If you’re on (or have ever tried) keto, you know it’s not really something you can half-ass. You’ve got to be on top of your macros (fat, carbs, and protein) and make a solid effort to get in—and stay in—ketosis.
But wait—how do you know if you’re in ketosis (that state where your body burns fat for fuel) anyway? Sure, there are symptoms (bad breath and diarrhea at first, tbh), but those can be kind of vague. That’s where Keyto comes into play—a new keto breathalyzer on the market.
The smart breath analyzer looks kind of like an e-cigarette and connects to your phone via app—it’s currently available on Indiegogo for $99 and ships in early January. While it’s not the first keto breathalyzer, it is the first one that connects to your phone. Other ketone-measuring devices include blood tests and urine samples.
Keyto works pretty much like your standard breathalyzer: You breathe into a tube that measures certain elements on your breath. (In this case, acetone—which is also responsible for making your breath stinky in ketosis.) The higher your Keyto score, the deeper you are in ketosis (and the more successful you may be on the keto diet).
Sounds simple enough…but do you really need a keto breath analyzer?
You don’t necessarily need a keto breathalyzer, but it can be helpful if you’re curious, says Scott Keatley, R.D., of Keatley Medical Nutrition Therapy. Overall, measuring acetone has been shown to be “somewhat accurate through non-scientific testing,” he says, although individual breathalyzers may vary.
But there might be an even easier way to see if the keto diet is working for you: weigh yourself, says Julie Upton, R.D., co-founder of nutrition website Appetite for Health. “The average dieter is going on keto to lose weight, not necessarily to induce ketosis,” she says. Simply cutting back on carbs and paying attention to your food intake will probably be enough to help you shed pounds—even if you’re not technically in ketosis.
Basically, if you’re just following a keto diet to lose weight, “You don’t need any of these monitoring devices, just weigh yourself. If you’re losing weight, you’re getting the results that you want,” says Upton.
Keatley agrees: “If you stick to the principles of the diet and are seeing the results you desire, there is little reason to measure ketones,” he says.
The bottom line: Sure, a keto breathalyzer might be a cool, interesting device to measure your ketone levels, but it’s not a necessity on the keto diet.
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