Following a strict diet isn’t easy—but it helps reduce seizures. More and more evidence shows that a high fat, low carbohydrate ketogenic diet is an effective treatment for seizure disorders. This kind of epilepsy news is welcome, indeed!
How effective is changing what you eat at preventing seizures?
One study found that more than a third of children who were on a ketogenic diet for six months had more than a 90% improvement in the frequency of seizures. Before participating in the study, the children had at least three seizures a week. After six months of eating a very low carbohydrate, high fat diet, a quarter of them were completely seizure-free. Some parents also say that, even if seizures continue, their child is more alert on a ketogenic diet.
A ketogenic diet changes the sources of energy that the body runs on. Normally, glucose fuels your body’s activities. By eliminating carbohydrates from the diet, the body is forced to burn fat for energy instead. The body forms ketones when it’s forced to use fat for fuel, and that’s where the name of the diet comes from. “Ketogenic” means ketone-producing.
A ketogenic diet should be carefully designed with the help of a nutritionist. Each meal contains about four times as much fat as carbohydrates and protein. The total amount of food and liquid must be carefully calculated. Vitamins must also supplement nutrients that are missing from a ketogenic diet, so starting one definitely isn’t a ‘do it yourself’ project. Like other forms of treatment for epilepsy, it’s prescribed by a doctor.
Once you start a seizure-reducing diet, you can expect to remain on it for at least three months as you and your doctor evaluate how well it’s working. If the diet works, your doctor will probably taper and discontinue, if possible, anti-seizure medications. After two years, your doctor might try gradually adding carbohydrates back into the diet.
Side effects of this strict plan include constipation, dehydration, and, possibly, kidney stones or gallstones. Inflammation of the pancreas, eye problems, and lower bone density have also occurred, and adult women who try a ketogenic diet might have irregular periods.
Catching side effects early can keep them from becoming a reason to go off the diet, so that’s an important reason to keep in close contact with your doctor.
Research still hasn’t proven why a ketogenic diet reduces the frequency of seizures, but one theory is that it changes the brain’s chemistry enough to stabilize nerve cells.
Summary: An exciting bit of epilepsy news is that a ketogenic diet greatly reduces seizure frequency in a third of children who try it.
