Investigation of the Ketogenic Diet

Throughout the course of my life most of my family has given me a hard time about how fat I look. Growing up they told me horrendous things such as I would never find a girlfriend, or I would never have some friends in high school. So, I began dieting as well as exercising but often the wrong way. Often, I would exercise as well as skip meals to feel as though I could belong to a group. At times, my life was at an all time low that I began to overconsume diet pills. Now that I’m older I see that there was an error to my ways. The main reason that I chose to Look into the Ketogenic Diet was the big hype behind it. Everyday I hear some student as well as everyday bystander say that they are on the Ketogenic Diet. Thus, began my investigation in to the Ketogenic Diet.

Initially the Ketogenic Diet was a revolutionary dieting system that helped with the effects of Epilepsy. In one specific case related to the Ketogenic Diet was Charlie Abraham (Mulligan and Mandelbaum 2011) Charlie Abraham was only 20 months old when he began to have seizures that were affecting his quality of life (Mulligan&Mandelbaum2011). So, his family decided that they should initiate him in the Ketogenic Diet (Mulligan& Mandelbaum 2011). The Ketogenic Diet that he was put on changed his life significantly. One question that does arise is what is the Ketogenic Diet? The Ketogenic Diet is a diet that helps the body naturally by incorporating various food groups. These food groups must be a part of a diet that is low in carbohydrates yet high in Protein (Stafstrom &Bough 2003). This diet must have enough foods which balance the intake of Carbohydrates, so the diet can be more effective (Stafstrom&Bough 2003). Yet there have been many claims stating that the diet can be effective but primarily for young children (Stasfrom&Bough 2003) This is primarily based on being used as a treatment for many forms of Epilepsy that the young children are being faced with. The Diet has helped pave a way from using fewer pharmaceutical drugs to help with the potential diagnosis of a child’s mental health.

Methods

In terms of searching through the databases I mainly utilized EBSCO host. The primary reason is due to the fact of the reliability of a source that you know can be considered a peer reviewed academic Journal. The Academic Journal that I utilized were all peer reviewed and had some form of validity to them based upon the studies that were conducted. At first, I thought that the Ketogenic Diet was only used as method of everyday people just trying to lose weight. After going through my findings, I found that this diet can help with brain function. The main key words that I used to search for many of these Journals came from ideas that I had regarding the Diet itself. For history on the diet I searched for history, and I was able to find the case regarding the Charlie Abraham as well as what the Ketogenic Diet is. In term of identifying what the diet was I dug deeper into my search.

I searched using the keywords Men and Women and their relationship to the Ketogenic Diet. This led to the article regarding gym trainers as well the effect of the diet on Men and Women. This helped narrow down the search of which gender I was going to describe in relation to the Ketogenic Diet. I found about 35 papers that were relevant to the study of the ketogenic. I narrowed down my search by focusing on how this diet can affect our Neural Pathways and body composition.

Results

Most of the Academic Journals had many things in common such as whom the diet is most effective for. From the brief findings of Mulligan and Mandelbaum (2011) we know that the diet can be very effective for children. This is primarily since they are still in their toddler years. If treated at a young age the likelihood of managing seizures caused by epilepsy may be helpful with the use of implementing the Ketogenic Diet (Mulligan & Mandelbaum2011)

For Men and Women, the Diet of the Ketogenic Diet may have some positive effects to both genders. Yet there is a correlation of whom it affects the most. Men are more likely to be affected by the Ketogenic Diet. This is primarily due to the type of workout regimen that they are doing each day (Bala et al.2018). Men’s workout regimens tend to use weightlifting, whereas women are more likely to do lighter impact workouts which don’t emphasize on their individual Muscle Tone (Bala et al.2018). Women also want to primarily engage in the diet for a quick method of losing weight without causing adverse health effects (Bala et el.2018)

Yet although there are many correlations associated with the Ketogenic Diet the mutual consensus amongst all the Academic Journals is that it works. The diet help revamps your metabolism by lowering the amount of Carbohydrates that you would normally consumes. Not only does the Ketogenic Help with weight loss it can help people with GBM (McDonald 2018) GBM is form of cancer that is formed as tumor in the brain (McDonald 2018). This tumor is often been a nondurable as well as non-manageable tumor that often results in the individual dying shortly after they are diagnosed. (McDonald 2018) If you look at the other studies that have been conducted like the Charlie Abraham case there has been a correlation associated with how the diet be effective.

Based upon the Findings of McDonald & Cervenka (2018) the Ketogenic Diet demonstrated a positive effect while for a person whom was diagnosed with GBM. The doctors whom treated the individual helped by placing them on the Ketogenic Diet (Mcdonald &Cervenka 2018) After the individual was on the Diet for a various amount of time, the doctors saw that the tumor had been decreased with the help of the Ketogenic Diet(McDonald & Cervenka 2018). Yet when the patient got off the Diet the found that the symptoms of the GBM tumor had returned to its original form. One astounding discovery from this case is that the ketogenic Diet was originally used as a method of helping with Brain disorders such as Epilepsy (Mulligan & Mandelbaum 2011) This revolutionary diet can be helpful to treat minor symptoms of cancer as well as other overall body composition of an individual. Another Idea that can be compared is How the Diet can help with other severe mental health disorder such as Bipolar Disorder.

Bipolar disorder is a Brain Disorder that is mainly known to have severe mood swings that are associated. (Phelps et al.2013) Based upon the case presented by Phelps et al. (2013) we know that the Ketogenic Diet has been used to help steady the mood regulations. This specifically ties into how the person is going about in their day to day routine. The person whom was diagnosed with the Bipolar Disorder changed their Dietary Habits by following a set Ketogenic Diet (Phelps et al. 2013). As part of the Diet they were had the woman keep a log of their diet plan. At first the Diet plan was not effective and had no effect, until she had achieved finally gotten up to her optimal level of ketosis (Phelps et al.2013). This level of ketosis helped her have a steady mood variation without causing her to sway from (Phelps et al. 2013) All In all, if one looks at the brief cases that are being presented they all have a common rationale. The first is that this diet is effective in helping with Neurological Disorders. These disorders can be treated without the excess use of Pharmaceuticals. Often as a society we tend to sway from the bigger picture of the overdependence on pill. Yet there is a way to help change our own behaviors. This is simply to follow a consistent diet as well as moderate exercise to improve our brain function as well as our body composition.

Conclusion

I feel that most of the claims are true regarding the Ketogenic Diet. In each of the case studies that were presented demonstrated key correlations that were used to determine a common answer. This diet can be effective if used in the correct manner. It helps improve the overall body composition of both Men and Women. Although the diet is more effective in Men, women can also benefit. Both genders can exercise as well as use this diet as means of becoming a Healthier individual. In terms of valuable components, I feel that in some cases there must be some form of medical consultation before engaging in this type of Diet. For recommendations this Diet can be Effective if used properly and for the correct reasons. This Diet can be amazing for people that want to learn more about how they can improve their overall health. The Ketogenic Diet can also be used as a means to help psychologists as well as psychiatrists develop a better means to help their patients. They can put their patients on a moderate diet to demonstrate how the diet will help their neural pathways. If we look at the case regarding Bipolar Disorder the Ketogenic diet has a positive impact by helping the person become more in control of their emotions.

References

Bala, S. S., Gayathri, R., & Priya, V. V. (2018). Evaluation of effects of ketogenic diet among gym trainers and users. Drug Invention Today, 10(6), 929–931. McDonald, T. J. W., & Cervenka, M. C. (2018). The Expanding Role of Ketogenic Diets in Adult Neurological Disorders. Brain Sciences (2076-3425), 8(8), 1–16 Mulligan, J. E., & Mandelbaum, D. E. (2011). Myoclonic astatic epilepsy and the role of the ketogenic diet. Medicine and Health, Rhode Island, 94(5), 127–130. Phelps, J. R., Siemers, S. V., & El-Mallakh, R. S. (2013). The ketogenic diet for type II bipolar disorder. Neurocase (Psychology Press), 19(5), 423–426 Stafstrom, C. E., & Bough, K. J. (2003). The Ketogenic Diet for the Treatment of Epilepsy: A Challenge for Nutritional Neuroscientists. Nutritional Neuroscience, 6(2), 67.

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