Ketogenic Diet May Interfere With Normal Platelet Aggregation
Never heard of the ketogenic diet? It was originally designed for children with seizures who did not respond to anti-seizure meds. Nowadays the diet is amazingly similar to the high-protein, Atkin’s type diet. This dietary pattern truly opens the body up to so many adverse health effects in the short term, not to mention the long term effects of avoiding whole grains, that I cannot understand why anyone would attempt it. The only type of patient I could support on this type of diet is one with syndrome X, where the body is becoming insulin resistant. In this case, the damage avoided by lowering insulin levels may balance out the bad effects of the diet.
Ann Neurol 2001;49:98-103 Excessive bruising and bleeding occurs in about one third of epileptic children who are on a ketogenic diet, according to Chicago-based investigators. Chart reviews of 10 such patients and prospective screening of 41 others revealed an increased frequency of bruising in 31.4%, and other bleeding symptoms in 5.9%. Dr. Elizabeth Berry-Kravis and associates.
Wendy says
You promote a ketogenic diet in your migraine book. I’m confused?
James Bogash says
Wendy,
You are correct. Two comments…first, this commentary was made over 12 years ago. While my opinion has remained remarkably consistent over the years, in some things there have been shifts. The Ketogenic diet has problems, especially with chronic use. That means that, for something like weight loss, it may be a bad choice. For something like controlling seizures, it is a much different story. That being said, there has been research on modified Ketogenic diets that are much more friendly to the body.
Dr. Bogash