Paleo Diet and Paleolithic Diet Questions & Answers

Question

13

Hi folks! I have not posted on this site before, and have actually not posted on any Paleo site before. But THIS I have to share with someone and see what their take is on it. I am 22 years old (female) and six years ago I was diagnosed with epilepsy. I started having seizures out of the blue and the Dr's were unable to come up with a logical answer as to why they were happening. I was having at least 10 seizures a day, got my drivers license taken away, and was unable to be left alone in fear that I would have a seizure and hit my head, injure myself, etc. While the Dr's could not figure out what was causing the seizures, they did find a medication that took care of them. They also told me that I would "never" be able to live without my new found seizure drug. I was taking 2,000 mg of the antiseizure pill everyday. ( this was a very high dose for this particular drug). A few months ago a friend of mine introduced me to the Paleo lifestyle. She did not think at the time of my health conditions, just let me know that she was doing the Paleo Diet and that she was loving the results. I looked into it immediately and decided to try it. (Please keep in mind that this has only been about three months.) I went full force into Paleo and did not eat ANYTHING that I was not supposed to. 100% Paleo! I found it hard at first, but after two weeks realized that I was not missing any of the foods I used to eat. So I decided to stick with it. I went for my check up with my Nuerologist two months ago and told him about the diet. I let him know that I want to get off of my medications eventually. He said that we could try lowering them, but that he wasnt sure what a diet would do for me. I can say now that it has been ONE MONTH with NO seizure medication! I feel the best I have ever felt! I cannot believe it. It makes me wonder if Paleo could really be what healed me?? Any ideas on Paleo healing disorders such as epilepsy?? I would love to hear more perspectives on this!

flag	asked Oct 3 2011 at 22:43 Jenn 473●3●11

Could you post what you usually eat in a day? – Travis Culp♦ Oct 3 2011 at 22:47

12

Most likely it was a ketogenic diet that cured your epilepsy. Ketogenic diets frequently eliminate seizures in epileptics. I bet you find that you can add starches and you will still be seizure free as long as you add coconut oil or MCT oil as well. – Paul Jaminet Oct 4 2011 at 0:43

1

As I read your post, agree with everyone else about the ketogenic diet being effective for epilepsy. If only more people were willing to change their diet instead of popping pills. Glad it's working for you :-) – Efaitch Oct 4 2011 at 14:17

I usually have eggs and some fruit for breakfast, I have to start with some sugar from the fruit. Then for lunch I have leftovers from dinner. For dinner I am eating either fish, turkey burgers, and any other lean meat. I also have veggies with dinner which usually consist of carrots, eggplant, zuchinni, squash, bellpeppers, etc. I do love grapes, and have them with most dinners as wel. I also eat nuts about every other day (walnuts only). – Jenn Oct 4 2011 at 23:04

Do you supplement with magnesium? – Travis Culp♦ Oct 21 2011 at 20:01

show 1 more comment

Dextery · Accepted Answer · 2011-10-04 00:14:46Z UTC

7

Ketogenic diets are fantastic for a person like yourself and in many the lack of seizures is permanent. Use copious amounts of coconut oil...which is loaded with good saturated fat to fuel your brain.

This is a link to Dr K's blog "The Quilt" for epilepsy.

http://jackkruse.com/?s=epilepsy

Lots of good info there. Being new here, you would not have heard about him.

Best of luck. You came to the right place.

answered Oct 4 2011 at 0:14

Dextery
1

	More specifically, coconut oil are about 50% <i>short chain</i> saturated fats. That stuff makes you instantly ketogenic. – smcdow Oct 6 2011 at 22:14
	Exactly. It's not "Paleo" per se that fixed this person's epilepsy, but rather because she probably went Paleo-ketogenic. Coconut oil + Paleo-keto (up to 30-40 gr of carbs per day) is the way out of epilepsy and even some mental disorders. – Eugenia May 25 2012 at 8:15

Ryan H · Answer 2 · 2011-10-03 22:55:12Z UTC

There is a lot of research out there that shows the brain runs better on ketones. So a low carb diet will generally help.

I'm sure some people will be able to give some more information on it, as I have not had any first hand experience with epilepsy or other brain functioning issues, i've only read about them.

Google "ketosis epilepsy" and it will give you a lot of stuff to read.

Aili · Answer 3 · 2011-10-03 23:17:01Z UTC

Until big pharma came along with a quick and easy pill so that kids could be 'regular kids'(i.e. eat what others eat), epileptic children were treated with a ketogenic diet, effectively, so it does not surprise me at all that paleo helped you.

Lisa · Answer 4 · 2011-10-04 00:25:50Z UTC

3

congratulations! you can teach your doctor something.

answered Oct 4 2011 at 0:25

Lisa
1,219●1●7

Breanna · Answer 5 · 2012-05-25 06:57:35Z UTC

I am not a doctor or anything but I have seizures as well and have been on medicines off and on throughout my life because i had seizures as a toddler they went away and then came back in high school. I got a personal trainer and she told me the foods to stay away from that can trigger seizures and I am on the paleo diet as well and i cook with coconut oil. I have not had a seizure in almost 6 months now. Theres definitely something to this diet. I mess up sometimes and I get really bad headaches so I know the food is what was causing the seizures. Im glad to see it helped you too! Lets tell the world this!

sylvia · Answer 6 · 2012-07-18 19:31:02Z UTC

1

My daughter is starting the diet on Monday for epilepsy. This is being guided by our dietician at the local childrens hospital and is instead of the keto diet.

answered Jul 18 at 19:31

sylvia
11●1

Amber · Answer 7 · 2012-11-05 19:04:05Z UTC

1

How much coconut oil needs to be consumed? A friends daughter who is sixteen is epileptic and not well controlled even with meds. Looking into paleo as an option.

answered Nov 5 at 19:04

Amber
11●1

TTobin · Answer 8 · 2013-04-06 16:22:31Z UTC

My son was diagnosed with epilepsy just after his second birthday. We tried three drugs with limited temporary success. The seizures kept getting worse. Last November we were admitted into the children's hospital to have my son put on a ketogenic diet. It was devestating. My son stopped eating and drinking. An occupational therapist helped us get my son eating again. He kept having seizures. We kept upping the ratio of the diet. He is currently at the 4:1 ratio of the ketogenic diet and I just had to put his protective helmet on him because he was falling over with seizures. Is paleo the answer? I have been looking into this and think it makes so much sense and that the human race is in jeopardy due to its stupidity. For years I have known that nutrition is the key to good health but was an idiot and listened to everyone say NO! LOW CARB IS BAD! so I gave it up when I planned on becomming pregnant. What kind of fool am I?

Paleo heals epilepsy???

8 Answers