The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate
diet primarily used to treat difficult-to-control epilepsy in children.
This medical nutrition therapy mimics aspects of starvation by forcing
the body to burn fats rather than carbohydrates. Normally, the
carbohydrates contained in food are converted into glucose, which is
then transported around the body and is particularly important in
fuelling brain function. However, if there is very little carbohydrate
in the diet, the liver converts fat into fatty acids and ketone bodies.
The ketone bodies pass into the brain and replace glucose as an energy
source. The diet provides just enough protein for body growth and
repair, and sufficient calories to maintain the correct weight for age
and height. Developed in the 1920s, the classic ketogenic diet contains
a 4:1 ratio by weight of fat to combined protein and carbohydrate. This
is achieved by excluding high-carbohydrate foods such as starchy fruits
and vegetables, bread, pasta, grains and sugar, while increasing the
consumption of foods high in fat such as cream and butter. The diet,
which is closely supervised by a neurologist and a dietitian, is
effective in half of the patients who try it, and very effective in a
third. The mechanism by which the ketogenic diet reduces the frequency
of epileptic seizures is unknown.
Read the rest of this article:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketogenic_diet>
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Today's selected anniversaries:
1608:
Emperor Susenyos of Ethiopia and his troops surprised a raiding army of
the Oromo at Ebenat, reportedly killing 12,000 Oromo at the cost of 400
men.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susenyos_of_Ethiopia>
1885:
Mahdist War: British troops defeated Mahdist Sudanese forces at the
Battle of Abu Klea in Khartoum, Sudan.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Abu_Klea>
1893:
The Citizens' Committee of Public Safety led by Lorrin A. Thurston
overthrew the government of Queen Liliʻuokalani of the Kingdom of
Hawaii.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liliuokalani>
1904:
Russian playwright Anton Chekhov's last play, The Cherry Orchard,
premiered at the Moscow Art Theatre in Moscow.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Cherry_Orchard>
1966:
A U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress collided with a KC-135
Stratotanker during aerial refueling over the Mediterranean Sea,
dropping three hydrogen bombs on land near Palomares in the
municipality of Cuevas del Almanzora, Andalucía, Spain; and a fourth
one (pictured after its recovery) into the sea.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1966_Palomares_B-52_crash>
2002:
Mount Nyiragongo erupted in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
20 kilometres (12 mi) north of the town of Goma, destroying 4,500
buildings and leaving about 120,000 people homeless.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Nyiragongo>
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Wiktionary's word of the day:
errhine (adj):
Causing an increase in mucus within the nose, and hence causing one to
sneeze
<http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/errhine>
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Wikiquote quote of the day:
We have this window of opportunity; we have a chance to make something
real happen. Something possible happen, to live beyond our fear — think
about that, and help us. Help lift us up, help us fight this fight to
change, — transform — this country in a fundamental way.
This chance won’t come around again.
--Michelle Obama
<http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Michelle_Obama>