Low-carbohydrate diet curbs seizures in some kids

Last Updated: 2003-12-09 11:36:50 -0400 (Reuters Health)

By Alison McCook

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - The low-carbohydrate, high-protein Atkins diet, promoted as a pound-shedder, appears to also help prevent seizures in some children with epilepsy, researchers said Tuesday.

Among a group of six children and young adults asked to try the Atkins diet for at least four months, three became seizure-free, and continued to be for almost two years.

In an interview with Reuters Health, study author Dr. Eric Kossoff explained that the Atkins diet is a somewhat simpler version of another diet used to control seizures in children who do not respond well to medication.

To follow this so-called "ketogenic diet," children consume a large amount of fat and only trace amounts of carbohydrates and proteins, inducing a process called ketosis in their bodies.

Ketosis occurs when the body, deprived of its primary energy source, carbohydrates, turns to fat for fuel. For reasons that are not entirely clear, this process often reduces epileptic seizures.

Kossoff explained that he believed the Atkins diet also helps reduce seizures by causing the body to release ketones. Indeed, five out of the six study participants began producing ketones in their bodies within days of starting the Atkins diet, and kept producing them for up to two years.

There are a few advantages to opting for Atkins to induce ketosis, Kossoff noted. All children following the ketogenic diet must first fast for 48 hours, and thereafter have to strictly limit portions. As a result, they often struggle with eating out, he said.

On the Atkins diet, in contrast, children simply count carbohydrates, and have no restrictions on the number of calories they consume, Kossoff explained. They can learn what they can and can't eat just by buying an Atkins book, whereas children must be enrolled at certain centers and remain under the supervision of a team of experts to follow the ketogenic diet, he said.

The Atkins diet "is a less restrictive, easier to do alternative," Kossoff said.

However, he cautioned that children with epilepsy should only try the Atkins diet with the okay of their doctors, and with the supervision of a neurologist and dietitian.

"With medical supervision, I think it's a possible option," said Kossoff, who is based at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore.

He added that much remains unknown about the Atkins diet, and it may not be safe in kids with additional health problems, such as kidney problems, lipid problems or metabolic diseases.

Kossoff and his colleagues presented their findings during the American Epilepsy Society meeting in Boston.



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