A ketogenic diet is one that forces your body to turn to ketones as a source of fuel. Ketones result from the rapid breakdown of fatty acids and include acetone, acetoacetic acid and beta-hydroxybutyric acid. The ketogenic diet requires that 90 percent of your calories come from fat. It severely restricts protein and carbohydrates. The diet’s typical use is to treat children with epilepsy when painful nerve damage causes seizures.
Production
Ketones appear in your urine when fatty acids build up in your bloodstream. While a high-fat diet kicks in ketone development, hormones also can cause the release of chemicals from your fatty or adipose tissues. Hormones that lead to ketone production include epinephrine, glucagon and growth hormones. Various diseases lead to the release of excessive ketones and include uncontrolled diabetes and starvation.
Uses
Doctors primarily use a ketogenic diet to treat epileptic children who don't respond to commonly prescribed medications. The excessive ketones in the bloodstream reduce the firing of nerves in the brain that leads to seizures. Amino acids in the brain are altered and cause an increased production of gamma aminobutyric acid, or GABA. This prevents those nerves from activating and creating pain and seizures. A doctor must supervise a ketogenic diet because of possible side effects.
Nerve Pain
Children who participate in a ketogenic diet have less nerve pain. The firing that typically leads to the pain instead reduces the epileptic seizures. According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, about 10 to 15 percent of children placed on ketogenic diets stop having seizures within one year and nearly 30 percent are completely seizure free. Children not bothered by painful nerve misfiring tend to be more alert and often can reduce their other medications.
Inclusions
A ketogenic diet relies on pork, especially bacon, high-fat cheese, cream, butter and oil. Doctors prescribing ketogenic diets often tell patients to drink high-fat shakes and consume natural peanut butter, oily fish and eggs. The diet does not allow sugar. A typical meal might include fried chicken or fish, broccoli covered with cheese sauce, lettuce and mayonnaise and a sundae made of whipped cream. Cream cheese omelets and bacon are common breakfast foods. The diet is difficult to follow and even slight variations can cause nerve pain and seizures to return.
Side Effects
Parents must watch for lethargy, hypoglycemia and dehydration, the common side effects of a ketogenic diet. Slow growth and reduced bone density may occur after long-term use of the diet. Kidney stones, a result of acidosis, affect many children on the diet. Complications monitored closely by your doctor can reduce the more serious side effects that could lead to pneumonia, hepatitis, acute pancreatitis, coma or death.
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