What is the connection between your bloodstream and the liquid used to remove nail polish? Both contain a ketone body called acetone. It appears to be a badly composed joke, yet it is actually an obscure reality about the human body.
Acetone is the most minuscule of ketones, which are produced when our bodies are in a state of ketosis, a metabolic state where fat is burned for fuel. Although ingesting or inhaling acetone can be dangerous, it is not harmful when it is produced naturally inside the human body and may even be beneficial.
Acetone
Propanone, which is known by its systematic name of acetone, is the slightest and most basic kind of ketone. If you don’t know what a ketone is, this article will explain it to you.
Acetone is widely present within nature in plants, animals, and the atmosphere, and it is contained in our bodies as well; however, it is usually linked to the chemical found in nail polish, paint thinner, and similar kinds of industrial goods.
Acetone is a very common solvent due to its remarkable ability to break down other liquids. This explains why nail polish remover is capable of wiping a manicure off your nails.
This clear liquid might seem unthreatening when you purchase it, though it is not a matter that should be underestimated, acetone can be hazardous. It is incredibly combustible and can be incredibly dangerous if breathed in or ingested.
In short, acetone can be used for a lot of different things but it only has positive effects when it is naturally created inside the body and then expelled out of the body. If acetone moves from outside sources into our bodies instead of away from them, then it will lead to minor or substantial health issues.
How Is Acetone Found in the Human Body
Keep in mind that acetone is not all bad. It is present in nature. Acetone is found in trees, wildfire smoke, volcanic gases, and is released when body fat is metabolized.
Both vegetation and creatures, including people, produce Acetone as a by-product of metabolism. Everybody has small amounts of acetone in their bodies.
Acetone Is a Type of Ketone
When following a ketogenic diet, higher amounts of acetone will be produced in comparison to those consuming a high-carb diet.
When a person consumes a diet that is high in fat and low in carbohydrates or partakes in long-lasting periods without eating, the body does not have sufficient glucose present to be used as energy.
Consequently, the liver begins to metabolize fatty acids to give the body and brain energy. The ketogenic diet has as its main purpose and function the accomplishment of something called ketosis.
How Acetone Enters Your Bloodstream
When a state of ketosis is achieved, water-soluble particles called “ketone bodies” or simply referred to as “ketones” are discharged. These three ketones are:
Acetoacetate is created first, followed by beta-hydroxybutyrate and acetone. Acetone is created without any outside influences as a result of the decomposition of acetoacetate and is the least complex and most unstable ketone. The substance disperses into the lungs and is expelled from the body when you exhale.
Acetone Safety in the Human Body
There is a lot of misunderstanding about the security of acetone, in view of the fact that it can be both naturally present in the human body and made synthetically as a component of industrial as well as personal care products.
It is important to recall that your body contains acetone as a result of breaking down your body fat. This substance is just one result of attaining ketosis, and its existence can be advantageous for watching over improvement and enhancing the health of those who abide by the keto diet.
Consuming food that is low in carbohydrates, and high in fat (like with the ketogenic diet) can cause the body to enter into a state known as nutritional ketosis, which is characterized by the presence of ketones in the bloodstream.
This does not apply to the detrimental condition of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) that can happen to those with unsupervised or unmanaged type 1 diabetes. If you want to find out more about the potential dangers of ketosis, please read the post entitled ‘Is Ketosis Dangerous?’ for a thorough explanation.
Entering a state of ketosis is a natural occurrence for those following a well-balanced, whole-food ketogenic eating plan and it should not be mistaken for diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). If you are uncertain or worried about your condition, seek medical advice immediately.
Acetone Safety When Found In the Environment
What is acetone? If it is not naturally generated within the body, it is viewed as a poisonous substance. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health labels acetone as a rapidly evaporating organic compound. Hence, when dealing with chemicals, it is essential to be cautious.
Cancer Risk
The Environmental Protection Agency’s Integrated Risk Information System (IRIS) is focused on determining any potential hazards to humans that are caused by chemicals in the environment. No evidence has been presented by the EPA indicating that acetone can lead to cancer. An experiment demonstrated that acetone did not cause any skin cancer in animals.
Exposure Symptoms
Health effects of pure acetone are mild. If you do have contact with it, the severity of your symptoms will depend on how much you have been exposed to. Using small amounts of the substance can just cause minor annoyance to the skin and eyes, but consistently coming into contact with it might bring about a skin condition known as dermatitis.
Protective measures against potential risks can include the use of gloves and clothing, as well as providing adequate ventilation in the affected area. If acetone gets onto your skin or in your eyes, emergency measures to take include removing any clothing that has the chemical on it and washing the area with water.
Exposure to Industrial Workers
The hazard of acetone is its potential to ignite easily. The flash temperature for it is -20 degrees Celsius or -4 Fahrenheit, with a boiling point of 56.05 Celsius or 132.89 Fahrenheit.
It is essential to ensure that the substance is not brought close to an open flame or any type of ignition during its manufacture, as it may cause a fire if the temperature rises above its flash point. Due to its liquid state, this substance can generate a vapor that will reach a distant flame or spark.
OSHA in the US and Canada have created “threshold limit values” pertaining to acetone to preserve the safety of individuals employed with it.
This is essentially a restriction for how long a worker can come in contact with something without it having negative effects on their health throughout their life.
Acetone Benefits on the Keto Diet
Ketogenic dieters can make sure that they remain in ketosis, and acquire all the advantages that come with it, by measuring their breath for acetone presence. The higher the level of acetone, the deeper into the state of ketosis you are.
Weight Loss Benefits
One may elect to pursue the keto diet and initiate ketosis in their body for a range of reasons. Benefits of being in ketosis include (but aren’t limited to):
- Significant and hunger-free weight loss
- More fat burn, since the body turns to fat stores instead of carbs for energy
- Stabilized blood sugar from little to no carb intake and slow fat burn
- Improved cholesterol and triglyceride levels
- Less chance of inflammation in the body, which has been linked to acne and other conditions
- Regulation of hormones
Studies have additionally revealed a vivid association between the velocity of fat loss and the amount of acetone present in one’s breath.
Neurological Benefits
It is a known fact in the medical community that a ketogenic diet can be beneficial for health, particularly in terms of helping to alleviate neurological conditions such as epilepsy.
- In a 2003 study with rats, researchers found acetone suppressed seizures in four types of experimental animal models
- Besides the benefits of a keto diet itself, current data also shows ketone bodies, including acetone, could represent their own distinctive therapeutic qualities in those with epilepsy and maybe other neurological disorders
It is understandable why it is essential to track ketone levels when dieting with a ketogenic plan due to all the advantages it has. Thankfully, monitoring is fairly easy
Acetone from the Outside in — External Exposure and Safety Concerns
Acetone coming from a source other than your body is regarded as a poisonous and highly inflammable organic substance. Consequently, it is essential to be careful and observe safety protocols when working with acetone.
Consuming or breathing in acetone typically yields no more than mild symptoms, such as weariness, migraine, mumbled or slurred speech, and trouble with motor skills.
Coming into contact with acetone can cause skin irritation on the area of contact, but when exposed multiple times, it can lead to dermatitis.
Acetone exposure being at a very great amount could cause serious signs that can become fatal.
A healthcare provider typically allows the body to expel the acetone from the lungs (the most common way it escapes the system) while regularly monitoring the patient’s vital signs and amount of fluids. This is used to address acetone poisoning caused by an overexposure.
In contrast, If acetone touches your skin or eyes, the best thing to do is take off any clothes that were affected and rinse the affected area with water.
Preventing acetone poisoning is intuitive and straightforward. It is wise to use protective gloves and clothing, as well as maintaining good air flow in the area. And, of course, don’t consume acetone.
It’s necessary to be mindful to prevent acetone from coming into contact with any open flames or other heat sources as it can easily ignite if the temperature is higher than its flash point.
The fumes from acetone can spread to remote sources of combustion, so it is essential to adhere to precise rules when utilizing this substance.
Both the United States and Canadian Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) have a set of “threshold limit values” to guard workers coming into contact with acetone.
This is essentially a “threshold” of how much acetone a worker can be exposed to in the course of their career without having any negative impacts to their health. If you would like to know more about safety regulations, there are some applicable links included at the conclusion of this post.
The takeaway here is to make sure to avoid contact of acetone with the skin, inhalation, ingestion, and to steer clear of open flames and other potential sources of ignition.
It is not essential to be taken into account when ketones created within the body originate. Our bodies normally balance the amount of acetone released to make sure it is safely removed from the body without any negative effects (generally).
Acetone from the Inside Out — Production and Excretion
Our bodies produce acetone from fat, as well as some types of amino acids, through the process known as ketogenesis.
The liver changes fatty acids into ketones which parts of the body, like the brain, heart, and muscle cells, can use for energy when glucose and calories are not as easily accessible.
When the liver begins producing ketones to be used as energy, the procedure is not as effective as it has the potential to be.
It is unlikely that beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), the most effective ketone body, will be produced when one first starts following a ketogenic diet or fasting because of the minimal energy sources available and the few ketone-forming enzymes.
Rather than that, a different type of ketone, acetoacetate, is made in bigger amounts and sent outward into our veins to be used by the other parts of our body.
Despite the fact that acetoacetate can act as a substitute for sugar in terms of providing a more efficient energy source, it is capable of transforming into acetone without any prompting.
Once the change has been made, acetone becomes of no value and moves throughout the body until it is eliminated by exhaling, peeing, and perspiring.
Sadly, this creates a condition known by many as “keto breath,” which is characterized by a rather unsavory odor like faint nail polish remover or overly ripe fruit as we exhale.
As the body demands higher levels of ketones, the environment in the liver will be more supportive of the creation of BHB than acetoacetate, leading to it becoming the major ketone in the body. When this happens, acetone levels circulating will lower and keto breath will no longer be a difficulty.
In simpler terms, acetone is produced when one is in ketosis, and is usually expelled through breathing. This is the only instance in which having bad breath is beneficial, as it suggests that you are making progress with reaching and preserving a ketosis state (if that’s something you’re attempting to achieve).
Testing for Acetone (and the Other Ketones)
By comprehending the mechanism in which acetone is released from the body, mainly through exhaling, we can determine if we are achieving ketosis (or at least having progress with our diet).
The Ketonix meter is the optimal tool for utilizing your understanding of acetone to determine if you are in ketosis. You may find the cost of purchasing a breath meter to be high at first, however, it is a one-time purchase and you will always be able to use it.
Don’t neglect to bear in mind that the level of acetone in your body is simply a gauge as to how much of BHB and acetoacetate, the only ketone compounds your cells can utilize to produce energy, is circulating in your system.
If you do not wish to buy a breath meter, you could still trace the concentration of the other two ketones present in your body using two other methods.
The first method is using ketone urine sticks. You can obtain an approximate idea of how much acetoacetate you are making by urinating on one of these sticks.
Another way to determine blood ketone levels is to use a blood ketone meter. This device accurately monitors your BHB levels without any uncertainty, in contrast to the other two measuring techniques.
One of the drawbacks of using a blood ketone meter is that you must draw blood and you will pay more for the test strips if you want to consistently monitor your ketone levels.
If you are interested in exploring each method of measuring ketone levels in detail, please read our tutorial on measuring ketosis. Most of the queries regarding measuring ketone levels can be answered at that location.
Side notes
Acetone is a compound that the body creates, but it can be highly dangerous if it is ingested, inhaled, or touches the skin. Although it is a naturally occurring process, if a person is susceptible to ketoacidosis, the production of acetone can put them at risk.
Acetone, which has no real value to our bodies and is discharged through breathing, can give an indication of how much of the other two ketones, which do provide us with energy, are being produced.
Essentially, when you’re on the ketogenic diet, bad breath due to acetone will occur – however if you stick with the diet for a while, you’ll enjoy a lot of great results that come from burning ketones and limiting your carb intake.
