Keto diet and urine test for medical
 

I have my class 2 at the end of the month and wonder if anyone has had issues with the diabetes urine test while being on Keto, I’m worried that being in ketosis will show a false positive for diabetes.

Wouldnt you have LESS sugar in your urine if you’re on a keto diet?

Umm yeah, i think if you’re in ketosis you’d have more concern with having excess protein in your urine.

Geeze guys at least try and google things before y’all post retarded replies.

I was on a keto diet once during an FAA medical exam- your body produces “ketones” (acid in your blood due to not having enough insulin while burning body fat) which does show up in the urinalysis. For diabetics this implies you are in serious distress.

The ame said, “There were ketones in your urine. Are you diabetic?” I said, “No, but I’m trying to lose weight.” He said, “Well eat more, can’t have ketones in your urine.” I got the impression maybe the FAA sees those results or something, idk.

He clearly believed me but the way he responded was like, “I don’t want anything coming back at me for this test result.”

So next time I had a medical I just went off the diet for a few days so my body would stop producing ketones and he was happy and that was that.

Your AME makes you pee in a cup? Time to find a cash only guy kind of guy and build a rapport..
But in all seriousness, I've been doing Keto for about a year and at my last physical I told the guy upfront and he told me not to worry. I limit myself to 25g's carbs/day and I had no problems.

I once had to do a fasting blood test for a remote (non flying) gig. I also did the wizz quiz right after the blood test. The Doc who examined me said that thin people (I'm 5'11" and 120lbs) often go into Ketosis while fasting and it can present falsly as diabetes in urine. I always make sure to eat before my medical now!

RadialGal

The FAA doesn’t give a rat’s rear about ketones in the urine, just sugar or protein. If your AME doesn’t realize that a keto diet causes ketosis, find a competent one.

Grow up.

Get a different AME.

As always, you bring the hard hitting truth and advice. Thanks for sharing. Keep coming back. Such a pleasure.

I think that's the shortest post he's ever made.