Testing Glucose or Ketones: Which is More Important?

In this video, we're going to talk about testing glucose and ketone levels. Which one is more important to do?

Hypoglycemia:

Dawn Phenomenon:

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When you test your glucose:

• The lower the glucose, the higher the ketones
• The higher the glucose, the lower the ketones

When you start out, you might have a blood sugar of around 80, but as you do ketosis, you'll find it goes lower and lower. If you're feeling great, you probably aren't developing hypoglycemia. 

But, there is something called the dawn phenomenon that happens for a few reasons. It may happen because of gluconeogenesis, you're prediabetic, you have insulin resistance, or you get a spike in cortisol. 

When you test your ketones:

You can check your ketone levels through your blood, breath, or urine.

When you start out, I recommend checking your urine. When you're more experienced, I recommend checking your blood. 

Ketones provide 30-38% of the fuel in the body. 50-60% of the fuel is going to be from fatty acids. Even though your ketones may be low, you may still be burning fat. You just can't test it. 

I wouldn't worry if you're doing keto and intermittent fasting, but you're ketones are low—it's because probably because of the dawn phenomenon. 

Which is more important to test, glucose, or ketones?

*I think glucose is more important to test than ketones. But, I recommend testing them both to understand what's happening and the significance of each one. 

Dr. Eric Berg DC Bio:
Dr. Berg, 56 years of age is a chiropractor who specializes in Healthy Ketosis & Intermittent Fasting. He is the author of The New Body Type Guide and other books published by KB Publishing. He has taught students nutrition as an adjunct professor at Howard University. He no longer practices, but focuses on health education through social media.

Disclaimer:
Dr. Eric Berg received his Doctor of Chiropractic degree from Palmer College of Chiropractic in 1988. His use of “doctor” or “Dr.” in relation to himself solely refers to that degree. Dr. Berg is a licensed chiropractor in Virginia, California, and Louisiana, but he no longer practices chiropractic in any state and does not see patients so he can focus on educating people as a full time activity, yet he maintains an active license. This video is for general informational purposes only. It should not be used to self-diagnose and it is not a substitute for a medical exam, cure, treatment, diagnosis, and prescription or recommendation. It does not create a doctor-patient relationship between Dr. Berg and you. You should not make any change in your health regimen or diet before first consulting a physician and obtaining a medical exam, diagnosis, and recommendation. Always seek the advice of a physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

[quinalana]

TIME TO GIVE PROPS not just for being a weight loss guru ..but your teachings of HEALTH is WEALTH ...Dr. Eric Thank You for keeping us all Alive & well even when when we fell off the wellness wagon ....You deserve a medal of Honor for your whiteboard lessons, your ethical broadcasts & more ..imagine if You were live coast to coast on a major network...big Pharma would shrivel

[BCEBiz]

I love the short... informative nature of your videos. I like to watch them 2 or 3 times to help retain the informstion. Thanks Doc!

[dewboy]

Even while doing Keto faithfully and losing weight, my blood glucose is ALWAYS 90 to 100. I believe the biggest reason is Cortisol. I am stressed way too often these days. I know that I have to find a way to lower my stress. At this point, lowering my stress is probably more important than doing Keto.

[lisedoucet]

I wish i had a teacher like Dr Berg going through college, would've been so much easier, just love the way he explains and he makes it fun to listen ❤😁

[ballen]

Haha, I watched the other video before this one so I was getting confused. Now I realize my body was running on fat instead of sugar and my 68 glucose level was fine. Yay! I'm feeling so good in this lifestyle. I can't thank you enough Dr Berg ❤️

[garimajain]

Thanks for everything that you do, Dr Berg!

Currently on Day 4 of a water only fast and tested both with the Keto Mojo device for the first time. Glucose 60 and Ketones 3.7, put me at a GKI of 0.9

No discomfort. Couldn’t be happier ❤

[LynetteYoung]

As always, this information is AMAZING! Thank you for all you do Dr. Berg!

[DizConnected]

Been doing KETO for 1.5 years, lost 50 pounds, my weight loss has slowed down but I'm still loosing. Truly I started KETO to get healthy not loose weight, the weight loss is just an added benefit. I'm the only one in the family doing KETO and they understand I no longer eat Bread, Pasta, Rice, Potatoes, Sugar, etc. What they don't understand yet is IF and that I don't want to eat Breakfast at 7am because once I eat all fat burning stops. I'll keep trying to educate them as Dr. Berg has done for me, but they still do the 3 meals + snacks while I prefer 1 or 2 meals, no snacks.

[JustMe-mngr]

Dr Boz goes by the Boz Ratio, which is calculated by dividing the blood glucose by the blood ketones. Under 80 is nutritional ketosis or fat burning, under 40 is immune system repair, etc. and under 20 is therapeutic for things like cancer and should be done under supervision. Fora6 and Keto Mojo are both able to test ketones and glucose.

[chadaitken]

What Dr Berg has done after viewing many hrs of videos, is allow people to know what questions to ask and come up with their own questions bc of the knowledge.

[terripatton]

So helpful! Thank you Dr Berg for clarifying why glucose levels can be high in the mornings.

[MellieBellie]

Yes, the glucose numbers from Dawn Phenomenon will go down. I don't bother to check mine until halfway through my day anymore, and they're always 20-30 lower.
👍

[c.randall]

How do you keep producing such great videos?? It blows my mind 😜. THANK

[Ondrus]

I've made an experiment. Last night, just before I went to bed, I measured both glucose and ketones. Glucose was 5.2 mmol/l and ketones 1.6 mmol/l. This morning I measured both markers again approximately 2 hours after awakening. Glucose was 6.4 mmol/l and ketones 0.2 mmol/l. I ate or drank nothing in between, except about 0.5 l of water.

[shredboise]

Dawn phenomenon is a natural circadian rhythm which spikes cortisol to give you energy when you wake.

[jagster]

Dr. Berg, can you please address the importance of the Glucose-Ketone index and explain its implications in long term overall health and wellness? Thank you and love your content!! 👍

[whitelfner]

Interesting. Just happened to see this, doing a low carb 6:18 intermittent fasting for about 6 weeks. Found my regular baseline fasting blood sugar of 103 jumped to 128 this morning about 10 am before I had broken my fast (breakfast) BUT I had been up and doing ringing in some heavy things from the car and watering my house battery in the hot sun. (25 minute job, just leaning over with a gallon jug of water, but I have a bad hip so more exertion than normal. This likely helps explain it!

[carolflynn-tiso]

I really appreciate you and your teaching style to help everyone get healthier. You are a blessing to me. Thank you 🥰

[Marie-kvjr]

Thank you for all your work. These videos have helped me take care of my self much better.

[rodrigopoulson]

Love Dr Eric Berg!! He is so honest in his studies, he will always give you the truth, nothing to hide, absolute legend 😍🍻