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The ketogenic diet: Proposed mechanisms of action

Neurotherapeutics volume 6, pages 402–405 (2009)Cite this article

Summary

The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet used to treat drug-resistant seizures, especially in children. A number of possible mechanisms of action have been proposed to explain the anticonvulsant effects of the diet. Four of these hypothetical mechanisms are discussed in the present article: the pH hypothesis, the metabolic hypotheses, the amino acid hypothesis, and the ketone hypothesis.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology and University of Toronto Epilepsy Research Program (UTERP), University of Toronto, M5S 1A8, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    Kirk Nylen, Sergei Likhodii & W. McIntyre Burnham

  2. Department of Pharmacology, Medical Sciences Building, 1 King’s College Circle, M5S 1A8, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

    W. McIntyre Burnham

Authors
  1. Kirk Nylen
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  2. Sergei Likhodii
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  3. W. McIntyre Burnham
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Correspondence to W. McIntyre Burnham.

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Nylen, K., Likhodii, S. & Burnham, W.M. The ketogenic diet: Proposed mechanisms of action. Neurotherapeutics 6, 402–405 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nurt.2009.01.021

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nurt.2009.01.021

Key Words

  • Epilepsy
  • ketogenic diet
  • pH hypothesis
  • metabolic hypothesis
  • amino acid hypothesis
  • ketone hypothesis