Blood and lab tests
What Do Ketones Mean on a Urine Test?
Ketones · say it: KEE-tonesAlso written: ketone bodies, KET, beta-hydroxybutyrate, urine ketones, blood ketones
Short answer
Ketones are substances the body makes when it burns fat for energy instead of sugar; they can be measured in urine or blood.
What it means
Normally the body runs mainly on glucose (sugar). When glucose is not available or cannot get into cells, the liver breaks down fat and produces ketones as an alternative fuel.
Small amounts of ketones are common after fasting, long exercise, vomiting, or on very low-carbohydrate diets. In people with diabetes, especially type 1, high ketones together with high blood sugar can signal a serious condition called diabetic ketoacidosis that needs urgent care.
Urine dipsticks show ketones as negative, trace or a scale of plus signs. Blood ketone tests give a number and are often preferred for people with diabetes.
Where you may see it
- Urinalysis (urine dipstick) reports
- Diabetes monitoring results
- Emergency and pregnancy assessments
📄 How it looks on a report
Ketones (urine) Trace
🙅 What it does not mean
- Ketones in urine do not automatically mean diabetes; fasting, illness and diet can cause them.
- Ketones are not the same as ketoacidosis; the context and amount matter a great deal.
- A negative urine ketone result is a snapshot and may not reflect earlier or later levels.
🗒️ Questions to ask your doctor
🧾 Reports where you will see “Ketones”
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💊 Medicines whose labels mention “Ketones”
Plain-English explanations of each medicine, from its official FDA label.
- Dapagliflozin
a sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, a type of diabetes medicine
- Empagliflozin
a sodium-glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, a prescription medicine that works on sugar handling in the kidneys
- Metformin
a diabetes medicine of the biguanide type
- Pioglitazone
a diabetes medicine of the thiazolidinedione type
🔗 Read more from trusted sources
- “Ketones” on MedlinePlus ↗
US National Library of Medicine
- MedlinePlus lab test guides ↗
US National Library of Medicine
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General information about a medical word, not advice about your own results. Ask the clinician who ordered the test what it means for you.