Paleolithic diet?

[jordanvp]

Has anybody else looked into or tried the paleolithic diet for seizure control? It seems to follow sort of the same path as the ketogenic diet, that's what interests me. I already had to give up glutenous grains, so I know if needed I could do it. First I just want to know if anyone else has tried

 

[RobinN]

I have read a lot about the Paleo Diet. I believe if you are able to move in that direction you will see better overall health.

Do I know if it will reduce seizures... No. I would have to presume though, that if your seizures are due to any number of causes, there is a good chance it will help. At least it will raise your threshold in many ways.

I never thought it was similar to the keto diet though. I view it as eating closer to the earth, and less processed foods. I am pushing in that direction, though I do have a habit of cooking my foods.

Nutrition has raised my daughters seizure threshold. She is 7 months seizure free, and has been med free for approx. 2.5 yrs

I also want to add that nutritional therapy is not a quick fix. It is a lifestyle change, and one that will improve overall health.

 

[Nakamova]

I think the paleolithic diet is less fat-oriented than the ketogenic diet, but both emphasize avoiding wheat and corn, so if you are sensitive to those it might help. Have you had any testing for nutritional disorders or deficiencies? Before starting any diet it's worth knowing if you are low in any particular vitamins or minerals.

 

[Meetz1064]

I have to agree

with both ladies.

As someone with both E, and celiac, I'm on a pretty restricted diet myself. Yes, my seizure control is much better, but it's not perfect--and it's not to say that any diet will ever make you that way. It MAY happen that way--it just depends on the person. You MAY be that lucky--so far, I am not.

Eating the way the Paleolithic diet talks of doing sounds great to me--but Nakamova's right about the vitamins. Especially since the AEDs that we take are also notorious for robbing us of some of them and certain minerals (ie Dilantin and calcium as an example).

Be sure to have your levels checked every so often to ensure that you're not becoming deficient--and be aware of what you should have in your body to maintain adequate body health.

Take care!

Meetz
:rock:

 

[jordanvp]

I have gotten tested for nutritional deficiencies and I take supplements for vitamin D and calcium.
@Robin: About nutrition not being a quick fix, I plan on staying on the diet regardless if I become seizure free or not.

 

[Endless]

I'm not on the Paleo diet. But I've read some about it. The opinions on it are very mixed. Mostly due to current research and results. I'm of the belief that no one diet or pill is the answer for everyone. And anything is worth a try if you think it might help.

Vegetarian, Mediterranean, and traditional japanese diets have equal or greater effects on general health than paleo or ketogenic diets (heart health, weight, low rates of diabetes and cancer, etc). If simply eliminating farmed items from the diet was the answer, then vegetarian, mediterranean, asian diets would not be producing the results that they are producing. I suspect it has more to do with healthy eating, eliminating processed foods, and emphasizing foods in the diet that promote overall health. If doing it for general health I'd say skip the Keto/Paleo diets and opt for the easier and often more effective veg/med/japanese ones. But general health is not what we are talking about. We're talking about seizures, which is a different animal altogether.

The ketogenic diet has been shown to help seizures in children, but most doctors do not advise it for adults because of both compliance issues, and concerns over escallation of heart disease. Reading about the Paleo diet it is safer on the adult body because of less fat consumption. I say if you want to try it, go for it (with help from your doctor)! They say it is the state of ketogenisis that creates results for epilepsy in some people - it's a good idea to get the help of trained professionals to get to that state safely, in a way that you can maintain safely.

Be sure you keep a good seizure diary for 4-6 months before you go on the diet, then keep it during the diet to see what, if any, difference it is making.

Wikipedia has a pretty good summary, but doesn't site all the current research: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paleolithic_diet#Macronutrient_composition

 

[RobinN]

Endless -
For some... it is the "general health" that is leads to the seizure disorder.
For some... it is the health of the GI system that prevents the uptake of necessary nutrients for brain health.
For some... it is the imbalance of refined products, additional additives, filler ingredients that leads to a lack of any credible energy sources for the brain to use.

So... for some... going back to making nutritional choices from which our ancestors ate is a healthy beginning.
I personally think they do not know enough yet about ketosis and it's positive health benefits. They are doing some studies with Monkeys and raw / limited calories and seeing great medical results. I personally think that the keto diet is only the beginning of our understanding how diet can benefit those in medical distress.

If we just think about how man hunted and gathered his food in the early years... we see how far from that we have strayed. We don't even need to consider which foods grow in certain climates, or seasons any more. We walk into the grocery store and can pick up whatever, whenever, we want.

I understand for those that have had a viral assalt, or a head injury, or ? , that perhaps they never will be helped by changing nutritional choices. YET... IF... nutrition is at its optimum, then the body can use its energy to focus on the areas in distress. Seizures are a symptom. Seizures IMO can be the bodies cry for help. We might have other subtle symptoms, and we ignore them or take a pill to cover them up. GI distress, skin rashes, pain pills.... and then after too much time of masking other symptoms, BAM the body is in overwhelm mode. The term kindling is used when discussing seizures, and I do believe the brain can revert to this... especially when it is not receiving the proper nutrition, or has an assault of neurotoxins.

This is my intuition speaking, combined with my personal research...
It seems to be working for my daughter, so I can only hope that it will be useful info for others. It is my opinion that the Paleo Diet is a great guide and one that we can learn a lot from. Our Standard American Diet is making us sick, and killing us slowly.

Think nutrition folks... not diet (there is a difference)

 

[RobinN]

As I was doing some research today on Hypoglycemia / hippocampus / memory loss, I came across this article / blog:
http://www.primalbody-primalmind.com/blog/?p=258

Here is a portion of the article that I thought interesting for this discussion.
Has this occurred because it was suggested we remove fats from our diets?

other studies have clearly shown indication that many natural dietary fats seem to have a cognitive and memory enhancing effect, as well as the effect of powerful neurological stabilization (as evidenced by the effectiveness of ketogenic diets for eliminating seizures).

Since glucose is inherently reactive in the presence of oxygen and will tend to “stick” to things, any amount of glucose is going to have glycating and undesirable oxidative effects throughout the body–particularly the brain. The brain is the most vulnerable organ to the effects of glucose because it lacks the ability to respond to insulin. SOME blood sugar is a necessary and unavoidable thing (due to the unique needs of our red blood cells)…but the less dependent we are upon it, the better.

It’s logical to conclude that the less the brain is made to depend upon glucose as its primary source of fuel and the more it can be trained and adapted to depend upon ketones (the energy units of fat) for energy, the better, healthier and more efficient brain function becomes.

Nature would never have been so stupid as to design the human body and brain to be chronically dependent on so unreliable, inefficient and damaging a fuel as glucose. For one thing, we’re creatures of the Ice Age. Sugar and starch were not readily even available through a significant portion of our evolutionary history. Glucose is naturally meant to be the body and brain’s emergency “rocket fuel”–used mainly in more extreme and anaerobically demanding circumstances (read: demanding situations that leave you out of breath or during moments of major exertion). We can readily manufacture and store all the glucose we need from a combination of protein and fat in the diet. We store ample amounts of glucose in the form of glycogen in our liver and muscles that may be drawn upon for these purposes, and for feeding our red blood cells (the real reason ongoing blood sugar is at all necessary).

If you examine the value of both of our utilizable fuel sources, glucose/sugar and ketones/fat strictly from the perspective of the energy they provide the truth becomes obvious. Sugar, as a quick burning fuel can be viewed via analogy as a form of “kindling”. Commonly prescribed “whole grains”, brown rice and legumes can be looked upon as “twigs” for feeding the metabolic fire. Potatoes, white rice, bread and cereal can be viewed more like “paper”. Alcohol is the equivalent of “gasoline” on the fire–supplying a ball of flame and not much more. –Those ultra dependent on glucose will crave alcohol regularly as an emergency means to keep their metabolic fire going. A reformed alcoholic that has not dealt with the underlying blood sugar dependence issue will compensate for the elimination of alcohol with an ongoing perpetual sweet tooth (and likely, ongoing cravings for alcohol, as well). Changing one’s metabolic fuel dependence to ketones/fat instead of glucose/sugar, however, changes everything.

Have you ever tried to heat your home using a wood stove using nothing but paper or twigs to do the job? How often are you going to be forced to feed that fire? In the same way, people who function with that dependence on dietary carbohydrates for fuel become literally constant slaves to feeding their own metabolic fires every hour or two (lest they suffer reactive hypoglycemic episodes leading to emotional lability, brain fog, irritability, dizziness or cravings). This is why conventional nutritionists recommend eating every couple of hours to “maintain healthy blood sugar”. Anyone so metabolically adapted is also forced to bathe their brain in sugar constantly as a consequence of that dependence…and will risk cognitive impairment, hippocampal shrinkage and possible early dementia, as a result.

Fat, unlike sugar, is the fuel equivalent of putting a nice big log on the fire. Fat is more efficiently stored and possesses more calories per gram (on average), allowing for more prolonged and even burning. Fat is also designed to burn aerobically–meaning any time you aren’t overly exerting yourself or out of breath and are readily using oxygen…which is nearly all of the time (yes–this includes running marathons. Carb loading is NOT necessary or even desirable)!

Your brain is metabolically the most expensive organ in the human body (relative to energy demands). It occupies less than 5% of your total body mass but uses 20-30% of your total energy every day, just to maintain itself. Doesn’t it make sense that fat would be the far better choice for this? –Particularly since fat is what the brain is overwhelmingly made of and because healthy natural fat has no detrimental glycating or damaging impact by its presence.

The trick in accomplishing this metabolic changeover lies in the elimination of dietary sugar and starch and the appropriate increase in dietary fat necessary to satisfy appetite and energy needs. The quicker this can be accomplished, the better (as opposed to “gradual changeover”). Supplements such as L-glutamine, L-carnitine and herbs such as Gymnema sylvestre can serve as metabolic “training wheels” to help facilitate the metabolic changeover more rapidly and with far less discomfort for some.

So–to put it all in a nutshell–what’s the single most beneficial step you can take to greatly improve the function and performance of your brain and memory?

–Become a “fat head”!!