High-fat, low-carb diet could help kids with epilepsy

A new British study has found that kids with epilepsy can help their condition by eating a diet low in carbohydrates and high in fat.

This so-called ‘ketogenic diet’ is useful in controlling seizures and the study found that sufferers saw a 50% reduction in their seizures. However, the news is not entirely groundbreaking - it simply confirms earlier beliefs about high fat diets and epilepsy that stem from the 1920s.

After three months, a group of epileptic children eating a ketogenic diet had over a third fewer seizures, whilst a control group who were eating a normal diet had an increase in seizures.

Dr. Elizabeth G. Neal from University College London undertook the study. According to Reuters, the most common side-effects of the high fat diet were constipation, hunger, lethargy and vomiting. These are similar to the listed side-effects of the Atkins diet, which is also classed as a ketogenic plan.

The epileptic diet was deemed to be safe for epileptic children by the study’s leaders.

Source: Reuters