Q&A With Dr. Richard Bernstein
For type 2’s, at what level of ketones should you avoid exercising?
Answer: Well, I cannot remember seeing a type 2 with a significant amount of ketones. Type 2s are still making insulin while people who have large amounts of ketones in their urine are usually type 1s with very high blood sugars and low serum insulin levels.
Anyone will have a mild to moderate amount of ketones in their urine if they’re fasting. So, if you don’t eat overnight, you might wake up with a trace or moderate amount of ketones in your urine. If you’re overweight and losing weight, the metabolism of fat generates ketones.
That kind of ketosis is not a contraindication to exercising. What we’re worried about is the classic picture you see in a person with type 1 diabetes with a blood sugar of 250 and high ketones in the urine. These are people who are already severely dehydrated because of their elevated glucose and high serum ketone level, and you don’t want them exercising.
Richard K. Bernstein, MD is one of the most knowledgeable, committed, and successful pioneers in the field of diabetes today. He invented blood sugar self-monitoring and basal/bolus insulin dosing when he was an engineer.
Dr. Bernstein is Director Emeritus of the Peripheral Vascular Disease Clinic of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, NY. His private medical practice in Mamaroneck NY specializes in treating diabetes and obesity.
He is a physician, research scientist, thriving type 1 for 67 years, and best-selling author of nine diabetes books including Diabetes Solution, The Diabetes Diet and several e-books. This link diabetes-book.com will give you more information about his publications. To sign up for his free monthly tele-seminars, visit askdrbernstein.net
