Ketogenic Diet For Neurological Health

Mayo Clinic's R.M. Wilders invented the ketogenic diet in the 1920s as a treatment of epileptic seizures in children. When more anti-seizure medications became available to epileptics, fewer doctors prescribed the diet. Epilepsy centers, such as the Johns Hopkins Ketogenic Diet Center, however, still prescribe the diet when more conventional approaches are ineffective. The diet advances the health of neurons by stabilizing them. This added stability can prevent uncontrolled neuron firing and seizures.

The Ketogenic Diet

The ketogenic diet restricts the daily carbohydrate intake to 10 to 15 g and the daily protein intake to 1 g/kg body weight. Wilders claimed that this is the amount of protein a body needs to maintain its protein-rich tissues, such as muscles and connective tissue. The remaining calories that the body needs to sustain itself come from fat. This strict diet regimen normally requires clinical supervision or help with the planning of a meal program that the patient can abide by.

Fat Metabolism

Because it takes less effort to convert glucose, or blood sugar, into usable energy than to convert protein or fat, glucose is the body's preferred energy source. It will use glucose first whenever it is available. As carbohydrates are the main source of glucose, and the ketogenic diet severely restricts carbohydrates, the ketogenic diet forces the body to use an alternative kind of fuel. On the ketogenic diet, the body metabolizes the fat in the diet.

Ketosis

Most cells in the human body can use fat as a fuel. The brain, however, cannot. When glucose is limited, the brain switches from metabolizing glucose to metabolizing ketone bodies, a by-product from fat metabolism in the liver. This metabolic state is also known as ketosis. Ketone bodies are more difficult to convert into energy than glucose. To convert it at a reasonable speed, neurons build additional cell engines, or mitochondria. These are organelles in the interior of the cells. The increased number of mitochondria benefits the vigor of neurons by adding stability. This prevents hyperactivity and uncontrolled or random neuron firing.

Alternatives

The ketogenic diet can be difficult to follow outside of a clinical setting. There are, however, alternatives to the ketogenic diet that may have the same effects on the health of neurons as the ketogenic diet. One alternative is the modified Atkins Diet. The original Atkins Diet is a weight-loss diet that restricts carbohydrates to 20 g in the induction phase. There are no restrictions on protein or fat. The modified Atkins Diet requires that you eat more fat to avoid weight loss. The modified Atkins Diet is easier to follow on your own than the ketogenic diet, because it doesn't require you to restrict protein.