Editor: Susan A. Masino, PhD
Section Editors: Detlev Boison, PhD; Dominic P. D’Agostino, PhD; Eric H. Kossoff, MD; and Jong M. Rho, MD
Publisher: Oxford University Press – 408 pages
Book Review by: Deekay Daulat
The ketogenic diet consists of foods that are high in fat, with adequate protein, and low in carbohydrates. This type of diet is used to treat difficult-to-control refractory epilepsy in children and adults.
The diet enables the body to burn fats rather than carbohydrates. Normally, the carbohydrates contained in food are converted into glucose, which is then transported around the body and is particularly important in fueling brain function.
When there is very little carbohydrate content in the diet, the liver converts fat into fatty acids and ketone bodies. The ketone bodies then pass into the brain and replace glucose as a source of energy. A high level of ketone bodies in the blood, a state known as ketosis, leads to a reduction in the frequency of epileptic seizures
A browsing of what is in a typical ketogenic diet brought us to this Wikipedia article, which we quote briefly from:
“The regular ketogenic diet has two to four times more fat by weight than protein, and very little carbohydrates every day. This means not eating foods that are made from starch or sugar. High-carbohydrate foods are foods like fruits, bread, pasta, grains, cookies, and ice cream.
Also, you have to increase your intake of fatty foods, like oils, butter, and fatty meats. It’s also important to not eat too much protein. You should only eat just enough protein so you don’t lose muscles. Too much protein reduces the ketone bodies in your blood and blocks fat burning.
A ketogenic diet can be good for losing weight for most people, and is very good for treating seizures. A popular diet similar to the ketogenic diet is the Atkins Diet. Compared to the diet that the American government suggests we should eat, there is a lot more fat and a lot less carbohydrate. Some people think this is a healthier way to live since you are eating less sugar, and the fat you eat can be used for energy right away, instead of being stored as body fat.”
The editor Dr. Susan Masino points out in the Preface of this book: “Metabolism is a fundamental cellular process, and metabolic dysfunction is associated with disease.” One of these diseases is epilepsy, which is a group of neurological disorders characterized with seizures that are episodes of shaking that can vary from light ones (even physically undetectable) to long periods of shaking.
These episodes of vigorous shaking have sometimes resulted in injuries including broken bones. While the cause of most cases of epilepsy is unknown, the solution – a ketogenic diet – was found and developed as early as in 1921, when Dr. Russell Wilder (1885-1959) of the Mayo Clinic, who was studying ketones and diabetes mellitus, published the details it in a paper.
Dr. Masino writes: “Today there are many drugs available to control epileptic seizures, yet this metabolic therapy can stop seizures even when all medications fail: for some patients a ketogenic diet is superior to all known drug treatments.”
How was the ketogenic diet developed? It had been observed for centuries before 1921 that people who had seizures decided to fast to see if that would help. To their pleasant surprise, fasting did stop the seizures!
She explains: “Adhering to a medically prescribed and carefully formulated high fat ketogenic diet can maintain the ketone-based metabolism used during fasting.”
Seventy-six specialists mainly in neurology, but also areas such as alcohol abuse, aging and age-related conditions, biophysical chemistry, cancer biology, epilepsy and epileptic diet studies, ketogenics, metabolism, pediatrics, pharmacology, neuro-oncology, neuro-therapeutics, physiology, psychology, and others, from all over the United States and six other countries – Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, and the United Kingdom, wrote the 39 chapters of book, which are organized around four Sections:
- Section I. Ketogenic Diet for Epilepsy in the Clinic
- Section II. Ketogenic Diet: Emerging Clinical Applications and Future Potential
- Section III. Ketogenic Diet in the Laboratory
- Section IV. Ketone-Based Metabolism: General Health and Metabolic Alternatives
The chapters cover many topics, including: ketogenic diet and pediatric epilepsy; overviews of different ketogenic diets; “alternative” ketogenic diets; how to implement the diet; ketogenic diet in established epilepsy indications; metabolic-based treatments to counter cancer and the scientific rationale for them; metabolic therapy for autism spectrum disorder and comorbidities; and glucose and ketone metabolism in the aging brain.
Also: ketogenic diet, adenosine, epigenetics, and antiepileptogenetics; ketogenic diet, adding, and neurodegeneration; Alheimer’s disease causes; effects of the ketogenetic diet on the blood brain barrier; general health and metabolic alternatives; ketone supplementation for health and disease; amino acids in the treatment of neurological disorders; and ketogenic diets as highly effective treatments for diabetes mellitus and obesity
This book about the ketogeic diet and other metabolic therapies is indeed a unique one. I would go so far as to say that it is indeed one of a kind because as Dr. Masino states this type of diet works in stopping seizures even as “all medications fail.” So it is definitely worth reading by all those involved in the medical specialties I name above.
Editor:
Susan A. Masino, PhD is Vernon Roosa Professor of Applied Science, and Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticutt.
Section Editors:
Detlev Boison, PhD is Robert Stone Dow Chair and Director of Neurobiology, and Director of Basic and Translational Research at Legacy Research Institute in Portland, Oregon.
Dominic P. D’Agostino, PhD is Associate Professor in the Department of Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology at Morsani College of Medicine at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida.
Eric H. Kossoff, MD is Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics, and Director of the Pediatric Neurology Residency Program at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland.
Jong M. Rho, MD is Professor of Pediatrics and Clinical Neurosciences, and Dr. Robert Haslam Chair in Pediatric Neurology at Cumming School of Medicine at the University of Calgary in Calgary, Canada.
