What science says about Atkins Diet / Low Carbs Diet For Epilepsy

Overall, there’s no real objection from medical and nutritional experts about following the Modified Atkins diet for epilepsy.

Accordingly, there’s a common agreement about it, especially that there are lot of scientific and medical evidences that prove that this diet is quite effective. 

Furthermore, similar types of diet that focus on reducing carbs have been used for hundreds of years to treat epilepsy and were proven effective. 

However, the main concerns remain focused around the fact that the diet cuts a complete food group. Hence, this might cause malnutrition or dehydration, especially if the patient suffers from other medical conditions. 

In addition, some other medical experts believe that a diet focused on fat might have negative overall implications on health.

Opinion in favor of following the Modified Atkins Diet for Epilepsy

Most medical and health experts believe that the Modified Atkins diet is effective in reducing or eliminating seizures in most epileptic patients. 

There are also many scientific researches and medical evidences to support these claims, and show that the Modified Atkins diet was able to reduce significantly the frequency of seizures or even cure epileptic patients. 

For instance, a study titled “Modified Atkins diet in adult with refractory epilepsy: A controlled randomized clinical trial” showed that following the Modified Atkins diet while taking anti-epileptic drugs reduced seizures by 50% as compared to taking anti-epileptic drugs without following the diet.

Accordingly, the Modified Atkins diet is believed to be effective in reducing or eliminating seizures in most epileptic patients mainly because it can regulate the glucose levels in the body by limiting the consumption of carbohydrates. 

In this regard, research suggests that unregulated glucose levels in the body increase neurons hyperexcitability, and hence increase the frequency of seizures.

Furthermore, by reducing the body dependency on glucose for energy, ketones start acting as an alternative source of energy. These ketones are believed to have the capability to decrease the neuron excitability, and hence reduce seizures.

Opinion against following the Modified Atkins Diet for Epilepsy

There’s not much objection about the use of the Modified Atkins diet to treat epilepsy. However, medical and health experts believe that cutting a complete food group might lead to malnutrition and can have negative health implications. 

Accordingly, if the patient wishes to follow the Modified Atkins diet to treat epilepsy, it is highly advised to do it under the supervision of a health expert. 

This is essential especially given that some additional vitamins and supplements might be required to consume along with the Modified Atkins diet to compensate on any deficiency in nutrition that could result. 

Last but not least, some medical experts express their health concerns about consuming lot of fat in the diet as they believe the Modified Atkins diet might have negative health effects, especially for the heart. 

Yet, the long-term effects of the keto diet remain unknown, and more research is required to better understand the mechanism how this diet works for epilepsy, and how to improve things further to get a better success rate.