# keto

By [pablojoe](https://paragraph.com/@pablojoe) · 2023-10-05

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he **ketogenic diet** is a high-fat, adequate-[protein](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein), [low-carbohydrate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-carbohydrate_diet) dietary therapy that in conventional medicine is used mainly to treat hard-to-control (refractory) [epilepsy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epilepsy) in children. The diet forces the body to burn fats rather than [carbohydrates](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbohydrate).

Normally carbohydrates in food are converted into [glucose](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glucose), which is then transported around the body and is important in [fueling brain function](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain_metabolism). However, if only a little carbohydrate remains in the diet, the [liver](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liver) converts [fat](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triacylglycerol) into [fatty acids](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatty_acid) and [ketone bodies](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketone_bodies), the latter passing into the brain and replacing glucose as an energy source. An elevated level of ketone bodies in the blood (a state called [ketosis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketosis)) eventually lowers the frequency of [epileptic seizures](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epileptic_seizure).[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketogenic_diet#cite_note-Freeman2007-1) Around half of children and young people with epilepsy who have tried some form of this diet saw the number of seizures drop by at least half, and the effect persists after discontinuing the diet.[\[2\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketogenic_diet#cite_note-MartinMcGill2018-2) Some evidence shows that adults with epilepsy may benefit from the diet and that a less strict regimen, such as a modified [Atkins diet](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atkins_diet), is similarly effective.[\[1\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketogenic_diet#cite_note-Freeman2007-1) Side effects may include [constipation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constipation), [high cholesterol](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypercholesterolemia), growth slowing, [acidosis](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acidosis), and [kidney stones](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidney_stone_disease).[\[3\]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketogenic_diet#cite_note-Kossoff2013-3)

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*Originally published on [pablojoe](https://paragraph.com/@pablojoe/keto)*