What Are Ketones?
If you're on the keto diet, then ketones in urine are the goal. But if you have diabetes, they could be dangerous.
By Brittany Risher
Jun 22, 2018
All the news about the ketogenic diet makes it seem like a good idea to achieve nutritional ketosis—when your body burns through all the carbs you’ve stored and begins breaking down fat for energy. And while the jury is out on how effective that diet is for weight loss, nutritional ketosis is typically not dangerous. However, for people living with diabetes, ketoacidosis can be life-threatening.
“When you eat a very low-carb diet, do a period of prolonged exercise, or go for a long period of time without eating, there is some increase in the level of ketones in the body, but it's not necessarily dangerous because the ketones are at a low to moderate level,†explains Rekha Kumar, MD, endocrinologist at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center. “But people with type 1 diabetes who don't make enough insulin can reach very high levels of ketones, which can cause the blood to have acid in it.â€
https://www.prevention.com/health/health-conditions/a20439634/what-are-ketones/
