Elizabeth Miller wrote:

>Todd,
>
>Even when one is on a normal balanced diet including lots of carbs one
>obtains about 10% of their energy needs through ketones. My question is will
>the blood test you're refering to measure this level of background ketones or
>only more significant levels?
>
>

It has been a while since Goldberg posted this on the lowcarb list, but
what I recall is that he was aware of background ketone levels and was
able to measure "ketosis" in terms of levels above that.  The basic idea
is that there is a zone of ketone concentration above the normal ketone
production but not high enough to spill into the urine in amounts that
will make a discernible difference on the ketostix.

The acetone molecule is not usable by cells, so that ketone is a waste
product that *must* be excreted.  If I remember correctly, when ketones
are produced about 2/9 of them are acetone.  This is part of what Atkins
calls the "metabolic advantage" of ketosis; some of the fat ends up
having to be excreted in this form rather than burned.  Anyway, if the
diet is eucaloric, a small amount of acetone is excreted and the rest of
the ketones get used for energy, so the net output in the urine is
small.  And if one's intake of water is great, what ketones are present
in the urine are further diluted.  If a person wants to turn the stix
deep purple, he or she should eat a lot of extra fat and not drink much
water.  But all this is pretty irrelevant to weight loss.

>I
>
Todd Moody
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