Wonders of the Ketogenic diet: Two Men Who Ate Nothing but Meat for an Entire Year!

Low-carb diets and paleolithic nutrition are all the rage these days, and for good reason. Compared to the Standard American Diet, both of them are superb. Few of us would dare to take the two to their extreme, however. Giving up sugar and wheat is one thing, but what about giving up everything except meat? Yes, I'm talking about an ultra low-carb diet with even foods like nuts and berries removed. Unsurprisingly and understandably, studies on the long-term effects of such a diet are severely lacking. There is at least one study that did just this, however. Dr. Vilhjalmur Stefansson, the Canadian ethnologist who spent more than a decade with the Inuit during his arctic explorations, lived almost exclusively on fish and meat for 9 years. At the time, this was considered heresy and life-threatening, just as it is today. To the surprise of many (including Stefansson himself), he suffered no health problems during his decade of pure carnivorism. When he told people of his amazing experiences, he was met with skepticism from medical authorities who asked him to undertake a study that would replicate the results. He and a fellow explorer named Andersen agreed to eat an all-meat diet for an entire year in a closely observed setting.

3 Year Old Girl with Rare Genetic Disorder Speaks for First Time After Starting Ketogenic Diet

A girl with a rare genetic condition has finally spoken her first words thanks to a diet that involves eating four tubs of cream cheese a week. Delighted mother, Stevie, 34, said: "The first time I heard Fields say "Mum" it was just wonderful.I didn't really believe that something so simple as changing her diet could make such a big difference."

Beyond Weight Loss: A Review of the Therapeutic Uses of Ketogenic Diets

Recent work over the last decade or so has provided evidence of the therapeutic potential of ketogenic diets in many pathological conditions, such as diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome, acne, neurological diseases, cancer and the amelioration of respiratory and cardiovascular disease risk factors. The possibility that modifying food intake can be useful for reducing or eliminating pharmaceutical methods of treatment, which are often lifelong with significant side effects, calls for serious investigation.

Ketogenic Diet in Combination with Calorie Restriction and Hyperbaric Treatment Offer New Hope in Quest for Non-Toxic Cancer Treatment

A mounting body of research suggests most cancers are highly responsive to therapeutic ketosis - a natural physiologic state induced during prolonged states of decreased glucose - in combination with calorie restriction and use of hyperbaric oxygen therapy. Healthy cells have the metabolic flexibility to adapt from using glucose to using ketone bodies. Cancer cells lack this metabolic flexibility, so when you eliminate carbs, which are metabolized to glucose, you effectively starve cancer of its primary fuel source.

The Benefits of a Ketogenic Diet and its Role in Cancer Treatment

A ketogenic diet, which calls for minimizing carbohydrates and replacing them with healthy fats and moderate amounts of high-quality protein, can offer hope against cancer, both for prevention and treatment. Your normal cells have the metabolic flexibility to adapt from using glucose to using ketone bodies. Cancer cells lack this ability so when you reduce carbs to only non-starchy vegetables, you effectively starve the cancer.

Study: Ketogenic Diet Improves Core Symptoms of Autism

Autism spectrum disorders share three core symptoms: impaired sociability, repetitive behaviors and communication deficits. Incidence is rising, and current treatments are inadequate. Seizures are a common comorbidity, and since the 1920’s a high-fat, low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet has been used to treat epilepsy. Evidence suggests the ketogenic diet and analogous metabolic approaches may benefit diverse neurological disorders. This study's results suggest that a ketogenic diet improves multiple autistic behaviors in the BTBR mouse model. Therefore, ketogenic diets or analogous metabolic strategies may offer novel opportunities to improve core behavioral symptoms of autism spectrum disorders.

Study: Ketogenic Diet and Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy Stops Cancer

The ketogenic diet (KD) is a low carbohydrate, high fat diet which decreases blood glucose and elevates blood ketones and has been shown to slow cancer progression in animals and humans. Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO2T) saturates tumors with oxygen, reversing the cancer promoting effects of tumor hypoxia. Since these non-toxic therapies exploit overlapping metabolic deficiencies of cancer, this study tested their combined effects on cancer progression in a natural model of metastatic disease.

Is the Ketogenic Diet the Cure for Multiple Diseases?

The ketogenic diet was developed at John Hopkins hospital in the 1920s as a natural cure for epilepsy, when drugs failed. It is a high fat diet restricting carbohydrates. The diet fell out of favor during the anti-saturated fat campaign started in the U.S. and codified into official government dietary advice in the 197os as a result of the McGovern Report. It is still official government dietary policy today, due to the influence of the vegetable oil industry which produces their products from the highly subsidized corn and soy crops. The Ketogenic Diet in some form or another has been labeled by many different names in recent times, and started gaining traction again with Dr. Atkins and the low-carb fad diets that became popular about 8 to 10 years ago. Today's latest fad diet, the "paleo diet" is another example of a diet based on the ketogenic principles. This diet is not new, however, as it was seen as a therapeutic diet that produced better results than drugs in treating epilepsy way back in the 1920s. Today, the diet is being studied in the medical community with applications to all kinds of diseases. Of course, most of the medical interest in the diet is to try and develop a line of "ketone" drugs to mimic the diet. Ketones, which our body can produce during fasting or "starvation," are an alternative energy source for those who are insulin resistant. Insulin resistance is increasingly being seen as a major cause of many diseases. As a result, the research that is starting to be published on the effectiveness of the ketogenic diet in curing disease is nothing less than amazing. This study is a survey of the diet's use in a variety of neurological diseases.

Using the High Fat Ketogenic Diet to Heal Brain Tumors

Some of the most exciting research regarding the ketogenic diet has been in its use against cancer. This research is showing that a high-fat low-carbohydrate diet can starve cancer cells. In this study conducted at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, the ketogenic diet was applied to brain tumors.

Gluten-free Ketogenic Diet with MCTs Reverses Autism and Eliminates Seizures

The ketogenic diet was developed at John Hopkins hospital in the 1920s as a natural cure for epilepsy, where drugs failed. Today, the diet therapy is coming back into favor, as much research has been published about the long-term safety of the diet, as well as researching debunking the saturated-fat-is-bad dogma. In this study done at Massachusetts General Hospital, the diet was modified to also be gluten-free and casein-free, using medium chain triglycerides (MCTs) instead of butter and cream for the fat source. Coconut oil is nature's must abundant source of MCTs after human breast milk. The results of this modified diet in one girl's life was that it reversed autism and stopped seizures.