The
ketogenic diet is a high-
fat, adequate-
protein,
low-carbohydrate diet that in medicine is used primarily to treat difficult-to-control (refractory)
epilepsy in children. The diet forces the body to burn fats rather than
carbohydrates. Normally, the carbohydrates contained in food are converted into
glucose, which is then transported around the body and is particularly important in
fueling brain-function. However, if there is very little carbohydrate in the diet, the
liver converts
fat into
fatty acids and
ketone bodies. The ketone bodies pass into the brain and replace glucose as an energy source. An elevated level of ketone bodies in the blood, a state known as
ketosis, leads to a reduction in the frequency of
epileptic seizures.