Keto diets for epilepsy (with Hannah Sutter) – Zoë Harcombe

Executive summary

* This week’s note contains a podcast with Hannah Sutter and research about ketogenic diets for epilepsy. Hannah is particularly interested in (and provides food for) the ketogenic diet for epilepsy – and especially drug resistant epilepsy and especially all of this in children.

* In preparation for the podcast Hannah shared a presentation from a charity she supports (Matthew’s Friends). This led me to research the history of ketogenic diets for epilepsy and to share the findings with you. Learnings about optimal efficacy for reaching and maintaining ketosis can help anyone trying to do this, not just those with epilepsy.

* There are four diets for epilepsy supported by trial evidence and academic literature. They date back to 1921 and they are:

– the classical ketogenic diet (Classical KD);

– the medium chain triglyceride diet (MCT diet);

– the modified Atkins diet (MAD); and

– the low glycemic index treatment (LGIT).