ketostix colors.........transcript from Dr. A's nutrionalist

[Guest guest]

here is the transcript from Eberstein, R.N.

Senior Administrator of Clinical & Educational

Services

at the Atkins Center for Complementary Medicine

Question:

In Segment 2 we want to discuss Ketosis. Why can some

people be in

ketosis and still show no weight loss?

NUTRITIONIST:

Ok, let's go back. First of all, I have seen people

lose 100 pounds

and never found ketones.I have also seen people have

dark sticks that

cannot lose weight. There are individual differences.

I also suspect

that there are times when we do not have a sensitive

enough measure

for ketones in some people. If you are losing either

weight or inches,

you are fine. It also depends upon time of day.

Remember that ketones

are a reflection of how much fat your body needs to

burn for energy.

You are more likely to have darker ketones later in

the day because

you have been more active...however I have seen some

patients have

darker ketones when they wake in the morning. I don't

know why that

is. Find your best time. Color on the sticks will

also vary when you

are younger and have a better metabolism, you are

more likely to turn

a darker purple. If you are doing well with weight or

inches, and

cannot turn dark, so what! Also remember that the

older one gets the

less muscle mass you will have, If you are losing

muscle mass, once

you are in your 30's, because you are a couch potato,

you will have

less muscle to burn less fat. Medications such as

antibiotic and

others already mentioned can effect ketosis.

Premenstrual women can

lose their ketones even if they are being good.

During the

peri-menopausal stage, hormone imbalances can also

effect ketones and

fluid balance which will effect the scale. Yo-yo

dieting effects the

metabolism. Diet pills even in the past can effect

metabolism. So my

advice since you cannot change your bad habits in the

past is to

realize this needs to be a PERMANENT LIFESTYLE

CHANGE. It may take you

longer than you wish to accomplish your goal, but as

I tell my

patients and myself, today is as young as your

chemistry is going to

be. Take advantage of it now and just do it!

Question:

Does drinking lots of water affect the color of the

sticks?

NUTRITIONIST:

Not really! The sticks are designed to measure a

certain amount of

ketones. My experience is that the concentration of

the urine should

not make much difference unless you are measuring at

either extreme.

One problem however, which is especially true of

women I have found,

is that they are chronically dehydrated. They are

afraid to drink

water because they might gain a pound on the scale.

In the office we

have a scale that measure percentage of body fat. It

also measures

levels of hydration because hydration effects the

level, the

measurement of the body fat. Women should be 50-60%

water, Men should

be 60-70% water. My patients who measure the lowest %

of water,

sometimes as low as 39% in women, are the women

having the hardest

time losing weight. Remember that water is necessary

for the millions

of chemical reactions that make our bodies work.

Including the ones

related to our metabolic rate. The more dehydrated we

are, the less

efficient our bodies will work, and that certainly

can effect our

ability to lose weight rule of thumb: 8 8oz glasses

of water a day and

for those of us who exercise 8 oz before exercise 8

oz for every 20

minutes of exercise 8 oz at the end Even in the

winter as we can get

just as dehydrated exercising in the cold as in the

hot, although we

are less aware of dehydration in the winter. And

remember, that the

more junk we add to water, the less healthy it is for

us...as

in...diet soda.

Question:

Is it possible to drink too much water?

NUTRITIONIST:

I think it is pathologically possible, but I don't

think anyone doing

the diet is in that position. I once read somewhere

that someone drank

so much water they diluted the sodium content in

their blood.

But that would be almost impossible to do under

normal circumstances.

--- End forwarded message ---

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