Today was day two of the Modified Atkins Diet for Owen. I must say that his hand tremor has ceased, and he only had a handful of seizures today. An incredibly quick response, which reminds me of when we started the Keto diet back in 2012.
Pros?
Lots more food! We have target numbers for each meal, and it’s a LOT more than he did on the other diet.
Not as much fat.
The Keto was a 4:1 ratio of fat:protein. This is a 1:1. Thank goodness–I don’t think I could convince Owen now to eat that much mayo!
There are zillions of low-carb products at the store and recipes to Google.
I had to bring everything everywhere before, all carefully measured in grams. Now I can find a low-carb option if we are out and about and running late. I can so look up recipes and do a quick carb count. So many to try!
No measuring!
No way do I have time for that with six other kids all wanting to eat at the same time.
The biggest pro?
Decreased seizures already, and Owen isn’t even at large ketones yet. So amazing!
Are there any cons?
Oh yes. Owen loves bread and so does everyone else. Making sure a piece doesn’t end up in Owen’s hand is a challenge.
Separate meal making stinks. We can overlap a bit–salad, low-carb veggies and the main protein. But it’s just an extra few steps to work into the kitchen routine.
Checking ketones is a bit yucky! Praise the Lord for disposable gloves! And only having to do it daily for a week and then weekly instead of multiple times a day.
It’s a lot of protein! I need a few low or no carb protein snacks to add to my repitore. Any ideas?
All-in-all it has been good. I’m hoping to get Owen off some seizure meds in a few months, if the diet continues to work.
We are also still waiting on insurance approval for VNS therapy depending on how the diet goes, we may decide to put that off for a while.
