Producing something called acetone in your breath....

People who eat very low carbohydrate diets often lose weight and say that it is an easy and effective way to keep trim and slim. A pilot who works for Virgin Atlantic was and probably still is one of those people despite the fact that it nearly cost him his job and led him to possible criminal prosecution. What many people don’t know about eating a very low carbohydrate diet is that your body can react to the lack of carbs by producing something called acetone in your breath. Acetone smells very similar to alcohol and this has led to big misunderstandings between people.

If you for example were to smell something that smelled like alcohol on the breath of a bus driver or a taxi driver you would of course immediately get out of the bus or taxi and called the authorities. The driver would have a big problem in trying to explain that he had not drunk alcohol and that his breath was just due to a low carb diet. The chances are that he himself would not understand why his breath smelled similar to alcohol.

In the case of the Virgin Atlantic pilot he was immediately taken away to have a blood test despite protesting his innocence. Luckily (and rightfully) the blood test showed that he had not been in contact with any alcohol whatsoever and it was only after the intervention of a bright individual who understood that acetone produced by a low carb diet smells exactly the same (or almost exactly the same) as alcohol was the situation resolved satisfactorily.

The pilot has been reinstated in his job and no charges or remarks on his conduct certificate have been made. Any of you out there who are involved in work which requires absolutely no alcohol and who are following a low carb diet should be aware of the acetone affects on the breath.