Hey all,

Your board is very informative. I have two questions though:

a) how can you tell if sugar alcohols effect you? is there any way of knowing if you absorb them as carbs or not?

b) can you be producing too much ketones? when i use the test strip, they are the darkest possible color.

thanks so much!!

Hi, Stella. Welcome to a great board--and good luck with your continuing induction! Here's my two cents in answer to your questions.

a) Most people on this board say that intestinal distress (and this is loose talk, so to speak) signals that your body is NOT happy with those sugar alcohols. In any event, avoid the stuff for now--and maybe forever.
b) Different people get different colors on those test stix. Some people who lose successfully never get "in the pink" at all. However, if yours are always very dark purple, that may be a sign you're not drinking enough water. How's your water intake?

Best wishes!

Barb L.
Started Atkins January 2003
162/137/130

Congrats on getting that dark color. Try to make the sticks lighter by drinking more water. And after the induction period is over, you can increase your carbs.

**************
"Sometimes I think you have to march right in and demand your rights, even if you don't know what your rights are, or who the person is you're talking to. Then on the way out, slam the door."

Are the sticks supposed to be light or dark?

AustinGirl,
The darker the color, the more ketones detected. However if you are drinking a lot of water(a good thing) it dilutes your urin and the color gets lighter. You are still producing the same amount of ketones but your urin isn't holding on to them because if you drink your water you expel them at a faster rate.

Jen

Atkins since 11/11/03

140/133/115

"Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we will reap a harvest if we faint not." Gal. 6:9

To Stella -
While not truly an induction food, I used some Atkins bars (that included sugar alcohols) the first couple of days starting this...helped me get past the sugar hump until my body stopped craving them. And it truly has! It's a take it or leave it thing now whereas I NEEDED THEM before.

Jana

Jana Berghoefer

thanks for the great advice...
last night i made sure i drank a ton of water and they were definatly lighter.

as for the bars, they do sometimes come in hand when i HAVE to have something sweet and chewy, like the previous post said. I figure, hey, its better than a cookie , right!

Welcome, Stella and Austingirl!!!

Ditto to the above.

As for those sugar alcohols, some people react to them EXACTLY like sugar, so.........they might be just as bad as a cookie. Try instead checking out the recipe forum here and make your own sweet treats. That way you have complete control over what is going into them, you know what you are eating and it's much healthier for you. I make sweet treats all the time, using mostly Stevia and Stevia Plus (health food stores-nutrition sections) and Splenda. I avoid aspartame, I believe it to be quite poisonous, with long term damaging effects. I use a lot of unsweetened cocoa powder in things. It really helps with the chocolate cravings. I am finding though, I am not craving this stuff nearly as much as I did in the beginning. Nuts are my downfall now. (especially pistachios, )

Barb
Atkins-3/14/03
174/146/135 5'2"
"A little knowledge is a dangerous thing."
Knowledge is POWER