A keto diet is a low-carbohydrate and high-fat based diet where the body uses up all its glucose or sugar supply and goes into a state of ketosis which basically means that the body now starts using and burning up fats to generate energy for its everyday functions. This burning up of fats create ketones in the body.

Ketones are that replace glucose in a low carbohydrate-based diet. They offer a variety of health effects to your body and also helps give your body energy to carry on everyday functions in place of glucose. When the ketone levels in your body increases, it is termed as ketosis. Ketosis is the ultimate goal of everyone practising a keto diet. But, by what symptoms do we look out to know that we have finally reached the stage of ketosis? The answer is straightforward! We just have to check for ketones in the urine. As for, what ‘ketones in urine’ are, this article will discuss that in detail in easy and simple terms!

Ketone bodies are molecules, soluble in water, that is made by your liver from fatty acids. The molecules include acetoacetate, beta-hydroxybutyrate, and acetone. The production of ketone bodies is a metabolic process that takes place during a prolonged period of fasting or starvation. However, in some cases, they can move out of control and become extremely dangerous and harmful to our bodies. However, this is only a rare case and happens to people who are severe alcoholic and suffer from alcoholism and some people who suffer from type 1 diabetes.

One other way to boost your ketone production is with the low-carb keto diet. The diet helps you imitate a sense of starvation and forces your body to go into the state of ketosis due to the non-availability of glucose or sugar in your body due to less consumption of carbohydrates. The cells in your body pick up these ketones and transform them into acetyl-CoA, a molecule that is used by the cell’s mitochondria to be oxidized for energy and then converted to fatty acids in the brain. The production of all ketones happens in the liver.

When ketone levels are on the higher side, there are various ways to detect them in your urine, breathe and blood. Ketone levels can vary, depending on how much of ketones your body is making versus how much it is actually utilizing.

Ketonuria is the terms that are used to describe ketones in urine. This is a sign that your body is now using fat as its primary source of energy for its everyday functions. The presence of acetoacetate and beta-hydroxybutyrate in your urine indicates the presence of ketones in your body. There are multiple causes of finding ketone in urine including diabetes, eating, disorders, diabetes, and the keto diet. The diagnosis of keto in your urine can be made with the help of a urine test strip that is used to test for keto.

It has been studied that people how are more prone to have ketones in their urine or have ketonuria have a healthy metabolism as compared to people who do not produce ketones in their urine even after a prolonged period of starving or keto diet. It is a symptom that your body is good at burning fat which is essential for good and healthy metabolism. This is also a symptom that you have reached ketosis which is ultimately the main aim of everyone who is practising the keto diet. However, ketone levels in urine should drop after two to three weeks of being on a diet because your body definitely gets used to the keto diet by that point of time. This means that the ketone production in your body is either not getting utilized or that your body is producing more ketones that are to be used.

However, excess ketones in urine can also indicate a problem of some sort. It can also mean that your body is lacking the amount of glucose and insulin that it needs to function correctly. Too much of ketone production can lead to a condition called ketoacidosis. Ketoacidosis is a condition that causes acidity in the blood and from overproduction of ketones. It is harmful because since it turns up the level of acids in your blood, it can cause medical issues in your body. However, ketoacidosis is not very common unless you suffer from type 1 diabetes.

Ketones in urine can be measured with the help of urine test strips. Most of the stripes diagnose acetoacetate in the urine. Urine test strips are used in the same way that one uses a pregnancy kit. You just have to pee on it for the device to pick up the range of ketones that are present in your urine at a given moment. Some other signs of ketones in the urine include a very sweet smell because ketone bodies produce a robust and fruity scent. The slightly unpleasant smell is only for a short while when you first start the keto diet. If budget is not an issue, then you can also use instruments like the blood ketone meters and the ketone breathalysers. The better and more cost-effective way of diagnosing the symptoms is if you begin suffering from the keto flu. The symptoms include:

It is the fruity smell that you experience when you first start the keto diet. It might be unpleasant at times, but overall, it does not really cause your body any sort of harm.

Often, the signs of ketosis include suffering from frequent fatigues and headaches. These headaches are nasty and can often go on for really long periods.

Ketosis also leads to a person to begin to urinate frequently. Frequent urination in turn again leads a person to lose hydration from the body and become dehydrated soon unless one drinks a lot of water and other fluids.

Along with fatigue, people also experience soreness in the muscles and body pain. However, since body pain and soreness in the muscles are a common indicator of any number of diseases, do not panic. Look for other signs as well. It might be that the soreness in your body could be a sign to something minimal like overall tiredness.

Insomnia or lack of sleep is a significant symptom of ketones in your bloodstream. Since there is a large number of ketones that your body needs to burn for your body to be tired, there is a chance that excess ketones in the body will just be the reason for your sudden insomnia. You just do not get tired quickly enough because of excess energy production in your body. Your brain is always using the ketones by burning them and producing more and more energy.

One of the most tell-tale signs of ketone production is fogginess in the mind. This is also because you are always distracted and wanting to do something else because of the energy in your body. You become more out of touch with what is going around you and feel anxious and agitated in the process.

While the results vary from person to person, there is a sample range of ketones that can be or should be present in your urine. They include small: less than 20 milligram/dL or moderate that is 30 to 40 milligram/dL and high that is above 80 milligram/dL. It is the higher concentration of ketones in your urine that can be relatively harmful. However, small to medium proportion of ketones in your body can be okay and even healthy since you are on a low-carb and high fat-based diet. The remnant of low to medium range of ketones is a sign that your body is quite efficient at burning fat to use it as energy for its own needs.

While a certain level of ketone presence in your urine is a sign of healthy metabolism is a sign of a good and healthy metabolism, you must also remember that too much of a good thing is not always right and can also have harmful consequences. Because, at the end of the day, ketones are acidic and too many ketones can make your blood acidic. This can lead to a dangerous situation and can often be a threat to the life of an individual. This is called diabetic ketoacidosis or in short DKA. Ketones should be present in your urine only if you are undergoing a low-carb diet or fasting for long periods. This is because your body, due to the lack of glucose and insulin for energy your body starts using and breaking down fats to meet the energy requirement of the brain and the other organs of your body. But, if your glucose and insulin levels are above or on the range of standard and you still have ketones in your urine, chances are that there is something genuinely wrong with your body, and you might be suffering from ketoacidosis. And it is dangerous as well.

Interestingly, it is noted that the symptoms of diabetes are also the symptoms for someone suffering from ketoacidosis. They are:

Feeling thirsty quite excessively is a sign of ketoacidosis.

When your mouth gets parched too often and too quickly, it can be a symptom of ketoacidosis.

Urinating frequently and at quicker intervals are also a sign of ketoacidosis.

Getting a fruity yet slightly unpleasant smell from your breath is a sign as well.