Blood ketone testing

A few thoughts -

We all move at different speeds so perhaps you’re just taking longer.

Twenty-three net carbs might a little bit high for your metabolism.  Ketosis is largely impacted by the lack of carbs so you might try lowering them; better yet, try switching to Total Carbs.  Total Carbs is a more strict interpretation of the diet and generally significantly improves the results.  You can always switch back to net at some point.

When testing in the morning, it’s a good idea to wait a bit and not test right after you wake up.  I acknowledge that both may vary from person to person, but the norm is that first thing in the morning our blood glucose is higher (even after sleeping all night) due to the increase that causes us to wake up.  In the same light, our ketones are around their lowest.   Give it a couple active hours before testing.

You can test just before a meal and 2.5 to 3-hours after; these should give you a solid reading.

You could try taking some MCT oil with your meals.  Some have results with that, but remember that MCT oils can NOT be stored and so must be burned as fuel first.  Your subsequent ketone readings, while increased, might simply reflect burning the MCT and not stored body fat.  Still, it’s a thought to give that a try.

The only other thing that comes to mind is to make sure you’ve thoroughly washed your hands well before testing.  My doc advised laying everything out, then washing them thoroughly twice to remove any surface oils/contaminates, and wipe the intended blood stick site with an alcohol pad.  After the stick, express a drop of blood and wipe it way with a paper towel.  Repeat the express/wipe again.  He says that the blood drops can wet the alcohol and that can contaminate the site.  My local RedCross blood donor center said the same thing - who knew?

I hope this helps and good luck!

I would chip and and say that Dr. Boz (Annette Bosworth, MD) of YouTube fame is of the opinion that anything above .3 does count as being in ketosis.

Ketone levels aren't a constant number. They fluctuate throughout the day depending on your bodies need for energy. Technically .4 is considered nutritional ketosis but it depends on what your glucose level is at that time. I would do a glucose and ketone reading at the same time. Keto Mojo has a new monitor that does both and calculates them together to give you a GKI (glucose ketone index) number. GKI in my opinion is a better way to gauge your level of ketosis.