The modified Atkins diet is a hybrid of the Atkins and ketogenic diets.
A modified Atkins diet heavy in fat and low in carbs. When this is combined with medicines it may lessen seizures in epilepsy patients, according to an Indian study. It was published online in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.
It’s encouraging to see that there are lifestyle changes that can be combined with standard drug therapy to reduce the number of seizures, said study author Manjari Tripathi, MD, DM, of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi. This is especially true for people with drug-resistant epilepsy. This applies for those who haven’t been able to find an effective treatment to reduce seizures. According to the research, this combination may more than halve the likelihood of seizures.
A combination of the Atkins and ketogenic diets is the modified Atkins diet. In addition to leafy green vegetables and animal proteins including eggs, poultry, fish, and bacon. It also incorporates soy products, heavy cream, butter, and oils. The ketogenic diet reduces seizures, but because of its tight criteria and limitations, it can be difficult to follow.
Atkins diet helps with epilepsy
The study comprised 160 adults and children. They despite taking four antiepileptic drugs at the highest permitted dose, experienced at least 27 seizures each month. Additionally, they had epilepsy for an average of more than ten years.
Participants were randomised to receive the therapy for 6 months. Also, they got either normal drug therapy alone or pharmacological therapy combined with the modified Atkins diet. Participants kept tabs on their meals and seizure activity. They received recipe cards, menu samples, and food lists. The daily carbohydrate consumption was capped at 20 grammes.
The official dietary recommendations suggest consuming 225 to 325 grammes of carbohydrates each day. After six months, 26% of patients received both pharmacological therapy and the modified Atkins diet. They experienced a 50% decrease in seizures. This was as opposed to only 3% of patients who received only drug therapy, according to research.
Four participants in the diet group were seizure-free at the end of the study. This was when compared to none in the medication-only group. The quality of life, behaviour, and side effects were examined by the researchers at six months. When compared to the group that only received medication therapy, the group that received the modified Atkins diet showed improvement.
33% of the study’s subjects were unable to follow up due to COVID-19, poor diet tolerance, or lack of benefits. The modified Atkins diet, according to Tripathi, is more acceptable than the ketogenic diet.
Because seizures were either self-reported or reported by caretakers, this study’s shortcoming is that some seizures might have gone unreported. The investigation was supported by the Indian Department of Biotechnology.
Parvathy Sukumaran 
