Ketones produced by the liver
Biomarker library
Urinalysis
Urine ketones
Ketones are fuels the liver makes when it burns fat instead of glucose: during fasting, on very low-carbohydrate diets or when insulin is lacking.
Measured in your health assessment, with a doctor to explain your result. Book yours
Why it matters
Small amounts in urine are normal after an overnight fast or a hard workout. Large amounts with high blood sugar can signal diabetic ketoacidosis, an emergency in people with diabetes.
What a result can mean
Lower than the range
No ketones is the normal result for someone eating regular meals.
Higher than the range
Ketones are common with fasting, low-carbohydrate or ketogenic diets, vomiting, intense exercise and pregnancy. In someone with diabetes and a high glucose, they need urgent medical assessment.
What can help
In healthy people ketones disappear once regular meals containing carbohydrate resume. People with diabetes who find ketones should follow their sick-day plan and contact their diabetes team.
Read it with
NoteGeneral educational illustration. Colours, sizes and movement are simplified. This is not a scan or a simulation of your body. General information, not personal medical advice: a doctor reads your own results with your history.
Know your urine ketones.
Measured in your health assessment and explained by the doctor who reviews your results.