Low Carb, High-fat Diets May Reduce Seizures in Tough-to-Treat Epilepsy

According to a recent study published in the journal Neurology, diets high in fat and low in carbohydrates (such as the ketogenic or modified Atkins diets) may reduce seizures in adults with tough-to-treat epilepsy. The ketogenic diet consists of a ratio of fat to protein/carbohydrates of three or four to one by weight. The modified Atkins diet has a one-to-one fat to carbohydrate/protein ratio by weight. “We need new treatments for the 35 percent of people with epilepsy whose seizures are not stopped by medications,” said the study’s lead author. “The ketogenic diet is often used in children, but little research has been done on how effective it is in adults.” Researchers reviewed five studies on the ketogenic diet with a total of 47 people included in the analysis and five studies on the modified Atkins diet with 85 people included. Results of the study showed that across all studies, 32 percent of people treated with the ketogenic diet and 29 percent of those treated with the modified Atkins diet experienced a 50 percent or better reduction in their seizures. Nine percent in the ketogenic treatment group and 5 percent in the modified Atkins group had a greater than 90 percent reduction in seizures. To read more about this study, click here.