Epilepsy’s Big, Fat Miracle

[The Straight Story]

Epilepsy’s Big, Fat Miracle

Once every three or four months my son, Sam, grabs a cookie or a piece of candy and, wide-eyed, holds it inches from his mouth, ready to devour it. He knows he’s not allowed to eat these things, but like any 9-year-old, he hopes that somehow, this once, my wife, Evelyn, or I will make an exception.

We never make exceptions when it comes to Sam and food, though, which means that when temptation takes hold of Sam and he is denied, things can get pretty hairy. Confronted with a gingerbread house at a friend’s party last December, he went scorched earth, grabbing parts of the structure and smashing it to bits. Reason rarely works. Usually one of us has to pry the food out of his hands. Sometimes he ends up in tears.

It’s not just cookies and candy that we forbid Sam to eat. Cake, ice cream, pizza, tortilla chips and soda aren’t allowed, either. Macaroni and cheese used to be his favorite food, but he told Evelyn the other day that he couldn’t remember what it tastes like anymore. At Halloween we let him collect candy, but he trades it in for a present. At birthday parties and play dates, he brings a lunchbox to eat from.

There is no crusade against unhealthful food in our house. Some might argue that unhealthful food is all we let Sam eat. His breakfast eggs are mixed with heavy cream and served with bacon. A typical lunch is full-fat Greek yogurt mixed with coconut oil. Dinner is hot dogs, bacon, macadamia nuts and cheese. We figure that in an average week, Sam consumes a quart and a third of heavy cream, nearly a stick and a half of butter, 13 teaspoons of coconut oil, 20 slices of bacon and 9 eggs. Sam’s diet is just shy of 90 percent fat. That is twice the fat content of a McDonald’s Happy Meal and about 25 percent more than the most fat-laden phase of the Atkins diet. It puts Sam at risk of developing kidney stones if he doesn’t drink enough. It is constipating, so he has to take daily stool softeners. And it lacks so many essential nutrients that if Sam didn’t take a multivitamin and a calcium-magnesium supplement every day, his growth would be stunted, his hair and teeth would fall out and his bones would become as brittle as an 80-year-old’s.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/21/magazine/21Epilepsy-t.html?_r=2&src=me&ref=general

[enlightenment]

1. Fascinating.

Thank you for linking the article, it was a very informative and interesting piece.

[elleng]

2. Great that they found something that works.

[laundry_queen]

3. Wonderful article.

I'm glad they are discovering the effects of different diets on diseases. It's especially interesting that they are going to conduct research on whether this diet can help Parkinson's or ALS.
One thing that strikes me is that 20 years ago, a parent experimenting with this diet on their child would have been called 'woowoo'. I think it's always important that we all keep an open mind to new studies and research and realize that sometimes today's 'woowoo' is tomorrow's cure. Anecdotal evidence is not always meaningless. It should not be taken as gospel but used, rather, as a stepping stone to more research.
And of course, we all have to push for more funding for independently funded studies, so that 'cures' that are profit-less for big pharma will also be studied and implemented.

[pnwmom]

4. Thank you. As someone with Celiac, I am very aware of how much diet

can affect all the systems of the body, including neurological. I'm glad the medical establishment is starting to creep along in this direction -- even if it doesn't benefit big Pharma.

[tridim]

5. I wish he could try Cannabis.

It works very well for a dog I know.

It cut her regular monthly seizures by 75% in quantity and severity.