The Origins of the Ketogenic Diet for Epilepsy

The ketogenic diet for epilepsy originated in the early 1920s when a physician named Hugh Conklin theorized that epilepsy could be cured by starving patients. This led to a study where children with epilepsy were starved for up to 25 days, resulting in a reduction in seizures. Later, physician Russell Wilder discovered that it was the ketotic state induced by starvation, not the starvation itself, that controlled epilepsy. He then developed a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet known as the ketogenic diet, which was found to be just as effective as starvation in reducing seizure burden.