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The ketogenic diet |
The ketogenic diet is a high fat diet that can control epileptic fits in some cases, although it is not known how it works. This section provides information on the ketogenic diet and related matters.
An introduction to the ketogenic diet
The ketogenic diet is a high fat diet which appears to benefit some epileptics, particularly children. It is not a magic cure and is just one alternative to various anti-epileptic drugs. The ketogenic diet may offer the advantages of more benign side effects and reduced impact on the mental development of children. This section provides a general introduction to the diet and its use.
The ketogenic diet is not a diet
The ketogenic diet is much more than a diet. It will only be successful if it is regarded as a serious medical intervention, and is managed with care and understanding. There are four key players in the the diet - your neurologist, your dietician, you and the keto kid.
Practical management of the ketogenic diet
The devil is in the detail. The principles of the ketogenic diet are simple. But there are a lot of issues relating to its practical management, and these can make all the difference between success and failure. This section reviews a variety of topics from calculating the diet through to weaning from drugs.
Understanding the ketogenic diet
You don't have to understand the basics for the ketogenic diet, but it helps. Knowing more about the underlying chemistry and your bodies metabolism will help you to make better decisions when things are difficult.
Supplements for the ketogenic diet
The ketogenic diet is a severe regime, and is very different to a normal diet. It may be necessary to provide supplements for nutrients that do not occur in the diet, and to provide supplements to facilitate the metabolism of the very high fat content. The range of supplements includes vitamins, minerals, digestive enzymes and metabolic enzymes.
This section has been derived from the standard UK reference for dieticians - Clinical Paediatric Dietetics - and shows the information available to your dietician.
Isabel Walcutt has developed her own version of the ketogenic diet over a period of years, with particular emphasis on the control of acidity in the diet and the balance of fats. This section is culled from her writings.
There are other diets, like Erin's diet, which are claimed to be beneficial for epilepsy and related disorders; There are also other low carbohydrate diets, like the Atkins diet and the Zone, which are designed for weight loss.
An up to date list of ketogenic diet centres is maintained by Stanford. This list was derived from the Stanford list. Please advise us , if you find any errors, or know of other ketogenic diet centres which are not included. We are particularly interested to establish a list of all the UK ketogenic diet centres.
There is very little knowledge or understanding about the ketogenic diet in the UK. It is our aim to create a Ketogenic Centre to promote and develop the ketogenic diet in the UK.
A list of the best web resources on the ketogenic diet. These sites have been selected because they are rich in links to relevant information, or contain specialist information.
return to The Ketogenic Resource
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(issue 7: 27 January 2003)