Testing your urine is important because if there is excess glucose in your blood, or ketones, which are by-products of fat burning, they will show up in your urine. Illness, stress, fasting, an unhealthy diet, some medications and poor diabetes control can cause ketones or glucose to show up in your urine. If your doctor has advised you to check your urine at home, Chemstrips 7 will provide an accurate and fast reading for you. Chemstrips 7 can test for the following: pH, leukocytes, protein, glucose, ketones, blood, and nitrites.

Chemstrips 7 are easy to read. You just match the color on the strip to the ones on the vial label. One advantage of Chemstrips 7 is that they will oxidize ascorbic acid that is present in the urine. This is important, because vitamin C can alter urinalysis results.

When you eat, your food is broken down into glucose. Insulin is released from your pancreas into your bloodstream, and this insulin allows the glucose to be absorbed by your cells. Once in your cells, glucose is used for energy. Since your brain and body constantly need glucose, the liver stores and releases glucose when needed. When glucose in the liver is depleted, the body turns to stored fat. As it breaks down the fat for energy, ketones will show up in the urine. If your bloodstream has accumulated too much glucose due to a problem with your insulin, that extra glucose may be expelled in your urine. Glucose and ketones in the urine may not mean that something is seriously wrong; but if it occurs frequently, it could be a sign of a serious illness.