[earthangel1]

I have been reading about the ketogenic diet. Its very little carbs and a lot of fat. It has been proven to work for some seizure disorders and their is now evidence that it is useful for bipolar disorder. I started it today and I can't say I feel better but it probably takes some time. Has anyone else heard of it or tried it?

[tree7car]

My cousin's child needed to be on this diet for a few years because of seizures. It was very hard to follow and needed a lot of preparation before going out to functions or events. Personally, I wouldn't try it except for an absolutely last resort. It's just really hard to follow and makes social functions (which often go with food) nearly impossible. But I wish you the best of luck. Please keep us updated on how it works for you. Who knows, I might eat my words and jump in on this if it turns out to work well.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

It takes a few years to work. Years ago I asked an ask-a-psychiatrist about it and he was fascinated and later I think did some research on it. I don't know what he came up with.

I worked at a camp for kids with special needs when I was in college and had a child on this diet. It was very hard to follow in an away-from-home setting and triggered a bunch of seizures for him. So I'd be somewhat afraid that any deviation from diet could trigger a major mood episode (because we did keep him as close to the diet as possible and I personally controlled what he ate b/c we decided having one person responsible for knowing the diet would be the most beneficial. But the required foods weren't always possible and so he had things off the diet and it didn't take much to start him seizing. (My superhero moment was that I was manic that summer and not sleeping. I was laying in bed half asleep and half annoyed that I was awake and the kids usually started getting up about 2 and heard a funny noise. I leaped down from my top bunk without using the ladder, ran to him and was there for his seizure before it really started. (It hurt to land though so not such a great superhero). Not that I could help much but at least I kept him from falling out of bed. The next day he had one and smacked his head and we had to sleep in the infirmary. From then on he was just glued to me for safety sake. I don't think he got to go back to camp which was sad. He was only 7 and I wonder about him a lot. He'd be in his late 20s now.

[~Christina]

Carbs bog me down physically mentally and increase my pain so I stay away as much as possible.

Certainly what we eat can and will effect our overall health.

[CopperStar]

I enjoy benefits from this diet but only if done properly and not to an extreme. Meaning that I don't completely avoid carbs as though they are the devil. I incorporate green vegetables as well as certain fruits. It means that it takes longer to become "keto adapted" but in my experience it is sooo much better to ease into it gradually this way with some intermittent fasting (I do windows style) than to go all hardcore right off the bat - I tried that once and I felt like death.

[Crazy Hitch]

That's interesting.

I've never heard of this particular one, nor tried it.

I do know that for myself, personally, nutrition does play a factor in my overall general health.

I know that for me high carb diets do not work.

Not sure what the high fat is supposed to do / what role it plays in this diet?

[CopperStar]

Originally Posted by Hooligan

That's interesting.

I've never heard of this particular one, nor tried it.

I do know that for myself, personally, nutrition does play a factor in my overall general health.

I know that for me high carb diets do not work.

Not sure what the high fat is supposed to do / what role it plays in this diet?

Excess protein is converted into glucose, and we only get three macro nutrients to choose from (carbs, protein, fat). So if you cut carbs but load up on protein, you can wind up with a glucose spike regardless. It's basically the Atkins Diet, really, only with an emphasis on fat. Low carb, moderate protein, high fat.

[Mullenbruck]

Originally Posted by bpenniman

I have been reading about the ketogenic diet. Its very little carbs and a lot of fat. It has been proven to work for some seizure disorders and their is now evidence that it is useful for bipolar disorder. I started it today and I can't say I feel better but it probably takes some time. Has anyone else heard of it or tried it?

Hi Bpenniman,

How did it go with the ketogenic diet?

I'm trying it myself.

Research shows that MCT Oil can greatly accelerate the production of ketones in the body, specially if you add it to coffee (they call it "Bulletproof Coffee"). Just a tip.

[Captainc]

Originally Posted by Mullenbruck

Hi Bpenniman,

How did it go with the ketogenic diet?

I'm trying it myself.

Research shows that MCT Oil can greatly accelerate the production of ketones in the body, specially if you add it to coffee (they call it "Bulletproof Coffee"). Just a tip.

They guy who created "bullet proof coffee" has a podcast I used to listen to it. I forget what it was called. He would talk a lot about this diet and has some good resources and products.

Some of the stuff he would talk about just seemed so quackery and he was just to OCD and weird in my opinion so I stopped listening to him. But some stuff he talked about was good and made sense.

[Capriciousness]

Hey! yes I have heard of this and have been doing it....

Please read this link below for a whole bunch of info I put together.

https://bipolarfirst.wordpress.com/2...-bipolar-diet/

It has been great for me. I got kinda lazy at the end of this post with the saturated fat references but I found a bunch more. But anyway the high fat does play a role in maintaining the ketosis and coconut oil facilitates ketosis.

My pdoc says it is a great idea.

[Slowbrains]

Tried for couple of weeks once. Felt more energetic, maybe little bit too energetic but nothing serious. I did quit because i started to become more careless about what i ate so carbs sneaked in... I was constantly constipated also.