So, here's the test so far:
8AM: .4mmol/L -- fairly typical for me, my ketones are at their lowest after a night's rest, I'm not sure why, but this is normal in my experience.
9AM: One Tablespoon of Coconut Oil, One cup of Coffee
1:45PM: .6mmol/L -- Slightly higher, typical as they day wears on.
2PM: Lunch of three Bratwursts. Fat/Protein ratio is good. Carb level for the day is at 3.
4PM: 1.2mmol/L -- Elevated presumably from my fatty late lunch as well as I was moving around cleaning up the house for about an hour.
6PM: .8mmol/L -- Food digested, levels back down. This is a fairly light energy-expenditure day for me. No biking, no running, no hiking (weather is shit).
6:15PM: Two TBSP of Micronized Mahakea. I will wait about 30min before possibly having one more TBSP depending on effect.
6:45PM: One TBSP of Micronized Mahakea.
7:15: .7mmol/L
8:15: 1.1mmol/L This is fairly usual for me as well... in fact I was a bit surprised at how low the last one was.
8:25: Interesting. On a lark, I did a urinalysis strip test. Showing ZERO ketones. This is my fourth strip of the day, but my first after the kava. All previous strips have been moderate or higher (dark pink to purple).
8:30: Dinner of pancetta, three egg yolks, parmesan and romano, black pepper, and one serving of turnip noodles. Net Carbs for the day: 12.
9:45: .7mmol/L Tired, so I took this one a little bit early. Not an unexpected drop as most meals have an insulin response. I am, however, still firmly in nutritional ketosis.
My ketones usually rise through the day. I'm going to sleep now, so maybe more thoughts tomorrow, however clearly only a minor decline in blood ketones after the kava, although perhaps it would have been higher without as I seemed a bit low today. Based on general experimenting over the weekend and in the past, I would usually be up above 1.5mmol/L at this point, but that's quite variable as anyone who has done ketone monitoring knows. Whether the raise in serum levels was from kava or not is difficult to ascertain, although I will note here that when I took my kava, I rarely if ever feel nauseated unless I take a LOT, and in this case it made me feel somewhat light-headed and a bit ill coinciding with the rise in serum ketone levels. This passed after eating and may be easily explained by the diuretic effect of kava which might explain the discrepancy between the tests in the evening post-kava.
Regarding the urinalysis, this seems to indicate that beta-hydroxybutyrate serum levels remained relatively close to normal (noting the dip as recorded), however acetoacetate (what urine strips actually test) seemed to have dropped precipitously. As you all probably know, beta-hydroxybutyrate is actually the critical component of a ketogenic metabolism. One usually assumes a relationship (though often hazy and rarely accurate) between acetoacetate measured in urine and assumed beta-hydroxybutyrate in the blood, however in this case that was not accurate, as the urinalysis showed zero ketone spillage despite the blood tests being above 1mmol/L.
Thoughts? I'm off to sleep.
Until later,
.wimbly
