What is it?
A ketogenic diet is a very-high-fat, very-low-carbohydrate eating plan that changes the body’s primary energy source from glucose to ketones.
Foods removed or greatly restricted:
Sugar, bread, pasta, rice, cereal, beans, most starchy vegetables, many fruits and other carbohydrate-rich foods. Meals are carefully calculated around fats, protein and a small amount of carbohydrate.
Potential health benefits:
The ketogenic diet is an established medical therapy for certain children with drug-resistant epilepsy.
Who may benefit most?
Children with qualifying seizure disorders whose treatment is supervised by a neurologist, registered dietitian and ketogenic-diet medical team.
How may it support an autistic child?
Some autistic children also have epilepsy. When a medically supervised ketogenic diet reduces seizures, it may improve safety, alertness and quality of life. Research examining ketogenic diets specifically for autism-related behavior remains preliminary and is not strong enough to recommend keto as a general autism diet.
Important caution:
Possible complications include constipation, slowed growth, nutritional deficiencies, high cholesterol, kidney stones and inadequate calorie intake. This should not be started casually or without medical supervision.