Urine Strips

Urine strips are unreliable for the nutritional ketosis range of roughly 0–5 mmol/L, a range they were never designed to resolve. Urine strips were originally designed for Type 1 diabetics to detect dangerously elevated ketone levels, not to quantify nutritional ketosis. The nitroprusside reaction chemistry underlying urine strips has not changed since they were first introduced. Urine strips display results as color gradients rather than numerical values. Urine strips detect acetoacetate that has spilled into urine. High fluid intake dilutes urine and suppresses apparent ketone readings regardless of actual metabolic state.