Section 79 Low-Carbohydrate, High-Protein, and Low-Calorie Diets

• Library: DWI Experts and the Science of Chemical Tests 2014

In a study by Alan W. Jones and S. Rössner—see the first bulleted study below—a 59-year-old man undergoing weight loss with VLCD (very low calorie diets) attempted to drive a car fitted with an alcohol ignition interlock device, but the vehicle failed to start. Because the man was a teetotaler, he was surprised and upset by this result. VLCD treatment leads to ketonemia, with high concentrations of acetone, acetoacetate, and b‑hydroxybutyrate in the blood. The interlock device determines alcohol (ethanol) in the breath by electrochemical oxidation, but acetone does not undergo oxidation with this detector.

But under certain circumstances, acetone is reduced in the body to isopropanol by hepatic alcohol dehydrogenase. The ignition interlock device responds to other alcohols (e.g., methanol...