Low Net Carbs Less Effective?

Excellent question . I did read that the strips aren't very accurate after the first two weeks . As to the truth  in labels , I try to trust verification through the USDA stats .

Hey Larry!  Something to consider; this from the Virta folks (medical specialists in using ketosis as a treatment of diabetes among other things.

while this particular FAQ addresses net vs total carbs, note the impact of fiber on ketosis.  I hope you find that helpful.

Should I count net carbs or total carbs?

Dr. Stephen Phinney and the Virta Team

We recommend counting total carbohydrates, with the most of your food coming from real, whole foods. 

With some exceptions, unprocessed non-starchy vegetables, nuts and seeds contain a relatively small (<25%) of their total carbs as soluble fiber. The use of net carbs 1) assumes there is little to no impact of both fiber and sugar alcohols on blood sugar (responses can vary among individuals so discounting them is not appropriate) and 2) often promotes the use of a lot of products like bars, low carb breads, etc. While they may be “low in net carbs” this can lead to a significant amount of added carbohydrates to your daily total.

and here’s the link: https://www.virtahealth.com/faq/net-vs-total-carbs-keto

Also, I agree with Mark the keto urine strips lose accuracy the longer one is in ketosis.  BTW: anything over .5mMols is considered ketosis and my readings of Drs Phinney and Volek tell me that while it might seem important to achieve a higher number (staying below keto acidosis of course), the actual number isn’t that important to the long-term maintenance of keto.  Anything above .5 and you’re in.

have you considered investing in a blood ketone tester (finger prick)?  There are some good examples out there (I use Keto-mojo, but check them out and make your own decision).  What I like about the blood stick tester is that it’s accurate, and allows me to hone in my testing on particular foods (1 hr before eating; 2 hrs after and 3 hrs after) to fully understand how a particular food item impacts my sugars.  

Hope this helps

Hi Larry. Be careful of those so called keto friendly products. Anything that contains grains and most all of them do, Oat fiber, wheat isolates is not keto. Keto is grain free.  If you can lose using net carbs then great. Some people have slower metabolisms and need to count total carbs.   

I guess I'm the odd duck because I have consistently shown ketones on the urine strips for months.  I drink a ton of water, so it's not dehydration.  Everyone is different.  The assumption  that ketones have disappeared or drastically lowered because of fat adaption cannot be made without correlation to other factors.  I personally avoid any of the so-called low carb/keto friendly foods that rely on a very high fiber count to qualify as low carb.  Especially if they contain wheat or gluten or rely on high amounts of sugar alcohols to lower the carb count.  I find the best way to track my progress is to monitor body fat percentage and weight. It gives me the most reliable source of feedback on what is working, and what is not.

ja9kjohnsona69c  If that works for you great! I am intolerant to grains.  Dr. Atkins even said "Man was not meant to eat grains" It could be the reason why many people have problems losing on low carb.  There's two great books on grains. Grain Brain by Dr. Perlmutter and Wheat Belly by Dr. Davis.  My IBS and other intestinal issues are from grains. 

Mayflowers I don't eat grains of any kind, especially wheat as I'm gluten intolerant.  I also don't eat legumes except for green beans, nuts except for coconut, dairy except for butter (I use ghee which removes the milk solids), no alcohol, and no artificial sweeteners, and of course no sugar except for those naturally occurring ones in foods.  I also keep net carbs below total of 20 grams, and do at least a 16:8 fasting protocol.  I'm sure this is a bit too extreme for most people, but it has resulted in the total elimination of my inflammation-related symptoms, and weight loss of an average 10-12 pounds a month.  Not as difficult as it sounds, at least for me.

Larry Mac   With me I think its age related. I lost alot easier when I was younger. I have to exercise a lot more now to keep my metabolism faster. I lift free weights and do cardio.  I also have to watch the alcohol. I had ONE glass of wine this week and I only lost a lb.   I could never drink alcohol when I was dieting even when I was young it would stall my weight loss. 

ja9kjohnsona69c  Oh that's great that you don't eat grains. I  am grain intolerant..  I don't think I'm fat adapted yet.. this may take awhile.  Its been a few months and I still have symptoms.  10-12 lbs per month? Wow you must be male. 🙂

Larry Mac  I tend to think its the keto-friendly items out there.  Seems too easy for folks to claim ‘best keto this...’. ‘Best keto that...’ with no accountability.  Truly a ‘let the eater beware’ environment.

FYI, the carb manager app has the ability to import recipes (more on that later - need to remember just how), anyway, CM will import the recipe AND grade it too!  It may not be perfectly accurate, but I find it a HUGE help to separate the wheat from the chaff (pun intended).

Import is under the Food tab, scroll right across the top menu to ‘Recipes and Meal Plans’... then scroll right to ‘Import Recipe’

you’ll need to copy/paste the URL from the site your verifying and it will do the rest.  Beware of Pinterest.  L-O-T-S of shady recipes out there, all claiming to be Keto. 

Hope this helps

Mayflowers No, I'm a 66 year old female who doesn't exercise (bad knees and back).  But I have gone from 240 to 198.6 since December 1st doing  the Squeaky Clean Keto plan on "I Breathe, I'm Hungry".   It was supposed to be a 30 day challenge, but it has worked so well I just kept going and I'm now on day 92!