Episode #6: KETO-MANIA!

In this episode, Hannah and Victoria speak with two (hilarious and highly balanced) metabolic experts, Dr. Mike T Nelson & Dr. Tim Sharpe about the ketogenic diet.

You’ll want to listen if you’ve been considering going keto to lose weight, boost your fitness, or fix your metabolism.

* Sign up to get Dr. Mike’s fantastic newsletter here: www.miketnelson.com or learn if you should go keto at www.shouldyouketo.com

* Read Dr. Tim’s newest publication here: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38934469/ 

History

* Fasting is the only therapeutic measure against epilepsy recorded in the Hippocratic collection, 500 BC

* Five centuries later, fasting as a therapy for seizures was documented in Biblical times. In a quotation from the King James Version of The Bible, Mark relates the story of Jesus curing an epileptic boy (Huisjen, 2000).

* The first modern use of starvation as a treatment for epilepsy was recorded by a pair of Parisian physicians, Gulep and Marie, in 1911 (Guelpa & Marie, 1911). They treated 20 children and adults with epilepsy and reported that seizures were less severe during treatment, but no specific details were given. 

* Ketogenic diet first appears at the Mayo Clnic, 1921: In 1921, two pivotal observations were made. Woodyatt noted that acetone and beta-hydroxybutyric acid appear in a normal subject by starvation or a diet containing too low a proportion of carbohydrates and too high a proportion of fat (Woodyatt, 1921). Concurrently, Dr. Wilder at the Mayo Clinic proposed that the benefits of fasting could be obtained if ketonemia was produced by other means (Wilder, 1921). Wilder proposed that a ketogenic diet (KD) be tried in a series of patients with epilepsy. He suggested that the diet should be as effective as fasting and could be maintained for a much longer period of time. Wilder subsequently reported on patients treated with the ketone-producing diet at the Mayo Clinic and coined the term “ketogenic diet.”  https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1528-1167.2008.01821.x 

* Use decreased when epileptic drugs were discovered, but resurged again when Dateline NBC aired a story in the mid-90s on a 2-year-old named Charlie intractable generalized seizures were greatly helped at Johns Hopkins with KD.

* https://charliefoundation.org/connie/ - Incredible accounts of how KD helps some kids 

* Keto & pop culture: Atkin’s Diet, Dr Atkin’s Diet Revolution published in 1972, 1997 - Atkin’s bars and shakes

* Plans range from 20g net carbs (keto) to 100g net carb per day (lifestyle). 

* From Aktins website: “A low-carb lifestyle focuses on limiting carbohydrates to help the body burn fat instead of sugar for fuel. This contributes to more consistent energy levels throughout the day, providing the energy you need to enjoy the things you love.”

* More on Robert Atkins: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1126011/ (He really mistrusted mainstream science and loved working as a clinician.)