Keto diet could treat epilepsy: study

By Mark Waghorn via SWNS

The trendy keto diet could treat epilepsy by boosting good bacteria, according to new research.

Experiments in mice found its anti-seizure effect comes from changes to the gut microbiome.

A low-carb, high-fat diet has been used to combat the life-threatening condition for around a century.

It involves cutting out foods like bread and pasta and replacing them with plenty of meat and dairy.

Now scientists have identified the biological mechanism behind the phenomenon.

The late Queen Elizabeth II was said to be a fan of the keto diet. Celebrities who follow it include Halle Berry, Kourtney Kardashian, Gwyneth Paltrow and Megan Fox.

Lead author Professor Elaine Hsiao, of California University in Los Angeles, said: "The gut microbiome modulates seizure susceptibility and the anti-seizure effects of the ketogenic diet (KD) in animal models.

"But whether these relationships translate to keto diet therapies for human drug-resistant epilepsy is unclear.

"We find it shifts the function of the gut microbiome in children with epilepsy.

"Together, these findings reveal key microbial functions and biological pathways that are altered by clinical keto diet therapies for pediatric refractory epilepsy and further linked to microbiome-induced alterations in brain gene expression and seizure protection in mice."

The team collected stool samples from ten pediatric patients the day before and a month after they began the keto diet.

They were freeze-dried and fed mice on a regular diet - with half receiving pre-keto samples and the others post-keto samples.

All the animals were given antibiotics to deplete their existing gut microbiome so only bacteria in the samples could colonize their guts, reports New Scientist.

The researchers used electrical stimulation to induce seizures. Mice that consumed the post-keto samples needed about 22 percent more stimulation, on average, before a fit occurred.

Prof Hsiao said: "This indicated the diet protects against seizures by altering the gut microbiome."

Analysis of stool samples from both the children and mice showed the keto diet was associated with differences in 20 byproducts of digestion called metabolites.

These included increases in those related to fat digestion and decreases in kynurenine, which has previously been linked to seizure susceptibility.

Analysis of brain tissue showed that mice in the post-keto group had altered activity of genes related to seizures and brain inflammation.

Prof Hsiao said: "However, not all the children in the study benefited from the diet after one month.

"This could mean they needed to be on the diet for longer. It may also be that the microbiome is just one factor that contributes to seizure protection."