If you are diabetic or following a keto diet excess amounts of ketones are released through your urine. But how to get rid of ketones in urine?
Before going through further details first see what are ketones and how they are produced and released through urine.
Ketones in Urine Cause & Meaning
Our body uses glycogen as the fuel source of cells. During glycogen deficiency, our body starts to burn fats and produces ketones or a metabolic product of fat.
Ketones in the urine are observed in diabetics and people who are following a keto diet.
During diabetes, our body can not produce the required amount of insulin. Insulin plays a major role to deliver glycogen in cells.
Because of this glycogen deficiency, your body starts to break down fats to produce energy. This causes the production of metabolic by-products or ketones.
The surplus amount of ketones is exited via urine.
It is also known as diabetic ketoacidosis. Diabetic ketoacidosis is observed more commonly in type 1 diabetes than in type 2. However, it is observed in 10-30 percent of type2 diabetics (1).
The Keto diet is a combination of fat rich and low in carbs foods. Your body stops producing glycogen as the keto diet restricts carb intake.
When this situation arises your body starts to burn the fats received from the high fat keto diet. As a result excess amounts of ketones are produced in the liver and released through urine.
Ketones in Urine Symptoms
You can easily identify ketones in urine by urine smell & color. The ketosis urine color and urine color during diabetics are almost the same as both of these are caused by excess ketones.
The major urine colors observed with ketones are
- Cloudy
- Dark
- Oily Yellow
Another symptom of ketones in the urine is the smell of urine. For the majority of cases, ketone-rich urine smells fruity or sweet.
You may get urine smells like meat. By observing these two symptoms you can identify ketones in the urine.
How to Get Rid of Ketones in Urine?
Ketones in the urine can be overcome by following some quick and easy rules. You can get rid of ketones in urine by following below mentioned steps.
- Drink plenty of water
- Maintain food nutrition value
- Avoid heavy exercises
- Try to reduce stress
- Drink low calorie smoothies
If the home remedies are working you may observe your high ketone pee color or ketosis urine color change from oily or dark yellow to a lighter shade.
Moreover, your keto urine smell will change from fruity or meaty to normal after you get rid of ketones in your urine.
Ketones in Urine Trace & Test Timing
Ketone in urine is traced by keto strips color chart. The ketone strips color chart will help you identify the ketones in the urine.
There are 6 colors present in the keto strips color chart. Colors are
- Yellow
- Peach
- Orange
- Light Purple
- Dark Purple
- Blackish Purple
Each color of ketosis pee strips tells the different levels of ketones in the urine. For the excess amounts of ketones, the color varies from light purple to blackish purple.
The early morning timing of the ketone test is the best. However, it is a wise decision to check the keto strips color chart every three hours.
Also, you should consult a doctor if the ketone urine smell and ketone urine color does not affect you after following these tips.
What Is A Dangerous Level of Ketones in Urine?
Ketone levels are measured by the presence of mg/dL of ketones in the urine. 30 mg/dL is considered the normal ketone level.
When your urine ketone level exceeds this range you should be careful. Majority of cases 80 mg/dL ketone level is considered a dangerous level of ketones in urine.
How to Get Rid of Ketones in Urine Not Diabetic?
The rules to get rid of ketones in urine are similar if you are not diabetic. Moreover, the only difference is for diabetic patients immediate consultation with doctors is required but it is not at that level of importance for non-diabetics.
As we have discussed earlier you should drink plenty of water, maintain your calorie intake and balanced nutrition are the best ways to get rid of ketones in urine.
These rules are easy to follow for non-diabetics. However, if you do not observe a change in ketones urine color and ketones urine smell you should consult your physician.
Does Dehydration Cause Ketones in Urine?
During dehydration our body releases glucose and due to this glucose deficiency body starts to burn stored fats and produces ketones.
So, yes dehydration cause ketones in urine because of the unavailability of glucose. However, you can revert this by drinking more water.
What Times of Day Are Ketones Highest?
Your body produces ketone throughout the day if you are diabetic or on a keto diet. However, sometimes during the day, there are more ketones present in your body.
Studies have shown that our body has the highest ketones at 22.00 and 03.00 respectively (2). Our body reaches the highest level of ketosis in these times.
What Are The Best Times of The Day to Test Ketones?
The early morning and post-dinner timing are the best times of the day to test ketones or ketosis urine.
According to studies most accurate ketone detection in urine is at 07:00, 22:00, and 03:00 (3). More than 90 percent accuracy was observed in these timings.
What Is The Fastest Way To Remove Ketones?
For non-diabetic people drinking 2.5 liters of water per day is the fastest way to remove ketones. However, diabetic people need to take insulin to remove the excess ketones.
Final Thoughts
Nowadays people are more concerned about ketosis urine color and ketosis pee smell. Both of these symptoms occur when a large number of ketones are present in your urine.
Two major reasons for the presence of ketones in urine are diabetes and the keto diet. As both of these promotes fat burning you observe an excess amount of ketones released in your urine.
The absurd ketones are the main cause of ketosis in dark and oily urine. Also, excess ketones promote a strong smell in urine.
You will often find ketosis urine smells fruity or meaty for absurd cases. However, you can get rid of ketones in urine by drinking more water and maintaining your daily food nutrition value.
Although you should consult a doctor if none of these ketone reduction tips works.
How to Get rid of Ketones in Urine During Pregnancy?
Several factors like dehydration, malnutrition, skipping of meals, diabetes and excess eating of low carb diets promote ketones in urine during pregnancy.
However, it is not a serious condition and can be treated by following some rules. To get rid of ketones pregnant women should increase their intake of water and nutrient-dense foods. Moreover, they should eat and drink timely without any long-lasting fasting.
How Long Does It Take to Get Rid of Ketones in Urine?
Normally it takes one to two weeks to get rid of ketones in the urine. If you strictly follow the rules like drinking plenty of water & maintaining nutrient balance you can easily omit ketones in urine within a couple of days.
However, if you are type 2diabetic or prediabetic it may take longer to decrease the ketone density from urine. For prediabetes and type 2 diabetes, more than one month is required to get rid of ketones in the urine.