Ketone Diet May Reduce Cancer and Epilepsy Patients Reliance on Drugs

Dr. Dominic D’Agostino is a scientist and associate professor at the University of South Florida, researching human metabolism. He studies and writes about ketone ester, ketone research, ketone supplementation, and ketone technologies on his KetoNutrition website. In his research, Dr. Dominic D’Agostino has been evaluating the benefits of a ketone diet in regards to its effects on epilepsy and cancer.

A ketogenic diet is one that is low in carbohydrates, high in fat, and moderate in protein. The diet, which encourages consumption of fatty foods like butter and oil, triggers an adaptive process in the human body that is usually reserved for surviving times of starvation. In addition to forcing the body to draw more energy from fat, possibly leading to weight loss, the ketone diet (which is more accurately described as a medical therapy) also has been documented to reduce seizure risk in small children and cancer in people of all ages.

The ketone diet’s effect on brain chemistry reduces seizures for roughly 50 percent of patients, and cancer cells are less capable of drawing energy from ketogenic cells. In both cases, patients may require fewer drugs to manage their symptoms while on the ketone diet, which reduces the incidence of harmful side effects from said drugs.