Modified Atkins Diet Against Adult Epileptic Seizures

Filed in archive Diet , Epilepsy , Studies , Treatment on February 9, 2008

Everyone knows what an Atkins Diet is right? It is a (once?)popular low-carb, high protein diet fad which was first intended to the clinically obese, needing drastic weight loss. But then, anything in the modern world becomes a fad. Even the non-obese are adapting to the Atkins diet.

Now, a study led by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests that a modified version of Atkins diet can significantly cut the number of seizures in epileptic adults.

The said version of Atkins diet is an eating plan called the ketogenic diet that has been used (for almost a century) in the treatment of children with epilepsy.

This diet often consists of a short period of fasting, strictly limits fluids and drastically restricts carbohydrates. It appears to limit or even eliminate seizures, possibly by generating the build-up of ketones, compounds the body produces when it derives calories mostly from fat.

Why exactly the ketogenic diet works remains unknown, and it is notoriously difficult to follow, relying almost solely on fat and protein for calories. Consequently, doctors typically recommend it only for children, whose parents can strictly monitor their eating habits.

The ketogenic diet is almost never prescribed to adults, who generally make their own food choices and often have difficulty complying with the diet's strict guidelines.

When tested in adults with epilepsy, the ketogenic diet is working in the same that it worked in children - offering new option in epilepsy patients when drugs and other kinds of treatments fail to work.

Find more details from Johns Hopkins Medicine.

[In Photo: The Ketogenic Diet: A Treatment for Children and Others with Epilepsy (Paperback)]