Abstract
The modified Atkins diet is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate treatment for intractable childhood epilepsy. As data suggest that a stricter diet onset can be more effective, we added a ketogenic supplement to the modified Atkins diet during its initial month. Thirty children with intractable epilepsy were prospectively started on the modified Atkins diet in combination with a daily 400-calorie KetoCal ® shake. At 1 month, 24 (80%) children had >50% seizure reduction, of which 11 (37%) had >90% seizure reduction. There was no significant loss of efficacy during the second month after KetoCal® was discontinued. The use of this ketogenic supplement increased daily fat intake and thus the ketogenic ratio (1.8:1 versus 1.0:1 in the modified Atkins diet alone, P = .0002), but did not change urinary or serum ketosis. The addition of a ketogenic supplement to the modified Atkins diet during its initial month appears to be beneficial.
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