[LGIT] LGIT Receipes (Low Glycemic Index Treatment Recipes)

[jimj]

I'm surprised by the lack of recipes I can find for LGIT (Low Glycemic Index Treatment) for epilepsy. I can find LGIT recipe books and low carb recipe books, but neither of these have exactly what I want. Basically what I'd like is a book (or website) of LGIT recipes tailored for epilepsy. By that I mean the recipes have both a low GI value and low carb count.

The problems I've found with LGIT recipe books is that:

1. They're designed to help you lose weight (which I'm not interested in)
2. While the recipes may have a low GI value, they're not necessarily low carb.

With the low carb recipe books the recipes aren't necessarily low GI.
Can anyone recommend a book or website with recipes that are both low GI and low carb? The CWE recipe section is the best I've found so far, and it only has a few LGIT recipes.

 

[Nakamova]

"The Low GI Diet Cookbook" by Brand-Miller, Foster-Powell, and McMillan-Price isn't specifically for epilepsy, but the recipes do list carb information in addition to GI index info. And these recipes may also work for you: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/cookbooks.asp?cookbook=252864

You may also try seeing a registered dietician to get specific recipes and guidelines to follow.

 

[jimj]

Thanks for those resources, they look helpful.

We are seeing a registered dietitian. She didn't have any recipes she could give us. She recommended we try low carb recipe books. She also said to go through the "The Low GI Shopper's Guide to GI Values 2012" and highlight the things our daughter likes to eat and come up with meals based on those things.

 

[Bernard]

You could always ask your dietician to contact:

Dr. Elizabeth A. Thiele
Pediatric Epilepsy Service
Massachusetts General Hospital
175 Cambridge St., Suite 340
Boston, MA 02114
e-mail: ethiele@partners.org

and see she can assist her in finding appropriate resources. Dr. Thiele was one of the primary researchers on the LGIT.

 

[Cheryl Gubitosi]

My daughter just started having seizures every time she eats this week. What I'm reading here is she must eat very low carb high protein diet. Is that correct?

 

[jimj]

You'll probably get better/more help if you start your own thread with a title that's more descriptive of the info you're looking for (like "Seizure every time she eats" for example). However I'll take a shot at answering your question.

In short, eating less carb and more protein might help, everyone is different. The three traditional medically accepted diets are the Ketogenic Diet (KD), Modified Atkins Diet (MAD) and the Low Glycemic Index Treatment (LGIT). They all restrict carbs in different ways. The KD requires the supervision of a registered dietitian (RD). I'm not sure if a RD is required for MAD and LGIT, but at the very least it's recommended. I wouldn't try any of these diets without the help/support of your neuro and RD.

Other "not scientifically studied" diets for epilepsy include GARD (which I've seen mentioned here), SCD and GAPS (the one person I know using this achieved seizure freedom from Dravet Syndrome using just the GAPS diet, which is rather impressive).

Of course there are many other food things that can trigger seizures. Carbs may do it for some, dairy for others, gluten, etc. So it could be just eliminating one food or type of food would help.

I'm certainly no food expert, so I'd try starting your own thread to see if you get more useful info. Good luck!

 

[Bernard]

Cheryl, I would suggest starting a seizure diary ASAP and making note of what she is eating and when as well as her seizure activity. See the "proactive prescription" link in my signature for more info.