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Keto diet may treat epilepsy by changing the gut microbiome

Mice that received gut microbes from children with epilepsy on the ketogenic diet were protected from seizures. The finding suggests the microbiome is behind the diet's seizure-reducing effect

By Grace Wade

12 April 2023

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The keto diet is low in carbohydrates and high in proteins and fats

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Mice are more resistant to seizures when treated with gut microbes from children with epilepsy on the low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet. This suggests that the diet’s anti-seizure effect comes from changes to the gut microbiome.

The ketogenic, or keto, diet has been used to treat epilepsy for around a century, but how it does so is unclear. Previously, Elaine Hsiao at the University of California, Los Angeles, and her colleagues found that the diet doesn’t protect against …

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