What Is Ketosis? How To Test For The Presence of Ketones?
The Cambridge weight plan which is a VCLD (& LCD) and also lighter life (and others) centers around “ketosis” as an essential element to losing weight, and using a stick which you urinate on to test and see if you are in ketosis (or if ketones are present and at what level), but what is it exactly?
When fat is released from fatty (adipose) tissue this then travels to your liver where it can be used to make more fat or be ‘burned’ to produce energy. This energy production pathway produces ketones. Everyone has some ketones in their blood at all times, but usually at low levels. The levels rise when fasting or while on a low carb diet designed to induce ‘ketosis’ such as CWP.
‘Ketosis’ is a term applied to a state where the ketone blood levels are high enough to allow ketones to leave the body on the breath or in urine (which is why sometimes people suffer from bad breath on the plan – a known side effect).—–link to my side effects post
Usually your Cambridge consultant will provide you with a couple of sticks each week so you can test yourself at intervals throughout the week, however you can buy Ketostix from any pharmacy if you wish to have your own supply although I have had feedback that some people struggle to obtain these as they are mainly for diabetic purposes. You can buy Ketostix from Amazon and looking around they are roughly £5-£6 for around 50 strips which should last you ages. I think it is important though not to over obsess about ketosis if you follow the plan properly.
In terms of the CWP if you test yourself and you are at the higher end of the purple/deep purple colour chart this indicates you are dehydrated and are not drinking enough. Remember you should be drinking at least 4 pints of fluid per day. The optimum range is the middle pink/lighter pink area on the test bottle in the image above.
Many people find they knock themselves out of ketosis if they eat things other than recommended on the diet plans. If you think about it if you eat carbs then it stands to reason you will be giving your body fuel rather than it burning fat stores through ketosis. The NHS does describes ketosis as a potentially serious condition, but a lot of popular diets cite ketosis as being an essential part of weight loss such as the CWP.
All I can say is the CWP certainly works and works well if you keep yourself in ketosis. If you knock yourself out then it can take a number of days to get back in Ketosis so it is probably worth bearing that in mind when you have a wobble as we all do from time to time 
