Ketone Levels were at their highest Levels, from Beers???

[DarthBaeza]

I just finished my induction stage when some friends came from out of state to visit me. I've lost 12 lbs and today I surprisingly was in my deepest stage of ketosis (dark brown on the stick). This is wierd since I had a lot of drinks but did manage not to take in any sugars or carbs other than the beers. I had chicken wings, steak and other carb-friendly foods. I just cheated with the beers only. The funny thing that I don't understand is: I must have had 12 michelob ultras at approximately 3 grams of carbs per beer over a 7 hour period. Went to D-Backs game and then went clubbing. I know this is bad but this was a special occasion and won't be done very often at all. Am I now suppose to take in more carbs? Like 40? Because this seemed to boost my fat burning. Let me know. By the way, if you're not an experienced Atkinseer, please don't comment on this. I just want the facts from an expert who would know why this happened and if more carbs, not necessarily beers, are going to benefit me.

[Bren]

The sticks are only a tool. They are not an accurate tool either. We have had people lose large amounts of weight and never even register on the sticks. Also, a darker then normal color on the stick could be a sign that you are dehydrated, which is not unusual when you had quite a bit to drink, not meaning water. Remember the sticks cannot tell the difference between the fats you consumed and pass or the ones you are actually losing. So, ALWAYS combine the sticks with the scale and the tape measure!

CONGRATULATIONS on the GREAT induction results! And, if you are ready head on over to the OWL forum and climb the rungs properly, you'll never regret it!

opps, not an expert but knew the answer to that one. Hope I made sense!

[Glinda]

This is my third time on Atkins and I will tell you that the sticks are a very good indicator for me. I may not be losing weight according to the scales, but I AM losing inches when my sticks turn color.

Also, I'll tell you that when I did Atkins the first time I had a male friend who started the diet at the same time I did. We both lost 35 pounds in 3 months and he drank beer EVERY day. You may be one of the lucky ones who can partake and still have weight loss.

This past weekend, I had a similar situation to yours. Went to a party, took plenty of low carb foods to munch on and had 4 Mike's Lite Hard Lemonades. I lost a pound that night.

[sadie147]

Alcohol throws off the ketostix and what you are seeing it not an accurate reading of ketosis. I have even tested this in maintenainace, knowing i wasn't in ketosis, i tested the morning after having a few drinks, and was darkest purple, the next day back to no colour again. I'm not sure what the chemical explanation is..

You're best to wait a day or two to see if you're still in ketosis.

HTH

[eschli35]

The Keto stick is giving you a false positive. Acetoacetic acid is being tested with the stick and when your body breaks down alcohol one of the by products is
acetic acid which is chemically very similar. So it more or less fools the keto stick.

[DarthBaeza]

Originally Posted by eschli35

The Keto stick is giving you a false positive. Acetoacetic acid is being tested with the stick and when your body breaks down alcohol one of the by products is
acetic acid which is chemically very similar. So it more or less fools the keto stick.

I would normally believe this however, I've been on this diet before many years ago and have gotten the opposite result to the contrary. What I mean is, I've had the same amount of beer and cheated with the food and had a burger and fries with ketchup and fell right out of ketosis immediately. Meaning, the beers' acetic acid was never a determining factor. Michelob Ultras with proteins equated to deep ketosis where as the opposite Michelob Ultras with carbs and sugars threw me right out. "Just food and beer for thought". Thank You.

P.S. Did not go back to clear after 36 hours. Still showing high ketone levels and I drink a load of water a day.

[not2late]

Originally Posted by DarthBaeza

I would normally believe this however, I've been on this diet before many years ago and have gotten the opposite result to the contrary. What I mean is, I've had the same amount of beer and cheated with the food and had a burger and fries with ketchup and fell right out of ketosis immediately. Meaning, the beers' acetic acid was never a determining factor. Michelob Ultras with proteins equated to deep ketosis where as the opposite Michelob Ultras with carbs and sugars threw me right out. "Just food and beer for thought". Thank You.

P.S. Did not go back to clear after 36 hours. Still showing high ketone levels and I drink a load of water a day.

Ketosis/lipolysis is dependent on the fat to carb ratio of your diet, not the protein to carb ratio.

Also those ketostix are non-specific for the type of fat being metabolised: that is, those stix won't tell you if the ketones are from body fat or from the fat you ingested with the drinks.

The other thing is this:

This is wierd since I had a lot of drinks but did manage not to take in any sugars or carbs other than the beers. I had chicken wings, steak and other carb-friendly foods. I just cheated with the beers only. The funny thing that I don't understand is: I must have had 12 michelob ultras at approximately 3 grams of carbs per beer over a 7 hour period.

Most of the alcohol metabolism charts in books and on the medical websites show the metabolism of an alcoholic drink at one time or a "bolus" dose. That dose is usually cleared over 3-8 hours depending on the amount. You can't use that chart with what you did.

You had a sustained dose of alcohol over a 7 hour period of time and you also ate during that time. Having with your alcohol also delays its entry into your blood stream.

According to this website:
http://pubs.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/aa35.htm

The liver can metabolize only a certain amount of alcohol per hour, regardless of the amount that has been consumed. The rate of alcohol metabolism depends, in part, on the amount of metabolizing enzymes in the liver, which varies among individuals and appears to have genetic determinants (1,4). In general, after the consumption of one standard drink, the amount of alcohol in the drinker's blood (blood alcohol concentration, or BAC) peaks within 30 to 45 minutes. (A standard drink is defined as 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine, or 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits, all of which contain the same amount of alcohol.) The BAC curve, shown on the previous page, provides an estimate of the time needed to absorb and metabolize different amounts of alcohol (5). Alcohol is metabolized more slowly than it is absorbed. Since the metabolism of alcohol is slow, consumption needs to be controlled to prevent accumulation in the body and intoxication.

. The rate at which alcohol is absorbed depends on how quickly the stomach empties its contents into the intestine. The higher the dietary fat content, the more time this emptying will require and the longer the process of absorption will take. One study found that subjects who drank alcohol after a meal that included fat, protein, and carbohydrates absorbed the alcohol about three times more slowly than when they consumed alcohol on an empty stomach (7).

Note: the BAC curve is based upon the effects of alcohol on a 'fasting' individual. Since you weren't fasting, the alcohol entered your blood stream at a slower rate. Also note that if you have a high fat meal with the alcohol, the alcohol will be absorbed "three times more slowly". Therefore, rather than entering your blood stream at 30-45 minutes, it would have entered your blood stream 90-135 minutes. The other thing is that the BAC curve is also based on a rapidly administered dose of alcohol. If you sipped your 12 beer servings over that 7 hour period, that too would prolong the alcohol entering your bloodstream and alcohol metabolism.

If you stuck to the 12 ounce serving size of beer, you had 12 servings over 7 hours or about 1.7 beer servings every hour during that 7 hour period. If you drank a 1.7 beers at 0 hour, along with food, you wouldn't get the peak blood alcohol concentration until at least 90 to 2 hours later, by which time you drank another two more of the 1.7 beer servings. So this additive effect of the beer and the addition of food, delayed alcohol metabolism in you.

Since your liver can only metabolise a certain amount of alcohol at a time, the alcohol accumulates in other tissues of your body, waiting its turn to be metabolised by your liver.

[Capemay Eagle]

Originally Posted by DarthBaeza

I would normally believe this however, I've been on this diet before many years ago and have gotten the opposite result to the contrary. What I mean is, I've had the same amount of beer and cheated with the food and had a burger and fries with ketchup and fell right out of ketosis immediately. Meaning, the beers' acetic acid was never a determining factor. Michelob Ultras with proteins equated to deep ketosis where as the opposite Michelob Ultras with carbs and sugars threw me right out. "Just food and beer for thought". Thank You.

P.S. Did not go back to clear after 36 hours. Still showing high ketone levels and I drink a load of water a day.

Just do what I did. Cut out sugar 100% avoid pasta and deserts, get about 40 minutes of fitness a day and you can eat anything you want. You can go out on the weekends with your friends and have a few beers with out having to worry about peeing on some silly stick that is for the purpose of diabetics. I have been losing about a pound or two a week just doing these simple things..

[biogeek]

So, here's my take on the subject from a biologist's point of view...

Alcohol consumption WILL cause your ketosticks to turn a lovely, dark purple color, but it is registering ketones from alcohol metabolism instead of ketones from fatty acid metabolism (what we want).

The liver will ALWAYS metabolize alcohol first, then carbs, etc. So, alcohol consumption may postpone weightloss, it certainly won't stop it UNLESS you consumed excess carbohydrates with your alcohol.

The body will NOT store excess alcohol because it is basically a poison and must be completely metabolized, unlike excess carbohydrates, which we all know will get stored. Once the alcohol has been completely metabolized, you'll go right back to regular ketosis IF you did not consume french fries and other carb-heavy bar foods.

Since your only cheat was consuming low-carb beers, I don't see a reason why you would come out of ketosis. I don't condone doing this on a regular basis as you should be fueling your body with good foods & high nutrients.

As far as adding more carbs to your regular Atkins way of eating, after induction, you should start adding back carbs, 5 g at a time as you climb OWL. You stop adding carbs once you stop losing weight.


Please let me know if you wish to have more in-depth info on physiology.

Another edit: yes, we need carbs in order to increase fat-burning. That's one reason why it is added and NEVER elminated from this WOE.

[DarthBaeza]

Wow, you guys are good. Thanks a lot. This is very helpful.