Effectiveness of the Ketogenic Diet

This randomized study documents that children who followed the ketogenic diet for 3 months had significantly fewer seizures than children who continued usual care.

The ketogenic diet is high in fat, low in carbohydrate, and adequate in protein, and it induces ketosis. Observational studies have documented that the ketogenic diet reduces seizure frequency in children with epilepsy. However, no prior randomized trial has been done to assess the diet’s efficacy. For this randomized, controlled trial, researchers enrolled 145 children (age range, 2–16 years) who had seven or more seizures per week despite trials of at least two antiepileptic medications. The children followed the ketogenic diet either immediately (subjects) or after a 3-month delay (controls). The main outcome measure was a reduction in the number of seizures by 3 months.

Results are summarized in Table 1. The main finding was that 38% of …

Reviewing Author

John M. Freeman, MD