Ketogenic Diet

The Ketogenic diet is being used all over the world to treat difficult to control in-tractable epileptic seizures in children. A seizure is an uncontrolled surge of electrical activity in the brain that affects how a person behaves and acts for a short time. A person is said to have epilepsy when at least two unprovoked (reflex) seizures occur more than 24 hours apart. The Ketogenic diet is a special high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet that helps to control seizures in some people with epilepsy. This diet is recommended when antiepileptic drugs have been tried and there has been little improvement. The diet dates as far back as 400 BC in the Hippocratic period. The film, “First Do No Harm” that featured the acclaimed actress, Meryl Streep, resurrected interest in this diet. This film is based on a real life story of a child Charlie who was having 100 seizures a day. Doctors had tried all modalities available to treat him. Left hopeless with his son’s grave condition, his father started reading to learn as much as he could about seizures. He came across the Ketogenic diet and he started searching for medical professionals who would be able to help his son. He eventually ended up at John Hopkins where he found Dr. John Freeman and dietitian Millicent Kelly who were practicing this regime on their patients. Charlie was started on Ketongenic diet and eventually his seizures stopped. When Charlie completed 2 seizure free years, his father formed The Charlie Foundation to help others. Charlie’s story was covered in the media and in 1997 his story was turned into a movie.

HOW DOES THE DIET WORK? 

The Ketogenic diet produces a high level of ketones in the body. When the body has little or no carbohydrates, it starts to burn fats for its energy source. This condition is called ketosis. This diet should be followed under the strict supervision of a Child Neuro Doctor and a Keto trained Dietitian who can calculate the ratio between fats, proteins and carbohydrates for a Ketogenic diet.

WHAT IS PURPLE DAY ?

Purple day is celebrated all over the world on 26 March in support of epilepsy awareness.

Fruits and vegetables that have dark skin either blue or purple have flavonoids, the most powerful phytochemicals in nature.
EXAMPLE OF DARK SKIN FOODS Black currents 


Black olives

Blackberries

Blue berries

Eggplant

Plums

Prunes

Purple cabbage

Purple figs

Purple grapes

Raisins

Grewia asiatica (Falsa)

Java Plum or black plum (Jamun) BENEFITS OF PHYTOCHEMICALS
Lower the risk of urinary tract infections. 


Protect against cardiac diseases.

Reduce memory loss.

Reduce inflammation.

Improve lung function.

Ease menopause

Prevent cancer.

Improve eye function.

Reduce blood clotting.

Reduce risk of osteoporosis.USE OF HEALTHY FATS WITH DARK COLORED FOODS 


Use of heart healthy fats with dark colored foods tends to reduce cholesterol, improve memory, and reduce the detrimental effects of stroke and neurological disorders.


ON LOW OXALATE DIET People following low oxalate diet should avoid dark colored foods as they are rich in oxalates. Oxalates tends to block absorption of calcium in high doses , so calcium rich foods should be a part of diet in case of high doses of dark colored foods