Biosense: Tracking Your Ketones with Breath Analysis

The ketogenic diet, or “keto”, is one of the more popular diet lifestyles out there right now. Basically, ketones are molecules produced naturally in your body that serve as an alternate energy source after you’ve used up your body’s store of glucose. This happens typically after two to four days of eating minimal carbohydrates. The more ketones you produce, the closer you get to a state known as nutritional ketosis, a natural metabolic state in which your body adapts to burning fat rather than carbohydrates for fuel.

Most of us have heard of keto for weight loss, but there are other health benefits associated with ketosis. Research has shown that allowing your body to spend time in ketosis can also help lower your risk of heart disease, reduce blood sugar levels, and treat metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, and type 2 diabetes. Ketogenic diets have been used for decades to treat seizures in children, and there’s growing evidence that adults with seizures can also benefit.

The idea of cutting carbs seems pretty straightforward, but everyone’s body is unique and what works for one person may not produce the same response in someone else. If you’re committed to fully reaping the health rewards of a low-carb diet, then tracking your ketones is key to understanding exactly which foods and exercise choices are most helpful in increasing your ketone levels so you can optimize the changes you’re making.

Traditionally there have been a couple of ways to test ketones: either with urine test strips (this is how I tested when I was pregnant), or by pricking your finger and testing your blood, also with test strips. Neither of these is particularly convenient, and both require ongoing disposable supplies. Urine testing isn’t accurate for in the moment testing, and blood tests require you to prick your finger every time you want to test.

That’s where Biosense shines – a new, clinical grade, handheld device that addresses all these problems and provides you with greater insight into how your body reacts to different foods, exercise, stress, and sleep, all through virtually instant breath analysis. If you’re serious about taking your health and diet goals into the next level, Biosense can tell you what’s happening with your metabolism in real time, just by breathing.

The set up is incredibly simple right out of the box. The big Start button on the front both turns it on and starts the measurement. Really, the most difficult part is waiting two minutes while the device is warming up. Once it’s ready to go, all you need to do is exhale into the mouth piece until it vibrates twice. That’s it.

It takes about 15 seconds for the device to analyze your breath sample and give you a precise, in-the-moment measurement of your current ketones. Biosense measures ketones in ACEs – a unit that translates parts per million (ppm) of breath acetone into a blood ketone equivalent. The higher your ACEs, the more ketosis your body is in. The graphic display makes it easy to see exactly how your ketones stack up.

One thing I’ve learned from using Biosense the past couple of weeks is that it’s a bit more challenging to get into ketosis than I thought! But I love having this information at my fingertips to guide my meal choices and timing.

Biosense recommends measuring ketones at least 3-5 times a day. To get the clearest picture of how foods and/or exercise routines impact your unique metabolism, they recommend to test immediately before each meal or exercise session, then again 1-3 hours after. This unit makes that level of detail easy because it’s so portable and doesn’t require any special supplies or preparation. Just charge it a couple of times a week (about two hours for a full charge), and clean the mouthpiece once a week.

The Biosense unit shows your last test result on the screen and saves your last 10 measurements in the device history. You can also connect the Biosense app to record your last 100 measurements. You don’t need to install the app for the unit to work, though it does offer a lot of useful information including trends over time, goal setting, and the ability to add notes and track meals, fasts, and exercise with your ketone measurements. The app also calculates a daily Ketone Score which serves as a summary of the depth and duration of your nutritional ketosis each day.

Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve gotten a much clearer picture of when I’m in ketosis and when I’m not, which has led me to change some things up to better achieve my health goals. Regular monitoring lets me know whether those changes are helping or not, and lets me know when I’m on the right track.

It can be hard to stay motivated day after day when you’re learning new food and exercise habits, but this pocket-sized device makes it easy to track my progress, make sure I’m optimizing diet changes, and maintain my motivation.

Gift It

Visit MyBiosense.com to learn more about the Biosense monitoring device and to purchase a unit for yourself or for that person on your list who’s interested in taking their keto to the next level. Biosense retails for $299 USD and includes a micro USB charging cable, two replacement mouthpieces, and neoprene sleeve inside the box.

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Disclosure: This is a sponsored conversation. Nevertheless, all opinions expressed are completely honest and my own, based on my personal experience. Your experience may differ.