Ketogenic Diet Helps Weight Loss, Epilepsy, MS, Alzheimer's And Starves Cancer

Samantha Chang | Examiner.com | October 5, 2014

The low carb, high-fat ketogenic diet has been shown to accelerate weight loss, enhance performance for endurance athletes and manage diseases such as epilepsy, Alzheimer's, multiple sclerosis and cancer.  The ketogenic diet has a variety of health benefits that extend far beyond its popular application as a weight loss tool, cancer scientist Dr. Dominic D'Agostino said on a podcast with Nourish Balance Thrive.

For the past four years, D'Agostino's lab has researched the use of the ketogenic diet to prevent epileptic seizures and "starve" cancer. He found the low carb, high-fat diet can protect brain health for epilepsy patients and for people who experience traumatic brain injury, such as football players who suffer concussions.  "The ketogenic diet seems to work for a variety of different seizure types, so I like to say it's neuroprotective," said Dr. D'Agostino, an assistant professor at the University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine in the department of molecular pharmacology and physiology. "Its neuroprotective properties are linked to its ability to supply ketones as a form of energy to the brain."

Since 2007, D'Agostino has worked with the Office of Naval Research to assist the Navy SEALs by developing ketogenic diet strategies to protect them from the undersea environment. He told me in an exclusive interview the ketogenic diet prevented Navy SEALs from getting seizures during rigorous underwater training exercises.  The ketogenic diet has also been shown to prevent and even reverse multiple sclerosis. Dr. Terry Wahls, a professor at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, reversed her multiple sclerosis by following a ketogenic-style Paleo diet...