Chapter 1 - Contrasting Type I and Type II Diabetes

The best way to discover what this amount is for you personally is to purchase some “ Ketostix” from your local drug store. They measure ketones in your urine. Ketones are a by-product of burning fat. Use the Ketostix to measure the ketones in your urine on a daily basis, preferably at, or near, the same time daily.

Very high concentrations of ketones can be a sign of danger. This isn’t necessarily because of the ketones themselves, but because of the processes that those high concentrations indicate. That being said, our goal is to give ourselves tangible, measurable evidence that our bodies are using fat as a glucose source by monitoring the amount of ketones in the urine. If the body isn’t producing any ketones at all in the urine, you can bet that the body is using very little or no fat at all as fuel. On the other hand, in order to err on the safe side, we don’t want our ketones to be so high that there could be potential problems.

With your Ketostix, pick a time of day to take your measurements. I do it in the evenings at my first urination after I get home or around 6 - 8 PM. Morning urine is concentrated as the body has been working in a very different mode all night, so I personally believe that the evening reading is the most useful and accurate.When you read the stick (determining the color) it should ideally read in the “moderate” range. This will show that you are definitely using fats as a fuel, whether that fat is dietary fat or fat from your own body. If you want to use the Ketostix to determine if you are burning your body’s own fat, it requires a little more personal attention to your readings. You must experiment with your diet (what you eat on a daily basis) and note the readings every day. Keep close track of what you eat during the day and what the corresponding reading is that evening. Weigh yourself after you’ve showered (or bathed) and gone to the bathroom every morning to see if you are losing, gaining, or maintaining your weight. After a time, you’ll recognize that once your carbohydrate intake surpasses a certain amount during the course of a day, a pattern of “trace” or “zero” ketones will develop, and you nearly always stop losing weight, or even gain again. Simply

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