Migraine improvement during short lasting ketogenesis: a proof‐of‐concept study

Abstract

The underlying mechanisms of KD efficacy could be related to its ability to enhance mitochondrial energy metabolism and counteract neural inflammation.

1. Cortical functional correlates of responsiveness to short-lasting preventive intervention with ketogenic diet in migraine: A multimodal evoked potentials study

“…This study confirms our previous clinical finding that migraine features significantly improve in terms of attack frequency and duration during a month of ketogenic diet [8,9]. Moreover, this study also confirms that before KD short-term interventions, the migraine patients lacked habituation in response to visual (VEP N1-P1 slope: + 0.09) and somatosensory (SSEP N20-P25 slope: + 0.32) repetitive stimulations [19,20].…”

“…Overweight patients received a 4-week low-carbohydrate (about 30 g/day carbohydrates), low-fat (fixed 15 g lipids), and normal protein (1.0-1.2 g/Kg of desired weight proteins) VLCKD diet (≤800 kcal) according to methods described elsewhere [8,9]. This comprised five daily meals consisting of four protein shakes developed ad hoc as a protein supplement in KD (Ketoneural Protein Blend, Medi-Diet s.r.l., Aprilia, Italy), one daily meal of meat (up to 200 g) or fish (up to 350 g) accompanied by salad and nutraceutical integrators (Table 1).…”

A low-carbohydrate survey: Evidence for sustainable metabolic syndrome reversal

“…Moreover, participants reported improvements in a variety of health conditions after initiating a low-carbohydrate diet, some of which have been studied before, at least preliminarily (improvements in symptoms related to migraines, 116 irritable bowel syndrome, 117 heartburn, 118 polycystic ovary syndrome, 119 NAFLD 120 and pain 121 ), and some of which have not been studied well or much at all (e.g., libido, immune function and allergies). More research is needed on these topics.…”

CIMMYT Series on Carbohydrates, Wheat, Grains, and Health: Role of Carbohydrates and Grains in Nutrition and Neurological Disorders: Headache, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, and Depression,

“…In the large Canadian Trial of Carbohydrates in Diabetes (CCD), a low-glycemic index (GI) diet (52% of energy from CHO; GI = 55) was associated with lower headache frequency than either a high-GI diet (47% of energy from CHO; GI = 64) or a low-CHO diet (40% of energy from CHO; GI = 59) (3). Counterintuitively, a ketogenic diet in which CHO intake was extremely restricted has been shown in a few case reports and small studies (26,27) to reduce cluster headaches or migraines (28). For example, for 45 chronic migraine sufferers, those who followed a ketogenic diet for 1 month significantly reduced migraine frequency.…”

“…For example, for 45 chronic migraine sufferers, those who followed a ketogenic diet for 1 month significantly reduced migraine frequency. Further, there was continuous improvement during the 6 month duration of the study (28). However, an Atkins-type, low-CHO diet was not found to be beneficial for adolescent headache sufferers, and compliance was a problem (29).…”