Ketogenic Diet
The ketogenic diet is a rigid, mathematically calculated, doctor- supervised diet, which alters the body's chemistry by simulating the metabolism of a fasting body. It is a diet high in fat and low in protein and carbohydrate and is formulated to sustain the state of ketosis within the body. Ketosis occurs when the body principally burns fat instead of the more common energy source, carbohydrate. Ketones (the ash or residue left after the fat is burned) are concentrated in the blood and inhibit seizures, although exactly how is unknown. When a child starts the diet the ratio of fat to protein and carbohydrate combined are usually set at 4:1. Approximately 90% of total calories are derived from fat, usually in the form of butter, oil or cream. Named after the ketone bodies excreted in the urine during ketosis, the ketogenic diet has been around since the 1920s. It was originally developed at the Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins University Hospital, (Baltimore, USA) but unfortunately, as anticonvulsants drifted onto the market in the 1940s and 1950s, the ketogenic diet fell into disuse. The diet is always started in hospital, under the supervision of a neurologist, and is devised individually by a trained 
Dietician to fit the age, height, weight and metabolism of each child. Calculating the ketogenic diet is three parts science and one part art. The art part is a combination of common sense, empathy, and intuition. There is no promise that the diet will be easy initially, but if it works - if it works - it becomes not only tolerable, but absolutely amazing.
Below are links to various articles which you mind find useful if you are considering starting the Ketogenic Diet:
| Link Description |
Link |
| Wikipedia on Ketogenic Diet as a dietary medical therapy. | Ketogenic Diet on Wikipedia |
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A brief introduction to Ketogenic Diet by Sara and David Garland of The Daisy Garland The Daisy Garland also lists UK Keto Dieticians HERE |
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Effects of a ketogenic diet on |
Nebeling et al 1995 |
| Antiangiogenic and Proapoptotic Effects of Dietary Restriction on Experimental Mouse and Human Brain Tumors. | Mukherjee et al 2004 |
| Targeting energy metabolism in brain Cancer: review and hypothesis |
Seyfried and Mukherjee 2005 |
| Zhou et al 2007 | |
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The effect of hyperglycemia on survival in patients with |
Derr et al 2008 |
| PERSISTENT OUTPATIENT HYPERGLYCEMIA IS INDEPENDENTLY ASSOCIATED WITH DECREASED SURVIVAL AFTER PRIMARY resection OF Malignant BRAIN ASTROCYTOMAS (the clinical importance of keeping blood glucose toward the lower end of the safe range) |
McGirt et al 2008 |
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