Ketogenic diets have caught the imagination of the public. Many people swear by the ketogenic diet benefits. We are going to let you know about the ketogenic diet and its amazing benefits in decreasing seizures in epilepsy.
The ketogenic diet and epilepsy are not necessarily two groups of words you think of as being used together. But they should be, and we are going to tell you why. There are many doctors who now recommend the ketogenic diet to help in the treatment of epilepsy. This is because the ketogenic diet sometimes helps control epileptic seizures.
Many doctors are now using the ketogenic diet to help control seizures with children who are not responding to medications. There are reasons the ketogenic diet helps people with seizures, losing weight and other medical conditions.
DIET FOR EPILEPSY
One of the main benefits of the ketogenic diet is it reduces seizures for those who suffer from epilepsy. This result was so beneficial medical researchers started trying the ketogenic diet in other targeted diseases and populations. Like children who have various epileptic disorders. They include but are not limited to;
- Rett syndrome
- Dravet syndrome
- Infantile spasms
- GLUT-1 deficiency
The research results determined ketogenic diets for infants, tube-fed children, and food fed children brings about improved compliance and efficacy with seizures. This ketogenic diet results astounded many medical professionals.
Since the first recorded epileptic seizure, medical researchers have been trying to come up with ways to reduce or control the seizures. There have not been many epilepsy reduction techniques, medications, or treatments agreed upon in the medical industry, until now.
The ketogenic diet has been around since the 1920s. But only recently has the diet begun to be researched, used, and modified to gauge results in reducing seizures.
EPILEPTIC RESEARCHERS
Researchers studying the ketogenic diet started noticing the diet’s significant impact on reducing seizures. Many medical researchers still don’t understand why it works, but they almost all agree it does work. It works through people reducing their carbohydrate intake. When anyone reduces their intake of carbohydrates, the body burns fat for energy. Burning fat for energy is called ketosis, hence the diet’s name.
The ketogenic diet is a high-fat diet that requires people to eat significant fat calories. It is this low carbohydrate, high fat and protein diet which helps reduce seizures. Researchers followed a group of children who used the ketogenic diet for one year.
The research proved the children reduced their seizures by 50%. About a fourth of the children tested reduced their seizures by 90% after being on the diet for a year. This same group of children stopped needing seizure medication if they kept using the ketogenic diet for a few years.
KETOGENIC DIET AND EPILEPSY HISTORY
During the Hippocratic era (460 B.C. – 370 B.C.) it was discovered that fasting helped reduce seizures. But there was always a gap of knowledge between why fasting would help reduce seizures. In the 20th century, Dr. Hugh W. Conklin wrote the first research paper on reducing seizures by fasting. Dr. Conklin went on to say fasting could cure many diseases including epileptic seizures.
Many research studies ensued, and many years later ketogenic diets came to the forefront as a treatment for reducing seizures in epilepsy. It was discovered ketogenic diets power up an anticonvulsant activity in the body.
There is still no clear reason why this happens. But medical researchers are now in agreement it does happen. This leads to the question can anyone afford not to try the ketogenic diet if they or someone they know, and love suffers from seizures?
We found this interesting read which gives you more detailed information about the ketogenic diet and epilepsy. If you want to learn about ketogenic diet research or find ketogenic recipes this website is a good place to start.
KETO FOR EPILEPSY
There is significant research on ketogenic diets and its almost miraculous ability to reduce or eliminate epileptic seizures. There have been volumes of information and data kept about ketogenic diets. There are close to 800 scientific and medical paperspublished on ketogenic diet benefits.
The volumes of data provide detailed information about the mechanisms and effective measurements of the benefits of the ketogenic diet. Even knowing the benefits of the ketogenic diet, it can still take some time to get used to it. As we mentioned before, the keto diet is a high-fat and low carbohydrate diet.
Foods that contain high-fat are food items like; heavy cream, butter, seed oils, etc. Coming up with recipes and foods children or adults want to eat with foods that high in fat can be a difficult task from time to time. Plus, the strictest keto diet with the best results in reducing seizures allows for no bread, potatoes, rice, cereals or pasta.
All foods have to be made with detailed attention given to what they are cooked in, for how long, and more. Also, the foods must also be weighed on a gram scale. The ratio of grams of fat to non-fat is 4:1. There are modified keto diets with a 2:1 ratio of fat to non-fat but those are not the keto diets with the best benefits. The 2:1 ratio keto diet is not the one most researched in reducing epileptic seizures.
KETOGENIC DIET FOR SEIZURES
It’s hard to say if any person can follow the ketogenic diets throughout one’s life. But the ketogenic diet offers too many benefits not to try or be on if you or someone you care for suffers from seizures. There is no medication or even another diet that offers such beneficial rewards to the child and adult’s health.
You cannot overstate the value of the ketogenic diet for seizures. Imagine a child or adult who has suffered from epileptic seizures their whole life, who by following the keto diet, now embraces their daily living without fear of suffering from an epileptic seizure?
Following the ketogenic diet is well worth the reward in benefits it adds to the quality of your life. We will help you one step at a time with your ketogenic diet information needs. The ketogenic diet allows you to embrace a new life. Take a step towards your new future.
SOURCE: Times Square Chronicles
