7% of your body weight is blood -- that's a lot! And it can tell you so much about your metabolic health. But how can you understand what your blood says about your health? Testing it!
Many people living with diabetes are familiar with the use of blood glucose strips. But did you know there are two other kinds of strips? And they all tell you something different about the state of your metabolic health.We’ll walk you through the different types of tests, what they tell you, and why you need them.
Glucose Test Strips
Let’s start with the most common: glucose. Glucose testing does exactly what it says. It read the glucose levels in your blood.
Why is This Important?
Those who aren’t able to produce insulin have high levels of glucose in their bloodstream. Without the insulin, they can’t burn up the glucose. These test strips tell people living with diabetes when they need to eat, or when they need a dose of insulin.
What are the Best Blood Glucose Test Strip Options?
It all depends on what information you need to best measure your health. Contour, Contour Next, Embrace, Nova max glucose strips, and the Trividia line are all great options.
Ketone Blood Test Strips
The Keto Diet is one of the biggest diet trends out there right now. But what does it mean, and what does it tell you about your health?Ketones appear in your blood when you’ve burned through all your glucose stores. Once you are burning fat instead of glucose, you are in ketosis. Many people attribute ketosis to weight loss because your metabolism is relying on your fat stores to keep it going.
If you Aren’t on the Keto Diet, why do you Need to Test Your Ketones?
For people living with diabetes, high glucose and high ketones is a bad combination. If your blood glucose levels reach 250 or more, then you may need to take a blood ketone test. If your ketones are also high, it means your insulin is too low you to use the glucose in your blood.
What Ketone Test Strips are out There?
The best option on the market is the Nova Max Ketone test strips.
Urine Test Strips
Urine test strips can test a form of ketones called acetoacetate that exist in your urine. They differ from blood ketones, because high levels of ketones that spill into your urine can lead to ketoacidosis.If you are using urine test strips to test the ketones in your blood, this is a little less of an accurate method. It’s best to use urine test strips if you feel the ketones in your blood are at a high enough level to risk ketoacidosis.It’s important for people living with diabetes to watch their glucose and their ketones. If anything is off with these readings, it can let you know that you aren't producing the right amount of insulin.
Try These Urine Test Strips!
Each kind of test strip tells us something different about our metabolism. From glucose and insulin production to carbohydrate deficiencies, and even ketoacidosis! It’s important to have all the test strips for different parts of your diabetic or weight loss journey. Share with us the different types of test strips you know of, and how you use them in your daily life!