Is Ketogenic Diet Good for People?

Abstract

The ketogenic diet became quite popular as a treatment option for epilepsy in the 1920s to 1930s. The development of ketogenic diet also provides an alternative to non-mainstream fasting. However, new anticonvulsant therapies have substituted it as therapy for epilepsy. Although many cases of epilepsy could be effectively controlled using medications, unsuccessful epileptic control happened in around 20% to 30% of epileptics. For these individuals, especially children with epilepsy, the diet was re-introduced as a technique for managing the condition. Since the ketogenic diet was famous due to its efficient performance in treating epilepsy, people nowadays start to use this diet to lose weight. Hence, is ketogenic diet good or bad for people? Concerning to public health issue, we review ketogenic diet from perspectives of advantages and potential risk, which can serve as a reference for people who are on attempting a ketogenic diet. Given the obvious positive effects of this diet on effective medical treatment and weight loss, we believe it could have wider application in future. However, it's suggested for people to make choice with awareness of potential risks of the ketogenic diet.