You know the score.
You have reached the level of deep ketosis and want to advance your diet goals (whether it is for weight loss or just a different workout regime), and bam!
You are faced with a million questions (okay to cut short the drama: at least four vital questions fo’ sho’):
- How many ketones am I producing?
- Am I at a risk of crossing the higher level of permitted ketone level in my blood, thereby accidentally moving towards ketoacidosis? (1)
- How much ketone is produced by a particular food I’m consuming (if I want to be all experimental with my diet or a new exogenous ketone supplement!)?
- How much ketone is produced in my blood if I’m chasing a new workout plan?
Fret not!
Today, we will tell you how you can measure your real-time breath ketone level while staying in the state of nutritional ketosis.
A new breathalyzer has hit the shores of our keto-town, which has made everyone sit up and take notice of it, the Ketonix.
As with every new kid in the block, we are a little worried about its utilities, costs, and result. We face the same apprehensions with this device as well.
So, to dispel all your fears, keep reading this Ketonix review because we bring to you the things you would love and hate about Ketonix.
What is Ketonix? And How Does it Work?
Ketonix is a noninvasive class 1 medical device made in Sweden and is approved by the FDA (US). It is a breathalyzer that measures the acetone present in your breath to give its Ketonix reading.
You can use it multiple times in a day with no fear of drawing your blood every time or accidentally ruining blood ketone test strips. You have to practice breathing into this device and keep in mind that Ketonix counts the ketones present at the end of your breath.
Well! Practice makes a man perfect.
Ketonix comes with its software, which gives you the ability to log and analyze your measures.
Ketonix comes primarily in four varieties:
- Bluetooth enabled with battery (restricted shipping) @ $239
- Bluetooth enabled without battery (can be shipped anywhere) @ $219
- USB enabled without battery (can be shipped anywhere) @ $169
- USB enabled with battery (restricted shipping) @ $139
You can purchase them from either the Ketonix website or on Amazon: Ketonix Bluetooth or USB.
Bluetooth variety is the latest version designed to be used with your smartphone. You only need to download the mobile app, which has both an iOS and Android version.
How to Set Up the Ketonix?
The USB variety can be plugged into both Mac and Windows PC. You can either log in to your results in the Ketonix software you need to install from ketonix.com or gather the ketone level (only the range and not accurate number) feedback from the built-in LED light on the device.
All you have to do after receiving your Keotnix Bluetooth breathalyzer kit is following these simple steps to set it up:
- After un-wrapping your kit, remove the quick guide placed on top.
- The QR codes are given to download and install the Ketonix phone app on the booklet’s backside.
- For first-time users, you have to charge both the battery and power the Ketonix for 12 hours. The battery will give out a blinking red light, which means it is getting charged. Ketonix will have a blinking blue light which means it is also getting powered.
- After 12 hours, both the flashing/blinking lights would have stabilized.
How to Test Ketone with Ketonix and What Type of Reading Do I Get?
The method of checking ketone with Ketonix is a breezy process. All you have to do is follow these simple steps to measure ketones with your Bluetooth enabled Ketonix:
- Plugin the battery to the main device as you are getting ready to measure your breath ketone level.
- Start the Ketonix app on your smartphone/tablet, and if it can’t detect the device, hit refresh. As soon as it is seen, click on the Ketonix device icon to connect it.
- The screen will have a round dial meter with a needle to move and point out to your ketone’s right measurement.
- But before you can blow into the device, keep a watch on the app. The app will show that the device is warming up.
- ‘Warming up’ is a technical process in which the sensor present inside the Ketonix heats up so that it can measure the ketone when you blow into it.
- If the Ketonix is just out of the box, it will take considerably more time to warm up than a regularly used Ketonix. So don’t get scared into thinking that your device is malfunctioning.
- Simultaneous to the warming-up process, the device will also calibrate itself. The flashing light on the Ketonix will become frequent, which is an indication of the calibration process.
- All the blinking and flashing will stop once the device is ready to measure. Now it will give out only one steady light indication.
- And now, blow into the mouthpiece. As you reach the end of your breath (where the maximum number of acetone is reported to be present), the sensor will catch the amount of acetone present in your breath, the needle on the dial will point out to real-time measurement.
- You can do your breath testing multiple times with absolutely no need to set up anything more or to calibrate etc.
- Save the readings by tapping on ‘save.’
But are you wondering whether this is a too tech-savvy device, and will you be able to wrap your head around this?
Then it would help if you listened to the story behind Ketonix.
How Did Ketonix Come Into Being?
What draws me to this device is that after its launch in 2013, it has been continually improved by its maker, Michel Lundell.
Started as a humble apparatus that only read ketones in your breath and give the light indicators show the ketone ‘range,’ now it comes armed with software and a mobile app not only to read the actual value of the real-time ketone present in your breath but also track and analyze it further.
Suffering from epileptic seizures, Michel let go of all medicines and pills. He embraced the ketogenic diet to defeat his disease. And while being on this keto journey, Michel realized a serious lack of keto measuring device that was accurate and affordable with no hidden costs haunting the keto practitioner later.
Michel’s engineering degree came in handy while designing and putting together this machine. His vision made it possible to measure ketone bodies in your breath accurately without blood tests or expensive strips.
But to get an accurate and consistent Ketonix reading, one has to be very cautious about a few things.
How to Breathe Correctly Into The Mouthpiece?
Many online reviewers faced issues while adjusting their breath before blowing into the mouthpiece. As I mentioned, the acetone content that would determine your ketone level is located at the end of your breath.
So when you exhale, exhale until the end as if there is no more air left in your lungs to give out.
Caution: Do not inhale deeply before you exhale, that might result in inaccurate ketone reading in the Ketonix.
As suggested on the website, the ideal exhale duration should be 15 seconds.
If there is moisture in your breath, it can also affect the accuracy of the reading.
What’s the Right Time to Measure Ketone with Ketonix?
Although this device can be used at any time of the day, Michel asks the users to be planned about the time they are taking a reading.
As we know, many factors are dictating the ketone levels in your body:
- How long have you been on ketosis?
- Diet switch between low carb and high carb.
- Any special exercise regime being started.
So it is advisable that Ketonix reading be done at a constant timing every day or after a particular activity or intake of specific food over a period of time. If you keep fluctuating the checking time, the reading will follow suit.
But where there is tech, there can be a little trouble.
A couple of reviewers and Ketonix Amazon feedback have revealed the difficulty people face with the device and its application.
Although customers are more or less happy when the equipment functioned, they had trouble ‘warming up’ the device. For some, it took a couple of hours to get multiple readings. And for others, the software was a huge turn-off as sometimes it just won’t detect the device or read the ketones.
But what they unanimously agreed on was the good customer service given by Ketonix. The customer service executives actually sat down with individual callers to resolve their issues.
The Good
- Noninvasive device
- Easy to handle
- One device for multiple people
- USB charger
- Onetime expenditure with no hidden cost
- 30 days money-back guarantee
- It does not cause pain
- Good customer service
The Bad:
- Measures acetone (ketone by-product like acetoacetate) instead of beta-hydroxybutyrate (which is ketone)
- Setting up might be complex for a few people.
- To get a ketone measurement in numbers, you need to plug the device into a computer or a smartphone; else, you will only get a ‘range’ color.
Customer Review On Ketonix Breath Analyzer:
Gramma Sarge said:
“I can check ketones anywhere and anytime I want to”.
Sue said:
“Their customer service is the best. I faced some issues with my unit and they walked me through it holding my hands and resolved the problem. Much gratitude”!
Check Current Price – Photo – More Customer Reviews and Testimonial Here
Our thoughts:
Poking ourselves with needles multiple times a day is a big no-no. We would rather revel in the use of ease that a breathalyzer gives us. And this device is built with a ketogenic lifestyle in mind and not like other breathalyzers, which either gives complicated readings or is very expensive to subscribe to.
After much research, we found that the market is still not replete with many options for Ketone-centric breathalyzers. Of course, there are expensive ones like Ketonix, LEVL, and Metron and cheaper BAC (breath alcohol count) measuring equipment used as ‘improvised’ ketone breath meters.
But the users have remained inconclusive as to the effectiveness of any one of them.
Just to shed more light on the currently available breathalyzers in the market, do give a glance at this comparison here:
Brand Name: | Pros & Cons: |
| Ketonix | Pros:
Cons:
|
| Greenwon AT6000 | Pros:
Cons:
|
| LEVEL | Pros:
Cons:
|
| Metron | Pros:
Cons:
|
*Any good breath alcohol meter will filter out the acetone in your breath, hence a cheaper one is suggested here.
Some people have fetched good results by comparing their AT6000 reading with Ketonix reading.
But keep in mind that it will be a task to convert a BAC reading to a PPM reading and be very complicated.
To know more about various breathalyzers and how they can affect your ketone reading, do check out this article here. (2)
Importance of Ketones and Popular Ways of Measuring Them
Measuring ketone levels in the body has become an essential process to follow if you are very serious about your ketogenic lifestyle.
Ketones are fundamental to your heart and brain health as they are the primary energy fueling bodies. And don’t we practice a ketogenic lifestyle because we want an alert and agile mind along with a fitter body?
As the keto diet gained popularity in the health market, biotech companies also took note of the same. Therefore, the market now is flooded with many kinds of ketone measuring equipment – which on the downside, are throwing every keto follower into confusion.
Well, if you are a keto-beginner, keto urine sticks will show you if you are in ketosis or not. But as you advance in the diet regime and your body becomes a pro in metabolizing ketones, your urine will stop showing a trace of acetoacetate (the unabsorbed ketone in your body). Therefore, urine ketone strips become an ineffective way of measuring ketone.
But as a beginner, sometimes, you also would want to know how your new keto lifestyle is doing.
If the diet you are practicing is producing the necessary amount of ketones or how much ketone is getting used by your body while you are doing a specific exercise.
There are broadly two types of devices available at present, which give you an accurate reading of ketone: the blood-meter and the breathalyzer.
As the name suggests, a blood meter reads the ketones (beta-hydroxybutyrate) present in your blood. The blood meter kit comprises a reading device, a lancet, and test strips. All you have to do is prick your finger with the lancet to release a bead of blood on the test strip and insert it into the device to read and measure the ketone in your blood.
But there are a few drawbacks to this measuring equipment. Firstly, drawing blood might not be a comfortable task for a lot of people. Secondly, the testing strips are hugely expensive.
So while the onetime cost of a blood meter might not set you back by that much, but per test, the price shoots up with at least $5-$10 per strip cost!
The breathalyzer, on the other hand, is a one-time investment. Once you buy it, you are set for life. There are no testing strips to be purchased. You have to blow air into it. It works on the same mechanism as the ‘breath alcohol tester’ used by the police to monitor drunken driving.
Ketonix is an advanced breathalyzer that has improved upon analyzing and developing programs that can test your breath-ketones and track them.
Before we proceed further, presenting a little nugget of reminder!
Big News: It is fundamental to your ketone knowledge to know the difference between acetone and beta-hydroxybutyrate. Otherwise, you will falter if you want to correlate your blood ketone levels and breathe ketone level and find them mismatching. (3)
With my Ketonix review, we will show you how you can use a breathalyzer in the privacy of your home or carry it anywhere you want for easy and affordable daily ketone testing.
So, Should You Buy Ketonix Breathalyzer?
Ketonix is a reusable breathalyzer that will come in handy if you are in a keto-adapted stage.
And want to measure the real-time ketone in your body but at the same time don’t want to burn a hole in your pocket by buying multiple blood-testing strips.
Furthermore, Ketonix will stay with you over a long period and can be used by multiple users by creating separate files under profile.
Breathe fresh air in your ketogenic regime with Ketonix!
Check Current Price – Photo – More Customer Reviews and Testimonial Here
