Atkins Diet and the Affect on the Intox 5000 by Collin County DWI attorney Troy Burleson
by Plano DWI lawyer Troy Burleson
If you have been accused of DWI/DUI and are currently on a low carb diet, such as the Atkins Diet, then you may have a valid defense to a high breath test result. Low carb diets are based upon the concept of vastly decreasing your intake of carbohydrates while relying on protein intake as your major source of nutrition. The absence of carbs forces your body to burn fat rather than carbohydrates and therefore you lose weight.
Low carb diets generally have four phases: Induction, Ongoing weight loss, Pre-maintenance and Lifetime maintenance. In order for these diets to work, a person must follow the four phases as described for maximum results.
A prevalent byproduct of the Atkins diet is the increase in Isopropyl alcohol molecules in your system. These molecules are created by enzymes in your body that break down complex substances for nutrition or elimination through chemical reactions. Although you do not smell like rubbing alcohol (Isopropyl) after being on the diet, isopropanol is one of the major waste products of the Atkins diet.
As discussed here before, ispopropanol molecules look much like ethanol molecules. Both isopropanol and ethanol contains the CH3 bonding that the Intoxilyzer 5000 measure. There is also no know interferent detector on the Intox 5000 to detect or deduct any isopropanol from the air within the sample chamber. If significant amounts of both isopropanol and ethanol are measured by the machine, it will assume all CH3 bonds belong to ethanol molecules and a false high breath test may result.
Generally, a low carb diet will only affect the results of a breath test is you have followed the diet fairly religiously for at least four to six months before this isopropanol byproduct is significant.
