The Ketogenic Diet

Ben started the ketogenic diet last week. This is a very high-fat diet; in fact, 90% of Ben's intake is fat. That's a lot of fat! The result is that his body is getting its energy from breaking down fat instead of sugar (kind of like the Atkins diet), and puts him in a state of ketosis, with lots of ketones floating around. Somehow, this state can sometimes control seizures. There is a 33% chance that this will stop all of Ben's seizures, a 33% chance that it will decrease the frequency with which he has seizures, and a 33% chance that it won't help. So far, in the first week, there has been no change, but we are told that it can take up to 3 weeks for it to work. So we are still optimistic that he will have some benefit from it. The good news is that Ben loves the new formula (it's flavored with vanilla) and is eating with gusto. Maybe too much gusto :)