Studies Show This Diet to Reduce Seizures By Fifty Percent
Over seventy studies show the ketogenic diet to reduce the frequency of seizures by fifty
percent in children. Many became completely seizure free. The ketogenic diet has been used clinically for over 80 years for seizures in epilepsy. It is both safe and effective.
A ketogenic diet consists of protein eaten with 80-90 percent good fats such as olive oil, coconut oil, macadamia nut oil, and avocado. An additional strong component of this diet is the elimination of processed carbohydrates. This causes the body to burn fat instead of sugar, or glucose.
Ketones are created when your body breaks down fat to make energy. Your body normally takes energy from carbohydrates in your diet. By restricting the intake of carbohydrates the body will rely on the stored fat supply which is broken down to make ketones.
In seizures nerve cells in the brain are over active or over responsive. Carbohydrates increase blood sugar or glucose levels. The ketogenic diet reduces carbohydrates to a minimum, therefore, reducing blood glucose so that the primary source of fuel are the ketones.
What the Studies Say
The carbohydrate intake is so low that the body burns fat as fuel. These fats turn into ketones which have a higher energy source.(Pan et al., 2002; Cahill and Veech, 2003)
Ketones easily cross through the blood-brain barrier.
______________________________________________________________________________________
“The ketogenic diet is an established and effective nonpharmacological treatment for epilepsy (Vining et al., 1998; Stafstrom, 2004; Sinha and Kossoff, 2005). Although the diet is useful in people of all ages, clinical experience suggests that it may be more valuable in children…”
Forty-nine percent of the children in this cohort experienced a nearly complete (≥ 90%) resolution in seizures…..
______________________________________________________________________________________
Low carb, high fat diets may reduce seizures in tough-to-treat epilepsy
Date: October 29, 2014
Source: American Academy of Neurology (AAN)
Sixty one percent had over a fifty percent reduction in seizures while five percent had a complete elimination of theirs. Results from the diet occurred in just days to weeks.
An individual must stay on the diet for continued results.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Efficacy of the ketogenic diet for infantile spasms.
Pediatrics. 2002 May;109(5):780-3.
During a 4-year period, 23 children with infantile spasms, aged 5 months to 2 years, were started on the ketogenic diet. At 3, 6, 9, and 12 months, 90 % of these children improved, 3 were completely seizure-free at 12 months, every infant in the study improved over 50%. Medications were reduced or eliminated within 12 months in 57% who also showed improved development.
______________________________________________________________________________________
Behav Pharmacol. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2008 May 5.
Published in final edited form as:
PMCID: PMC2367001
NIHMSID: NIHMS42857
Neuroprotective and disease-modifying effects of the ketogenic diet
Maciej Gasior,a Michael A. Rogawski,a and Adam L. Hartmana,b
Study finds ketogenic diet to be helpful with seizures, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, traumatic brain injury, and stroke. Ketone bodies offer neuroprotection. This possibly offers resistance to metabolic challenges, and increasing the antioxidant, and anti-inflammatory ability in the neurons.
source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2367001/
______________________________________________________________________________________
At present, strong evidence exists that the ketogenic diet protects against seizures in children with difficult-to-treat epilepsy (
Freeman et al., 1998).
Individuals must stay on the diet for continued results.
______________________________________________________________________________________
Get your free guide to the top 7 foods to eliminate to quickly reduce your child’s symptoms of autism. These are specific foods that most people consume daily.
Join our Free Autism Recovery Workshop, The 4 Stages to Naturally Recover from the Symptoms of Autism. Stage 1: Healing the gut, Stage 2: Natural heavy metal detoxification, Stage 3: Clearing the Co-infections, Stage 4: Brain support and repair. Reserve your online seat here.
