Originally Posted by Amygdala:
It could also mean she is just staying away of carbohydrates, yes. But on a regular diet ketones are produced when you don't consume enough energy.
Still, 1200calories is very low and it can't hurt to go seek professional advice. There is a difference between being on a low card/high protein diet and monitoring what exactly goes into your body or just "starving" yourself by eating too little.

I don't know what a "regular" diet is. Ketosis is the body's response to a lack of carbohydrate intake as a defense mechanism to preseve muscle mass by allowing the brain to run on coverted fatty acids. Whether one is restricting calories or not is not the relevant issue.

If you're suggesting the OP is starving themselves on 1200 calories a day you and I differ significantly on what we consider "starving" oneself.

Originally Posted by JohnP:
Source? Ketoacidosis is dangerous and I've seen people confuse the two terms before but I'm interested to know how long term ketosis is not healthy.

Funny you posted this.. after I replied I started doing research and the new evidence showed that KETOSIS in obese patients over the long term is Not harmful and has beneficial effects on Cholesterol (decreses LDL, increases HDL). I was told that it was unhealthy by my doctor but that was 10 years ago and it seems the research has proven otherwise. I am prone to kidney stones so that was another issue my doctor pointed out but I am wondering if my new doctor will have more insight on how to prevent such an issue. We learn something new everyday and I am excited to see that it isn't as unhealthy as it was once thought to be!

There is a problem with the term ketosis (It is actually a deadly disease in cows, but just a metabolical safeguard in humans)

Ketosis is what most dieters get after 1-2 weeks of a healthy diet (atkins dieters get it faster). When you do not have enough sugar in your blood to sustain your brain (which eats only glucose) then your body turns fat and protein into sugar. During that you get ketone bodies in your blood and urine, which are the trash the fat to sugar reaction leaves behind.

It is normal to pee those out. Almost every dieter will get ketosis to a small degree, but the less sugar you eat the stronger the ketosis is for obvious reasons. Ketosis tires the organism and because you do not have sugar reserves in your liver anymore you might be susceptible to disease if you're skinny. Ketosis on its own is harmless and a healthy reaction to losing weight. If you have a problem it is not the ketosis itself, but perhaps fatigue that might set in from the diet.

If you are not on a diet and have ketosis it is a whole other issue though, it might be a sign of diabetes or another metabolical disease.

Imo if you feel tired or get sick just up your calories :) Of course your GP is the one to ask, not me though.

My concern is that your doctor didn't adequately answer your questions and/or take your concerns seriously.

ketosis is associated with high protein diets.

I just wanted to add that I found a research article on the Atkins website article that I found which explains that low carb diets are not detrimental to the kidneys (as was once thought). I am going to start Atkins within the next week! I hope the OP is still doing well!