Dietary Therapies for Epilepsy Clinic

Dietary therapies include:

• Ketogenic diet
• Modified Atkins diet (MAD)
• Low glycemic index therapy

Ketogenic Diet for Epilepsy

The ketogenic diet for epilepsy is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate dietary program. It is used when a child’s seizures cannot be controlled with medication or if he or she continues to experience intolerable side effects. In fact, in at least 38% of patients, the ketogenic diet and modified Atkins diet have decreased seizures by more than half ¹. In some cases, the diet has eliminated seizures in patients all together. 

At Children's National, our patients and families have access to a multidisciplinary team who assists with adjusting to–and maintaining a lifestyle on–a ketogenic diet. Dietitians with specific expertise in ketogenic diets will work with you, helping to explain nutritional information and planning a daily diet with specific amounts of fats, protein and carbohydrates. The diet is very specialized and must be carried out under the care, supervision and guidance of trained medical specialists, so the expert knowledge of our dietitians is very important, as is their teamwork with our neurologists. 

Modified Atkins Diet

The modified Atkins diet is also used for children who may have seizures or specific metabolic conditions. In contrast to the ketogenic diet, the MAD has a different ratio of grams of fat to grams of non-fat (protein and carbohydrates).

Low Glycemic Index Therapy

Learn more about these diets and how we introduce them to our patients.

References
1. Martin K, Jackson CF, Levy RG, Cooper PN. Ketogenic diet and other dietary treatments for epilepsy. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016;2:CD001903.