'''Metabolic Insights puts your blood ketone readings beside everything else you log''': glucose, food, fasting, sleep, training and weight. It shows you what tends to happen together in your own data.
'''Metabolic Insights is a Loopa Premium feature.'''
It answers one question: ''what seems to happen in my data?'' It does not tell you what any number means for your health, and it never suggests changing your food, fasting, exercise or medication. Those are conversations for your clinician, and Loopa can put the numbers in front of them (see [[sharing-a-report-with-your-clinician|sharing a report with your clinician]]).
== Logging a ketone reading ==
Blood ketone meters measure '''beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB)''' in '''mmol/L'''.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Evans|first1=M|last2=Cogan|first2=KE|last3=Egan|first3=B|title=Metabolism of ketone bodies during exercise and training: physiological basis for exogenous supplementation|journal=The Journal of Physiology|year=2017|volume=595|issue=9|pages=2857-2871|doi=10.1113/JP273185}}</ref>
- Open '''Metabolic Insights''' and tap '''Log ketones'''.
- Enter the reading from your meter, from 0 to 10 mmol/L.
- Optionally choose when you took it: fasting, before or after a meal, before or after exercise, bedtime, on waking, or other.
- Optionally add your glucose reading if you measured it at the same time, and a short note.
- Save.
Apple Health and Health Connect have no blood-ketone type, so ketone readings are logged in Loopa. Glucose, sleep, activity, weight and nutrition from your connected sources are used automatically as they arrive.
== The glucose ketone index (GKI) ==
The '''GKI''' is the ratio of your blood glucose to your blood ketones, both in mmol/L.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Meidenbauer|first1=JJ|last2=Mukherjee|first2=P|last3=Seyfried|first3=TN|title=The glucose ketone index calculator: a simple tool to monitor therapeutic efficacy for metabolic management of brain cancer|journal=Nutrition & Metabolism|year=2015|volume=12|pages=12|doi=10.1186/s12986-015-0009-2}}</ref> It is an emerging measure that researchers are still studying, and it is not a validated diagnostic.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Bischof|first=E|title=The glucose ketone index: a compelling mechanistic hypothesis on the path to clinical validation|journal=Frontiers in Science|year=2026|doi=10.3389/fsci.2026.1939897}}</ref>
Loopa works it out for you from a glucose reading taken with your ketone reading:
- If you enter both together, Loopa uses that pair.
- Otherwise you can pick a glucose reading taken within 30 minutes.
- Otherwise Loopa uses the nearest glucose reading within 15 minutes, then within 30 minutes.
If there is no glucose reading close enough, the GKI shows '''No data''' rather than a number. Edit or delete the glucose reading and the GKI updates on its own. Move a ketone reading more than 30 minutes away from its glucose reading and Loopa pairs it again by the same rules.
Loopa shows '''no GKI ranges or targets''' and marks no value as good or bad.
== Your dashboard ==
The cards show your latest ketones, GKI and glucose, your current or most recent fast, and a plain trend for each. A card with nothing to show says '''No data'''; it never shows a zero you did not log.
Tap any reading to see what surrounded it: how long you had been fasting, the meal before and the previous 24 hours of food (including net carbs), last night's sleep, recent activity, and your nearest weight.
== Charts and the relationship explorer ==
- '''Trends''' over 7 days, 30 days, 90 days, 6 months, a year, or dates you choose.
- '''Overlays''' put two to four measures on aligned tracks, each with its own scale.
- '''Scatter plots''' show one measure against another, with the number of readings behind them.
- '''The relationship explorer''' looks for things that tend to move with your ketones and GKI: food in the meal before and over the previous 6, 12 and 24 hours and the previous day, exercise in the previous 1 to 24 hours, last night's sleep, how long you had been fasting (for readings taken during a fast you timed in Loopa), and your weight. A reading with nothing logged in a window is left out of that comparison rather than counted as zero.
Every pattern says how many paired readings it rests on, and the wording follows the numbers:
| What you see | What it takes |
|---|---|
| Not enough data yet | Fewer than 10 paired readings |
| No consistent relationship found | Nothing stands out from the other comparisons |
| A weak, possible or moderate pattern | 10 or more paired readings, by strength |
| A stronger recurring pattern | 20 or more paired readings and a clear signal |
Tap '''Why am I seeing this?''' on any pattern for the method, the readings it used, how many had something missing, and why it reached that wording. A pattern describes readings that tend to move together; it cannot show that one changed the other.
'''Personal baselines''' are your own 30-day medians. Loopa compares you only with yourself.
== Reminders, reports and exports ==
- Set a '''ketone reminder''' in Reminders at whatever times suit you.
- Add a '''Metabolic Insights''' section to the report you share with your clinician. It is off unless you turn it on.
- Export your readings as a spreadsheet file: time, BHB, unit, context, source, the paired glucose, GKI, how it was paired, fasting duration and your note.
== If your Premium membership ends ==
Metabolic Insights locks, and '''nothing is deleted'''. When you rejoin Loopa Premium, every reading and every chart is back where you left it.
== See also ==
- [[blood-glucose|Blood glucose]]
- [[the-fasting-timer|The fasting timer]]
- [[data-export-and-privacy|Data export and privacy]]
[[Category:Loopa]] [[Category:Vitals]]
'''Metabolic Insights puts your blood ketone readings beside everything else you log''': glucose, food, fasting, sleep, training and weight. It shows you what tends to happen together in your own data.
'''Metabolic Insights is a Loopa Premium feature.'''
It answers one question: ''what seems to happen in my data?'' It does not tell you what any number means for your health, and it never suggests changing your food, fasting, exercise or medication. Those are conversations for your clinician, and Loopa can put the numbers in front of them (see [[sharing-a-report-with-your-clinician|sharing a report with your clinician]]).
== Logging a ketone reading ==
Blood ketone meters measure '''beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHB)''' in '''mmol/L'''.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Evans|first1=M|last2=Cogan|first2=KE|last3=Egan|first3=B|title=Metabolism of ketone bodies during exercise and training: physiological basis for exogenous supplementation|journal=The Journal of Physiology|year=2017|volume=595|issue=9|pages=2857-2871|doi=10.1113/JP273185}}</ref>
1. Open '''Metabolic Insights''' and tap '''Log ketones'''.
1. Enter the reading from your meter, from 0 to 10 mmol/L.
1. Optionally choose when you took it: fasting, before or after a meal, before or after exercise, bedtime, on waking, or other.
1. Optionally add your glucose reading if you measured it at the same time, and a short note.
1. Save.
Apple Health and Health Connect have no blood-ketone type, so ketone readings are logged in Loopa. Glucose, sleep, activity, weight and nutrition from your connected sources are used automatically as they arrive.
== The glucose ketone index (GKI) ==
The '''GKI''' is the ratio of your blood glucose to your blood ketones, both in mmol/L.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Meidenbauer|first1=JJ|last2=Mukherjee|first2=P|last3=Seyfried|first3=TN|title=The glucose ketone index calculator: a simple tool to monitor therapeutic efficacy for metabolic management of brain cancer|journal=Nutrition & Metabolism|year=2015|volume=12|pages=12|doi=10.1186/s12986-015-0009-2}}</ref> It is an emerging measure that researchers are still studying, and it is not a validated diagnostic.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Bischof|first=E|title=The glucose ketone index: a compelling mechanistic hypothesis on the path to clinical validation|journal=Frontiers in Science|year=2026|doi=10.3389/fsci.2026.1939897}}</ref>
Loopa works it out for you from a glucose reading taken with your ketone reading:
* If you enter both together, Loopa uses that pair.
* Otherwise you can pick a glucose reading taken within 30 minutes.
* Otherwise Loopa uses the nearest glucose reading within 15 minutes, then within 30 minutes.
If there is no glucose reading close enough, the GKI shows '''No data''' rather than a number. Edit or delete the glucose reading and the GKI updates on its own. Move a ketone reading more than 30 minutes away from its glucose reading and Loopa pairs it again by the same rules.
Loopa shows '''no GKI ranges or targets''' and marks no value as good or bad.
== Your dashboard ==
The cards show your latest ketones, GKI and glucose, your current or most recent fast, and a plain trend for each. A card with nothing to show says '''No data'''; it never shows a zero you did not log.
Tap any reading to see what surrounded it: how long you had been fasting, the meal before and the previous 24 hours of food (including net carbs), last night's sleep, recent activity, and your nearest weight.
== Charts and the relationship explorer ==
* '''Trends''' over 7 days, 30 days, 90 days, 6 months, a year, or dates you choose.
* '''Overlays''' put two to four measures on aligned tracks, each with its own scale.
* '''Scatter plots''' show one measure against another, with the number of readings behind them.
* '''The relationship explorer''' looks for things that tend to move with your ketones and GKI: food in the meal before and over the previous 6, 12 and 24 hours and the previous day, exercise in the previous 1 to 24 hours, last night's sleep, how long you had been fasting (for readings taken during a fast you timed in Loopa), and your weight. A reading with nothing logged in a window is left out of that comparison rather than counted as zero.
Every pattern says how many paired readings it rests on, and the wording follows the numbers:
| What you see | What it takes |
|---|---|
| Not enough data yet | Fewer than 10 paired readings |
| No consistent relationship found | Nothing stands out from the other comparisons |
| A weak, possible or moderate pattern | 10 or more paired readings, by strength |
| A stronger recurring pattern | 20 or more paired readings and a clear signal |
Tap '''Why am I seeing this?''' on any pattern for the method, the readings it used, how many had something missing, and why it reached that wording. A pattern describes readings that tend to move together; it cannot show that one changed the other.
'''Personal baselines''' are your own 30-day medians. Loopa compares you only with yourself.
== Reminders, reports and exports ==
* Set a '''ketone reminder''' in Reminders at whatever times suit you.
* Add a '''Metabolic Insights''' section to the report you share with your clinician. It is off unless you turn it on.
* Export your readings as a spreadsheet file: time, BHB, unit, context, source, the paired glucose, GKI, how it was paired, fasting duration and your note.
== If your Premium membership ends ==
Metabolic Insights locks, and '''nothing is deleted'''. When you rejoin Loopa Premium, every reading and every chart is back where you left it.
== See also ==
* [[blood-glucose|Blood glucose]]
* [[the-fasting-timer|The fasting timer]]
* [[data-export-and-privacy|Data export and privacy]]
[[Category:Loopa]]
[[Category:Vitals]]