Keto Diet For Kids With Epilepsy

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What do Kourtney Kardashian, body-builders and many kids with epilepsy have in common? Probably not much, aside from what they eat: a high-fat to energy conversion, low-carbohydrate and protein regimen known as the ketogenic diet, Supraketo Keto Supplement or "keto" for short. Touted by celebrities and neurologists alike, keto offers many wide-ranging benefits, from weight-loss to seizure reduction. But it can also be dangerous. Let's say you eat a peanut. What happens to it? In the most basic sense, your body will break it down into "macronutrients": carbohydrates, protein and fat. Carbs are the fuel your body's cells use to do what they do, from firing muscles to zapping signals across the surface of the brain. If it's getting enough of them, your body typically saves protein and fat for other purposes. Protein repairs and builds muscle and other tissues, while fat constructs everything from hormones to the protective coating of brain cells. What's left over goes into storage - usually around your belly.



Ketosis happens when your body doesn't get enough carbs. Jennifer Oliver, a pediatric nurse practitioner specializing in ketogenic diet within Children's Hospital Colorado's Epilepsy Program. Stephanie Criteser, RD, a dietitian with the Epilepsy Program. Ketosis, then, is the state of burning ketones to get energy. For celebrities, body builders and dieters in general, that's a plus, because once your body starts burning the fat it eats, it's also more likely to burn the fat it has stored. For kids, Children's Colorado uses and recommends keto only as a treatment for epilepsy and certain metabolic disorders - but the benefits are pronounced. A lot of things can cause seizures: brain injury, meningitis, diabetes and fevers, to name a few. In fact, fevers are the most common cause of seizures in children under 5 years old. Oliver. The diagnosis, then, starts with ruling out all the other possible causes. At Children's Colorado, we do this through a battery of testing and clinical evaluation.



Even if a child is found to have epilepsy, because of its difficulty, keto is seldom the first step to treatment. Why does the ketogenic diet reduce seizures? Physicians noticed a long time ago - more than 2,000 years ago, to be precise - that starvation reduces the frequency of unexplained seizures. It wasn't until the 1920s, however, that doctors at the Mayo Clinic figured out that a diet consisting of three parts fat to one part protein and carbs could produce the same results. So why does it work? Just like the body, the brain functions on energy. One theory is that functioning on ketones provide a more stable source of energy for the brain. Free radicals are chemicals that cause inflammation in the brain - they're part of the damaging mechanisms in Alzheimer's and stroke. Ketones produce far fewer free radicals than glucose. Chronic acidosis is one of the downsides of keto, but for kids with epilepsy, it could be a benefit.



Higher blood acid can stabilize cell membranes, which might play a role in reducing seizures. Ketones raise production of a substance called GABBA, which reduces electrical activity in the brain. There's also some evidence that GABBA may inhibit genes that excite electrical activity in the brain. As a treatment for epilepsy, keto has incredibly high rate of success - but it doesn't come easy. For starters, the diet is strict. Parents must weigh everything the child eats on a scale, down to the gram. Ratios and calorie counts are calculated and prescribed. The severity of the restriction can lead to nutrition deficiencies, and the change in typical body process can lead to side effects: constipation, low appetite and nausea are a few common ones. Criteser and Oliver make up for these overloads and deficiencies with carefully calculated supplement ratios: multivitamins, minerals, bicarbonate, fat to energy conversion carnitine and many others. For the first two years, children on the diet get labs and bloodwork every three months, bone density scans once a year.



The diet is difficult for kids and families alike, and it's seldom the only treatment. Childrens Colorado providers and the keto team feel that the diet should only be prescribed if a variety of easier treatment regimens - like anti-seizure medications - don't work. Even with the diet, most kids do it in tandem with meds. Still, for many kids, it's well worth the work. For older kids and teens who have more trouble sticking to the rigors of such a strict diet, there's also a mounting body of evidence that a somewhat less restrictive version known as the "modified Atkins" can work just as well. And researchers around the country and at Children's Colorado are constantly refining the recommendations. There's a growing movement to study the effectiveness of Keto by Supraketo on neurological conditions from autism to brain tumors, though so far, says Oliver, the research isn't strong enough to recommend it.