Besides the Ketogenic Diet, are there any other dietry interventions for children with epilepsy?

Submitted by Louise94 on Mon, 04/14/2008 - 17:57.
in

I am becoming more aware of what the Ketogenic diet is all about and how it can remedy epileptic symptoms. However, I was wondering if there are any other dietary interventions which can reduce or eliminate the symptoms of epilepsy. Have you heard of any? If so, how effective are they? How do they compare to the Ketogenic Diet?

Louise

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Arlene Martell's picture

Dietary considerations for a child with epilepsy

Submitted by Arlene Martell on Wed, 04/16/2008 - 06:42.

Hi Louise,

A great question! I am convinced more that ever that diet plays a key role in many factors that affect a child with epilepsy.  For us, the ketogenic diet was remarkable and for others, the GARD diet worked.

What I wanted to mention though, is that there are some other little things you absolutely MUST be aware of even before trying a special diet.

  1. check your child for food allergies - milk and wheat are the biggest offenders
  2. check for yeast overgrowth - very important
  3. remove all sugar from the diet for 1 week and see if it helps
  4. check for constipation - makes a huge difference! The product I used for Adam was called "experience"
  5. I gave Adam flax seed oil everyday - good for the brain

I bet you will notice some changes in seizure reduction and or better moods and attention span.

Hope this helps.

Arlene Martell Publisher, EpilepsyMoms.com

Removing sugar

Submitted by Annie on Tue, 05/13/2008 - 03:42.

I just want to add that, when you're removing all sugar, DO NOT replace it with sweeteners. Those, especially aspartame (NutraSweet), make seizures worse. Arlene, when you say 'check for yeast overgrowth', do you mean doing the saliva test in the morning?

Re: Ketogenic Diet

Submitted by misba (not verified) on Mon, 01/19/2009 - 09:42.

The diet is worthless because it has not been proven by a double-blind placebo-controlled study. So why not do the study? That would be a waste of time, since the diet is worthless. -------------------- Misbah

Ketogenic Diet

Submitted by wiki (not verified) on Mon, 01/19/2009 - 13:48.

Hi every one, I really very happy.The diet is worthless because it has not been proven by a double-blind placebo-controlled study. So why not do the study? That would be a waste of time, since the diet is worthless.

Jessica Clark's picture

The Diet Works

Submitted by Jessica Clark on Fri, 01/23/2009 - 10:10.

For many children, which is why the symptoms of their epilepsy is ameliorated in many cases, through dietary interventions alone. The health of the child needs to be taken into consideration, first. If there are other methods to treat seizures that have less side effects then those options need to be explored first, before toxic medications are put into young, developing bodies.

Amber Kane's picture

Nothing Works for Everyone

Submitted by Amber Kane on Sun, 01/25/2009 - 18:58.

Hi everyone, After reading this thread, I decided to blog about it, as my comment is pretty long, since I have a lot to say about this! 

 Amber Kane