’t supposed to match.
Breath ketones (acetone) come from the liver making acetoacetate from fat. Acetoacetate is unstable and decarboxylates to acetone. During prolonged fasting, acetone production can account for up to ~37% of acetoacetate production (Reichard et al., J Clin Invest 1979). Breath acetone therefore follows how much fat your liver is turning into ketones right now.
Blood ketones (BHB) are the feedback ketone. Cells can’t store ketones; they burn them or pass them on. After weeks of fasting or ketosis, muscle that runs mainly on fat turns some acetoacetate into BHB and sends it back into the blood (Owen & Reichard, J Clin Invest 1971). Rising BHB levels act as a feedback signal: they reduce the release of fatty acids from fat tissue (Senior & Loridan, Nature 1968; Taggart et al., J Biol Chem 2005), so the liver slows ketone production.
Phase 1: energy need goes up. For example: the end of an overnight fast, a long walk, a workout, a busy morning without food. The liver turns more fat into acetoacetate, and your cells burn it right away. Breath acetone rises. Any BHB left in the blood is also used as fuel, so blood BHB stays low or falls. Burning BHB happens inside the cells, so it adds little or nothing to your breath.
Phase 2: energy need goes down. For example: resting after exercise, after a meal, in the evening. The liver is still making acetoacetate, but the body needs less. In a fat-adapted body, muscle turns acetoacetate it doesn’t burn into BHB and sends it back into the blood, so blood BHB rises. Rising BHB reduces the release of fatty acids, the liver makes less acetoacetate, and breath acetone falls. Blood ketones rising after exercise stops is a well-known effect (Fery & Balasse, Am J Physiol 1983).
| Breath acetone | Blood BHB | |
|---|---|---|
| Phase 1: ketosis building | High or rising | Low or falling |
| Phase 2: ketosis winding down | Falling | Can be high |
- High breath, low blood isn’t a contradiction. It is active, efficient ketosis: ketones are being made and used.
- High blood, falling breath often means ketosis is slowing down, not that it is at its peak.
- Breath tells you what the liver is doing now. Blood tells you about the feedback that comes afterwards.
Can persons that is not using a low-carb/ketogenic diet do testing?
The sensor is also sensitive to hydrogen and methane. Gut bacteria produce these gases when they ferment carbohydrate. Some can have issues with the bacterias are located in other location than normal causing the methane to leave the body in more than one place. The sensor can pick this up and display what many would call a false positive. If someone that eats a high carb diet, expects a ketone reading, we would call it a “false expectation”. When using the device in a proper context, e.g using a low-carb or ketogenic diet, the carbs are few and would not influence the reading, its acetone and indicates how the liver produce ketones in that moment.
Testing for methane in breath is commonly done to detect an issue that is called SIBO, Small Intestines Bacterial Overgrowth. This condition can become very unpleasant.
So, even if it is tempting to test your friends, the result can be that your friend’s gut gases are higher than their acetone. Explaining this might be more than they can take in.
The Ketonix is a tool to optimize and create your lifestyle.
How does Alcohol affect the result?
The sensor is also sensitive to alcohol. However drinking alcohol will suspend the ketosis until the alcohol is metabolized. To see how alcohol affects your ketosis, wait to take a measure until the alcohol is out of your body (day after).
How does Exogenous Ketones affect the result?
Exogenous ketones will not increase the ketones in your breath.
Breath acetone comes only from your liver turning fatty acids into acetoacetate, which then decarboxylates to acetone. Drinking BHB raises blood BHB, and raised BHB may even reduce the release of fatty acids from fat tissue (Stubbs et al., Front Physiol 2017). The liver then makes less acetoacetate, so your breath readings can fall.
What is the difference between Breath ketones and Blood ketones?
Blood ketones (Beta-hydroxybutyrate) is not the same ketones found in your breath (Acetone).
Breath ketones are present when liver converts fat into ketones. The more breath ketones, the higher conversion of fat into ketones.
Blood ketones (BHB) are the feedback ketone. Muscle that runs mainly on fat turns acetoacetate it doesn’t burn into BHB and sends it back into the blood, where rising BHB reduces the release of fatty acids. When your energy need goes up again, cells can burn BHB as fuel. A blood ketone measure of 3 mmol/L is only about 15 calories worth of energy which the body could use up quite quickly if needed.
The formation/use of blood ketones also depends on vitamin and mineral availability. It also depends on the level of blood sugar. High blood sugar inhibits the ability to use the blood ketones as energy. This is what happens when people with diabetes type 1 have a high level of glucose and no insulin, both high glucose and high level of blood ketones.
Measuring blood ketones is important to people with little or no insulin production. For people that have a normal insulin production the blood ketone value could vary a lot in the Nutritional Ketosis range. Conversion of fat into ketones are much higher in Therapeutic Ketosis and more blood ketones are also formed, however the level still depends on your bodys ability to form and use them.
Remember, breath ketones is a better indicator of ketosis because it does not have the same metabolic function as blood ketones.
How do I increase my ketosis?
There is several ways you could increase your ketosis. Using the Ketonix® you can find out what works for you. How you react to lifestyle changes depends on your body cells, liver, muscles, food, activity level ... etc.
Some common lifestyle changes that affects the level of ketosis are:
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Lower carbohydrates per day.
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Have a moderate amount of protein, 1gr per kg body weight is common to use.
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Don’t over-eat, excess energy will always be stored and cause insulin to rise and ketosis to decrease.
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Try Intermittent fasting.
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HIIT exercise is very effective to tap into the glycogen stores and increase ketosis.
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Fast between meals. Coffee with cream or fat is like eating. Tea or coffee without cream works.
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Try finding real ketogenic recipes, with a ratio equal or higher than 3:1. Most “Keto Recipes” on the Internet have a low ketogenic ratio.
The ketogenic ratio is commonly calculated as:
ratio = fat gr : (protein gr+carbs gr)
A ratio of 3:1 means there is 3 times more fat (in grams) than the sum of proteins and carbs (in grams).
NOTE:
If you have type 1 or 2 diabetes: You still need to check your glucose.
Ketonix is a complement but does not replace your glucose or beta-hydroxybutyrate measuring devices.
We also recommend you consulting your doctor before doing dietary, medical, or lifestyle changes.
Where can I find the manual?
Sources
- Anderson JC. Measuring breath acetone for monitoring fat loss: review. Obesity (2015) 23: 2327–2334.
- Reichard GA Jr et al. Plasma acetone metabolism in the fasting human. J Clin Invest (1979) 63: 619–626.
- Owen OE, Reichard GA Jr. Human forearm metabolism during progressive starvation. J Clin Invest (1971) 50: 1536–1545.
- Senior B, Loridan L. Direct regulatory effect of ketones on lipolysis and on glucose concentrations in man. Nature (1968) 219: 83–84.
- Taggart AKP et al. (D)-β-Hydroxybutyrate inhibits adipocyte lipolysis via the nicotinic acid receptor PUMA-G. J Biol Chem (2005) 280: 26649–26652.
- Fery F, Balasse EO. Ketone body turnover during and after exercise in overnight-fasted and starved humans. Am J Physiol (1983) 245: E318–E325.
- Stubbs BJ et al. On the metabolism of exogenous ketones in humans. Front Physiol (2017) 8: 848.