There’s an article on the Dana Foundation blog called, Epilepsy’s Big Fat Answer” and it would seem we’ve come a third time round the same circle. We’re treating epilepsy naturally with diet, as we did 100 years ago and as the Greeks did – how long ago?
So we stopped doing something that worked…
That’s progress, is it?
Apparently we stopped using the right sort of food to fix epilepsy, when drugs became available. Can’t help being a bit cynical about this. Anyone else beginning to feel angry too?
The ketogenic diet’s effectiveness is also being explored for other neurological disorders, including brain tumours, autism, and even Alzheimer’s disease.
This diet includes more fats and fewer carbs – ‘Atkins’ ring a bell? Our ancestors seemed to do OK on it.
You must read the article: http://www.dana.org/news/cerebrum/detail.aspx?id=40734
It’s well known that glucose is an important source of energy for the brain, but, it’s not the only one. Ketones are a more efficient energy source so the ketogenic diet works well. In fact, it’s more effective than current anticonvulsant medications – even with difficult-to-control seizures.
It’s a total disgrace that for the last 100 years, we stopped using diet to help epilepsy sufferers. We obviously can’t trust ‘the authorities’ to do the right thing by us. I don’t know how some people sleep peacefully at night!
Here’s more about it. I hope you ‘get your monkey up’ as my grandad would say and make your opinion known. It’s the only way to stop the drug companies running rough-shod over our heath.
Unraveling the secrets of the epilepsy diet | Harvard Gazette
http://news.harvard.edu5/24/12
But how the diet worked, and why, was a mystery — so much so that in 2010, The New York Times Magazine called it “Epilepsy’s Big, Fat Miracle.” Now, researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI) and Harvard ...
Here’s a modified ketogenic recipe for muffins from a creative mum.
PBJ Breakfast Muffins | Modified Ketogenic Diet for Epilepsy
http://blogs.oregonstate.edu2/23/13
Modified Ketogenic Diet for Epilepsy … I would make up a big batch then freeze some and take them out as needed. I could … To make this part of a MAD diet, I would back off the coconut oil and eat it with full fat Greek yogurt.
Fat is essential for good brain-function. There’s go to be a good reason why we’re encouraged to eat oily fish. The protective insulating layer around our neurons, called a myelin sheath, is made of protein and water, and about 70-85% is fat! Its job is to speed up the impulses passing through the axons. It seems a high fat diet is good for us after all the twaddle we’ve been told over the years. This time courtesy of the food and diet industry?
http://www.livinlowcarbdiscussion.com11/19/10
I thought this story was fascinating. I also think it’s interesting that they theorize the diet works because of some protective benefits of ketones, not because of the damaging effects of carbohydrates. “Epilepsy’s Big, Fat Miracle” …
I do think we have a moral obligation not to knowingly harm people. And the bigger the institution, the more damage they can do, the more responsibility they have, the more they’re trusted (usually) and the more I believe they should jolly well do the right thing. It’s not all about financial profit, especially at the expense of our health and well-being.
End of rant! For now!
