I smell ammonia

[poopie]

So, after a lot of physical exertion, all I can smell is ammonia. This has been going on since I was little kid. I know it means I'm burning ketones. So, I take that to mean I'm taking in too much protein.

Is this actually that unhealthy?

I read that I should try eating an apple or something before activity for some carbohydrate fuel.

Does this happen to anyone else?

 

[Dave]

It's not so much that you're getting too much protein (although that may well be the case), but rather that you're not getting enough carbs. Fruit is a great way to get a sugar hit, but it might be an idea to throw some slow-burning carbs in there too. I'm personally fond of steel-cut oats at breakfast; they're hearty, fibrous, and give a nice and steady release of carbs that lasts for a good chunk of the day. Fruit is icing on the cake.

I've only ever had ketosis when ill, and once when I was trying to cut. It's been an age since I've done biochem, but IIRC it places a lot more stress on the liver and kidneys than the non-ketosis energy cycle, and the brain needs carbs as an energy source. I found it harder to think properly (i.e. I was sluggish, irritable, and generally slow) in that state. Never got so far as to be able to smell ammonia though.

 

[piecesofapril]

i get times of tasting tin or steel or chemicals in my mouth mostly on the side, like anesthesia from former surgeries, i hate the idea that it's in my head i wonder still what it is