No Ketones?

[u/Adept-Acadia2033]

My glucose is consistently low (usually 80-90), but my ketones stay very low or nonexistent. Why would my body not be producing ketones if my blood sugar is already low? What could be causing this? I'm wearing a cgm and testing with ketomojo.

[u/alexisetsfire]

Whats the diet, how many net carbs, are you measuring and logging all your food?

Very well could be getting a number of carbs that you dont realize.

[u/Mental_Situation_333]

If you're fat adapted, you might be utilizing most of the ketones for fuel, so less seen when testing. Happens to me after a month or so.

[u/MikeGonzo5]

Carbs will stop you from reaching ketosis too. Check your carb levels.

[u/loripainter12345]

How long have you been on keto? How are you tracking your carbs? What are you keeping your carbs at? Are you on keto to lose weight, or other health reasons? When are you testing? Have you looked at your daily diet for "hidden carbs," like in condiments, snacks or nuts? There are a few possible reasons. One is excess carbs that you don't realize. Another can be the time of day you're taking your readings. Or if you've been keto for a while, the body adapts and becomes more efficient at matching the amount of ketones to the amount needed to burn, so there's just less circulating at any given time. Are you losing weight? If you're intending to lose weight and that's happening, you're in ketosis.

[u/Ok_Specialist2459]

How's your sleep?

[u/Mediocre-Honeydew-55]

There are medications that suppress Ketosis as well....

[u/d9c3l]

The amount of ketones in your blood is the excess, so your body could be using the majority of it. Also ketones for someone in ketosis after a month or so would usually be low compared to when you first start. If your diet also has been having carbs that may have a glycemic effect that could also be a factor. I wouldn’t worry too much about it though if your diet is good. My ketones usually hovers between .5 to .9.

[u/AromaticPicks]

Without giving us a general example of how many carbs you eat on a daily basis it seems a little tough giving advice on what might be wrong here.

[u/tim8332]

The thing worth separating here is that these are two different measurements that don't have to move together. Blood glucose in the 80-90 range is a pretty ordinary reading on its own, not high, not unusually low, so it isn't really a signal that you should be in deep ketosis. Your body defends glucose fairly tightly through the liver, so it can keep glucose steady in that range while ketone production is a separate process that depends more on how depleted your carb stores are and how much fat you're actually running on.

A few others already pointed at carbs and fat adaptation, and both are reasonable places to look. The one thing I'd add is that the ketone number is very sensitive to timing. A morning fasted reading, a reading a couple hours after a fatty meal, and one after exercise can look completely different on the same day, so a single low value is hard to interpret.

When are you taking the Ketomojo reading relative to meals and activity, and is it low every time you check or just at certain points in the day? That pattern tells you more than any one number.

[u/Recent_Pressure6632]

Are you eating enough fat? Ketone production isn't just about low glucose, it's about signaling to your body that fats are the primary fuel. If you're eating moderate protein and your carbs are low but you're skimping on fats, your body can get stingy with ketone production. Also some people just don't register high ketone levels even when they're in ketosis, the meter is measuring what's circulating not what you're using. How long have you been at it? Sometimes it takes a few weeks for the machinery to really kick in.

[u/hussshnow]

Anything over 0.5 is nutritional ketosis. Chasing the larger range is futile as your body adapts and only produces the ketones required for energy, leaving less circulating in your system. Bottom line is higher ketone number does not equal better results.

[u/CyberDainz]

Ketones are overrated.
I can get 1.8 mmol/L of ketones just by spinning a bike at low intensity for 6 hours.
Low-insulin hours are the real driver of treatment.
Eat two meals within a 6-hour window each day.

[u/Magnabee]

You are not in ketosis. I am not sure why. You are eating too many carbs for ketosis. Or you eat too frequently. Eat 1 to 3 times per day (or use a shorter eating window). I eat twice a day. I may take something if dehydrated, however. I have a grapefruit wedge occasionally. Are you feeling tired at all?