Training & Nutrition - "Your In Nation" test strips for Atkins

Regarding the Atkins diet. I bought some ketosis test strips at the drug store ($11 for 50). You use them to tell if you're in the fat burning stage, ketosis. You pee on them. The darker the color, the more fat you're burning. If there's no color, you're still burning only carbs. This makes the Atkins more interesting.

Bodybuilders used to use these years ago to figure out if they were in muscle building mode. If they ate enough protein they could easily tell if they had enough by the colour. I could never find them up here though :)

You may find them easier to find now that diabetes is rampant. One of the things that happens when diabetes is not well controlled is that the body isn't get to burn sugars, so it starts breaking down tissues, this produces ketones. Unchanged this can lead to Diabetic keto-acidosis, which is very difficult to correct and can be fatal. One of the reasons I've never been too keen on trying the Atkin's diet.

it is the burning of muscle mass that makes the serious restrictions suggested in the adkins diet damaging longterm.

invest in dialysis centers now, so when the kidney damage comes full force your portfolio will be properly positioned.

Being a Med. Tech. "I perform medical lab testing for a LIVING!"

Most people are mislead about how the body works. I don't claim to be all knowing, but please do a little research.
Sugar, Glucose is the killer in diabetics, not ketones!!

Ketosis is the natural result of splitting fat molecules apart in order to use the energy from the fat. It is NOT, NOT, NOT the same process that is involved in diabetic keto-acidosis!



The condition called dietary ketosis, means your body burns fat and turns it into a source of fuel called ketones. Ketones are produced whenever body fat is burned. When you burn a larger amount of fat than is immediately needed for energy, the excess ketones are discarded in the urine.

Dietary ketosis is among the most maligned and misunderstood concepts in nutrition because it is often confused with ketoacidosis, which is a life-threatening condition most often associated with uncontrolled insulin-deficient Type 1 diabetes. In the Type 1 diabetic, the absence of insulin leads to a toxic build-up of blood glucose and an extreme break-down of fat and muscle tissue. This condition doesn't occur in individuals who have even a small amount of insulin, whether from natural production or artificially administered.


www.ketosis-ketoacidosis-difference.com/ (http://www.ketosis-ketoacidosis-difference.com/)


I posted a link to this page for any one interested.


http://www.kidney.org/general/aboutdisease/diab.cfm

I would like to add that the reason protein is restricted for a diabetic with some kidney damage is due to the difficulty in removing protein metabolites.

trmcgeehan, You need only go to a pharmacy and ask for "ketostix"! It is exactaly the same test method used in a hospital lab. I would also like to add that drinking a lot of water is one of the best things you can do for your kidneys, soft drinks etc. doesn't count!

Normally, I have to ride at least 50-100 miles a week to maintain my weight of 180. But for various reasons, I haven't been on the bike in over three weeks. But I have been on a semi-Atkins diet -- cutting out all processed carbohydrates such as sugar products and flour, and eating more vegetables. I was delighted to find out this morning when I got on the scale, I was still 180! I expected I would weigh at least 185-187. So now I don't need to bike to keep my weight down. So I guess I'll give up biking. :D

please understand.....

muscle degredation is the result of trying to play a full contact sport (like living your life) on an empty tank. Severely restricting carbs (the most readily available energy source with sugars) will/can cause your body to pull from other sources.

But the over compensation of proteins and fats in this diet puts a great load on the kidneys.

I am just naturally worried about any diet that severely restricts anything the lord built us to use as fuel.

in a controlled environment the diet may work well (healthy wise) but in this 'its better to look good than to feel good' society + people who go to EXTREMES i feel the warnings should be heeded.

its the entire diet, not the fact that it restricts carbs.

RiPHRaPH, It will take SEVERE restrictions to bring your body to pull from muscle mass for energy. The Atkins diet doesn't tell you to keep up a long term strict diet. Have you read his book? The book tells you to get your carbs from sources that are low glycemic index foods. I work with a MD who went on a diet like Atkins 15 years ago lost over 100 lbs and has been healthy as a horse ever since. It can't be all bad.

Most people I see giving this plan down the road haven't even read the books, and have little understanding of how the body uses the huge amounts of refined carbs we eat in modern life. It is almost impossible to totally remove all carbs from anyone's diet.

By the way have anyone of you looked into the dammage that LACTIC ACID does to the kidneys? Yes, lactic acid has to go out the same way that ketones do, in your urine.

I have always wondered if putting yourself into lactic acidosis isn't very bad for your kidneys over a period of time.

I just enjoyed the part in the first post about peeing.

This other stuff is just confusing.;)

I am currently on full blown Atkins right now.
Doing the first stage which is called Induction - limit is 20g carbs
per day !
Lost 4 lbs in 7 days without too much trama.
Since the biking usually slows down a lot in the Great White North this time of year it is what I do to keep the weight off.
The Induction phase makes your body go into Ketosis when you are forced to burn fat as fuel because there is nothing else in there !
I havent used the piss test strips but dont think I have too because you can tell just from the smell/colour of the urine that there is something going on in there - fat burning mode.
Your breath also changes to a different type of smell according to the wife - not scanky, but different ! So I can say without a doubt when I am burning fat as fuel.

Good luck with using those strip, just beware if you whip them out in a public restroom - you might have some curious onlookers !! and a puchup will ensue.

My ex was doing a sort of mix between the Atkins diet and the Body for Life diet. Basically cutting out carbs and eating lots of protein, and exercising every day. He lost about 20lbs and was definitely trading it for muscle. He did it for almost a year then hit a plateau, at which point his personal trainer cousin told him it was time to add carbs back in, but just the good ones (like whole grain rice/pasta.). I don't know much about this kind of diet. If I tried to cut out...well..anything, I'd probably waste away!! Anyway, that's my two cents. Maybe more like one... :)

People with a lot of weight to lose particularly those with endomorphic bodytypes can lose bodyfat rapidly with a restricted carb diet with little muscle loss even with little activity.However as their bodyfat gets lower as Nat mentioned they tend to plateau as the body starts trying to protect remaining fat stores and will shift to breaking down more muscle for fuel.Its all part of the survival/famine mechanisms.At this point its better to increase the carbs and rely on increased activity level to create a slight to moderate calorie deficit and more moderate fat loss rate that will protect against muscle loss.For relatively lean ectomorphic types who tend to lose what little muscle they have easily and start with relatively low bodyfat levels this later approach is usually the best approach to use .

you know that people need to be protected from themselves. more is better, right?

people are inherintly lazy and unmotivated. a quick weight loss is almost certainly either muscle mass (yes) and some water.

it isn't the weight....it is the type of weight one loses. these people eventually stop losing and lose interest in the program.

yes, i have read the book. in a controlled environment it rocks if you are sedentary and unmotivated.

what worries me is the young people who are taking on this type of diet. i wouldn't drive to NYC on an empty tank of gas or the wrong combo of fuel... yet young people, who need to use their kidneys for many many many years are fooling themselves into thinking that this can replace a healthy lifestyle.

forgive me for being leery of this. but i know what the public is capable of. if you want weight loss alone, go for it.

i am against anything that doesn't promote a healthy lifestyle overall.

call me a cynic.

if this diet rounds out an already healthy lifestyle then in moderation i'm all for it.

we'll see in 20 years down the line. but lets not say its all bad.... look at the bodies created by not restricting carbs, etc.

but encouraging fats?!!!

Bodybuilders have been using this type of diet for seasonal weight loss with good results since at least the 50's when Vince Gironda popularized such diets and I suspect the general public with the help of promoters like Atkins are adoping this type of diet based on these results.The difference is bodybuilders need massive amounts more protein for muscle building/maintence as well as more saturated fat for anabolic hormone production than the average couch potato.I agree with you that I am leary of diets where promoters say eat all of this or that you want.I also agree with your opinion these types of diets are likely to be abused by the general public who tend to overdo things or by trend followers who have no need to be on such a diet in the first place as we have seen what the results are with the general public abusing carbs and bodybuilders abusing drugs. I think most agree these diets can be used for quick short term bodyfat loss and to kick the carb habit but most also would agree they are not optimal long term diets. We have not even addressed the issue of how healthy rapid weigh loss itself is as too rapid bodyfat loss itself can cause problems. Personally I would like to see people using these types of diets to lose weight keep the fats high but more balanced to use as primary fuel, moderate the protein in line with maintenence needs and keep carbs in line with activity level to avoid running totally out (ie very low for sedentary types and higher but still moderate as activity level increases)in essence substituting more essential fats for protein.

Biochemically you burn ketones not neccessarily with the low carbs, but specifically high fats. My problem is where do you get the fats from? I would rather get them from salmon, fish oils etc than double bacon cheeseburgers...