How Does Ketogenic Diet Help Epilepsy? | Keto Health

A ketogenic diet can help seizure control for some people with drug-resistant epilepsy, but how does it work? Ketogenic diets have received a lot of attention in the past. The ability of these diets to provide amazing results to the people has contributed a lot towards their popularity. From the recent studies, it has been identified that ketogenic diets are in a position to provide a large number of benefits as well as advantages for the people in need. The ability to treat epilepsy has received a lot of attention. Ketogenic diet is one of the oldest forms of medical treatment for epilepsy.

What Exactly is a Ketogenic Diet?

Before you learn how to overcome epilepsy along with the assistance of a Ketogenic diet, you should have a clear understanding on what exactly it is all about. A Ketogenic diet can simply be defined as a low carbohydrate and a high fat diet. In other words, you will be minimizing your intake of carbs as much as possible when you are following a ketogenic diet. This is done with effective controlling of food.

The word Ketogenic has been derived from ketones. Ketones are produced within the body when your body uses fat as a source of energy. As you already know, carbohydrates that you consume will be utilized by the body as energy. When you consume bread, sugar or pasta, you will be refueling your body. But when you minimize the intake of carbohydrates, your body will find it as a difficult task to get the energy requirements catered along with the assistance of carbohydrates. In such a situation, your body will think about using fat to get the energy requirements catered.

Therefore, your body will start burning deposited fat. That’s the main reason why people who are looking forward to overcome the negative consequences associated with obesity prefer to go ahead and follow ketogenic diet plans. The ketogenic diet plans are in a position to provide a tremendous assistance to the people with eliminating deposited fat within the body in an efficient manner.

Ketones aren’t dangerous. They are found in breath, blood and urine. When the number of ketones in your body increases, you will be provided with better control over the epilepsy. That’s the main reason why a keto diet is in a position to help you deal with the negative consequences associated with epilepsy.

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How can a Ketogenic Diet Help a Person with Epilepsy?

With that in mind, it is important to focus attention on the most important question, how a Ketogenic diet can help people with overcoming the frustration associated with epilepsy. Healthcare professionals highly encourage children who are dealing with epilepsy in order to go ahead and follow Ketogenic diets. It is often being prescribed as a part of epilepsy control medicine. The ability of Ketogenic diet to provide amazing results has contributed towards the above mentioned fact as well.

The adults are not usually encouraged to go ahead and follow a classic diet. That’s mainly because the adults in today’s world find it as a difficult task to follow a restricted diet plan. However, a modified Ketogenic diet can deliver positive results to them. It would be a good choice available for the adults showing symptoms associated with epilepsy can follow.

Recent Studies

A large number of experiments have been conducted in the recent past on Ketogenic diet plans. From those experiments, it has been able for the researchers and scientists to figure out that Ketogenic diet plans are in a position to help people overcome most of the health conditions that they go through. Some of the most prominent health conditions that can be treated along with the assistance of ketogenic diet plans include Doose syndrome, Dravet syndrome, tuberous sclerosis complex, Rett syndrome and infantile spasms. In addition, it can provide effective results in helping individuals with controlling epilepsy as well.

A Ketogenic diet can deliver the best results for kids who are dealing with focal epilepsy. It can provide positive results to the children without any harmful side effects. Hence, the parents can go ahead and introduce Ketogenic diet plans for their little ones without keeping any doubts in mind. Since these diet plans are easy to follow, there is a high possibility to end up with positive results. However, you need to keep in mind that a Ketogenic diet cannot deliver immediate results.

The best thing would be to follow a Ketogenic diet along with anti-epilepsy medications. That’s because the unique diet plan is in a position to provide a tremendous assistance to the functionality offered by the drugs. In other words, people will find it as an easy task to get even better results with the help of a Ketogenic diet. It can make sure that people never go wrong with the diet that they follow. In fact, you will be creating an excellent partnership in between the Ketogenic diet and the anti-epilepsy drugs in order to help you minimize the negative effects associated with epilepsy and overcome the health condition within a short period of time.

How to Follow a Ketogenic Diet and Control Epilepsy?

You can go ahead and start following the Ketogenic diet on your own. Following this diet is extremely simple and there’s nothing complicated associated with it. Any person who follows this diet will be able to receive positive results without any harmful side effects. But if your knowledge on Ketogenic diets is absolutely zero, it is better if you can follow a reliable guide and get to know about the facts from the scratch. Then you will be able to make sure that you don’t do anything wrong, which can distract you from obtaining positive results in the long run.

To begin the Ketogenic diet, you will need to fast. It is better if you can fast for 12 to 18 hours. Then you need to kick off the Ketogenic diet by consuming a meal that offers a very little amount of carbs. Sometimes, it may not be possible for you to such a diet plan at once but the additional effort that you take in order to get used to the diet plan can deliver amazing results. Hence, you are strongly encouraged to try your best in order to follow the diet plan.

Image by Epilepsy.com

Never Give Up!

You should not stick to the Ketogenic diet for one day and switch back to your traditional diet on the following day. If you do this mistake, you will never be able to receive positive results. Hence, it is important for you to stick to the Ketogenic diet every single day. You will be able to discover a large number of keto recipes on the internet, which provide essential information on Ketogenic diet recipes.

You are encouraged to take a look at those recipes as well. Then you will be able to get a clear understanding about how to prepare different dishes while adhering to the ground rules of the Ketogenic diet. With such a variation, you will be able to make sure that you don’t get bored with the Ketogenic diet plan that you follow. Hence, you will feel excited about what you are going to prepare and enjoy on the following day as well.

Are There Any Side Effects Associated with Ketogenic Diet Plans?

No major side effects are associated with Ketogenic diet plans. Hence, people don’t need to keep any doubts in mind when using Ketogenic diet plans to treat epilepsy. However, some people can get minor and temporary side effects through the consumption of such a low carb diet plan. These side effects are temporary and people don’t need to worry about anything but if you are a pregnant woman or a breastfeeding mother, you are strongly encouraged to follow the Ketogenic diet under the guidance of a physician. Then you will be able to end up with the best possible results.

CONCLUSION

As you can see, following a Ketogenic diet is identified as one of the most effective methods available for the people to overcome epilepsy. It is true that a Ketogenic diet cannot deliver overnight results to the people with overcoming epilepsy. However, it can deliver good results in the long run. To get the best results, you shouldn’t just follow a Ketogenic diet plan alone. Instead, you will need to think about following a Ketogenic diet plan along with epilepsy control medications.

Sources:

• https://www.epilepsysociety.org.uk/ketogenic-diet#.W2MDI9IzbIU
• https://www.epilepsy.com/learn/treating-seizures-and-epilepsy/dietary-therapies/ketogenic-diet
• https://www.webmd.com/epilepsy/guide/ketogenic-diet#1
• https://borgenproject.org/epilepsy-in-developing-countries/
• http://epilepsyontario.org/about-epilepsy/treatments/non-drug/ketogenic-diet/
• https://www.epilepsyresearch.org.uk/how-does-the-ketogenic-diet-work/