The diet of one hundred years ago

2001/10/17 Agirre Ruiz de Arkaute, Aitziber - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Dietetika/Elikagaiak
• Medikuntza

Although at that time it was considered appropriate to reduce the crisis, as better medicines were created, this diet was ruled out. However, many children who suffer from extreme epilepsy are resistant to these drugs and re-investigate this diet at the prestigious medical institute Johns Hopkins. According to the study carried out in this center, the ketogenic diet is very appropriate for children with this disease.

The ketogenic diet is a diet rich in fat and low in sugars, and the head of the study, John Freeman, has advised its use in patients who do not benefit from medicines. In this diet, the total intake of food is lower and 90% of calories are fat. It is not the most suitable food for the growth of children, so they are supplied with vitamins, calcium and minerals.

After a century, researchers still do not understand exactly the success of the diet, but have had to value it as useful. It seems that when they follow this diet, brain cells consume fat instead of sugars. Although doctors do not understand why, when numerous compounds appear in the blood that form with partial degradation of fats, seizures decrease.

However, not all doctors bet so much on fat intake, as they believe it can cause long-term problems. In addition, with this deficient diet, the growth of children is slowed down, which from time to time should stop taking.