Re: Cindy Atkins diet?

[Guest guest]

Fran,

In my Hannah's case, the bad breath began with seizures and before medication.

So I guess we associate it with the seizures without really knowing what exactly

the cause is. Both my herbologist and chiropracter recently indicated that her

digestion is bad. Perhaps this is the key; I don't know. I do intend to add

digestive enzymes eventually, but I haven't yet.

After we started the diet her bad breath went away. When it came back again, at

first, it smelled like vomit to me. Then it turned back into just normal bad

breath, although it never got as bad as it used to me.

Right now she is seizure free and doing great (for about 2 weeks now and I

really believe this is just the beginning!). Her breath seems fine. It tends

to smell from having bad sinus and she's had a lot of colds and/or allergies

lately. However, it isn't that foul breath that she used to have.

Just to put it in perspective, her breath used to be so bad that when she woke

up it was uncomfortable to be by her. Even after she brushed, it was still

strong.

I also notice that she has an odor to her whole body. The other day we were

outside in the fresh air and when she walked by me the odor was very obvious.

She was freshly showered. It's not a typical sweaty body odor smell, but it is

an unpleasant smell. It is very distinctive to her.

I have never noticed the keto breath either in Hannah or in me (I am on Atkins,

also).

As for the diet, yes we maintain ketosis easily. Her ketones on the stick are

always +40/+80 and more recently more like +80/+160. I do keep her fat intake

up.

Her blood ketones were tested recently and the result was 1.66 mmoL/L. The

neurologist, who did not at all like what we were doing, assured us that this

was not adequate ketones for seizure control. Well, he may be right. All I

know is, once I had a child who seized non-stop and now I have a med-free child

who doesn't seize at all!

I am extremely happy with our results on Atkins. It is easy to follow and

pretty flexible. And my child is seizure free! What more can I ask for!

I'd be happy to answer any other questions.

Atkins diet?

Hi

Thank you for sharing your story. My daughter Hannah has seizures

primarily when she sleeps also. We started the keto diet in April and

are very pleased with the progress we have made. We are currently

weaning meds. I was hoping when we started Hannahs bad breath would

go away, they said it should smell sweet in ketosis. It hasn't

happened. Do you think it was caused by the meds your daughter was on

or do you think it has to do with the diet. I don't know anything

about the Atkins diet( plan to research it) Are you able to maintain

ketosis on the diet? Any info you can share would be appreciated.

Thanks Fran (mom to Hannah 3yrs ketokid since 4/02 and 2yrs)

[Guest guest]

Is there any one else " out there " who

is having success with the Atkins diet?

Anyone who did not have success with it?

Is the success of the diet just being in ketosis?

, does Hannah eat when she wants to?

(can she have snacks during the day?)

Can you give me an example of what a

meal for her would be? Do you give

her any carbs? If so, how do you determine

how much to give her? Does she have

any problems with constipation? Is she

able to maintain an " ideal " weight?

Timo is so sick of butter, oil, cream and

mayo! This diet is becoming more and more

difficult. I have got to continually remind my

self of how he looked when having that last

seizure.

Thank you for taking time to post her story

and I'm looking forward to reading the rest.

Tina

[Guest guest]

Tina,

Yes, she eats when she wants to (at least, as much as anybody in my family does.

I don't like them to snack all day. We try to stick to meals, but if she wants

a snack, she may have one.) I keep nuts, string cheese, etc on hand, and if she

wants a snack, she knows what she can and can't have. I do not restrict

calories at all.

The constipation was an issue until I discovered magnesium. Now it's a

non-issue.

I try to aim at 20 grams of carbs a day, which is the Atkins induction level.

It is the equivalent of 2 cups of salad and a cup of another water-based

vegetable. It should be spread throughout the day, but ours tends to be

centered on dinner. I don't measure any of this. I just have a good feel for

what it's like because I've been on the diet myself since January.

I also give her a lot of fat. I think this has helped a lot.

Here's a typical day:

Breakfast: always includes a shake (Atkins shake mix, cream, ice and water),

then usually fried eggs. Sometimes pancakes ( I can give a recipe), flax seed

cereal, or some other concoction I've come up with.

Lunch: lunch meat and cheese rolled up with mayo, leftovers from dinners, egg

salad. (We don't eat a normal, sit-down lunch. Breakfast is late and lunch is

more of a snack)

Dinner: meat, salad, green beans or broccoli or cauliflower (frequently with a

cheese sauce). If there isn't much fat in dinner, I give her cream in Hansen's

Diet Soda.

Snack at night: shake, or shake made into ice cream, mock danish (a cream

cheese/egg mixture. Delicious, I can give you the recipe).

Our diet is very simple, but very satisfying. I use boneless chicken tenders

quite often and fry them in butter and garlic. Then the possibilities are

endless. I fry cheese with them. Cheddar cheese goes well with chili powder,

sour cream and avocado. Mozzarella cheese goes well with a little tomato sauce

and Italian spices. Really, our food is so good, that when it is different from

the rest of the families, they frequently want ours.

When the family has lasagna or pizza, I make a pizza quiche (recipe on the keto

recipe site). I try to kee the meals like the rest of the family. Frequently,

it's a case of what we don't eat. We skip the potatos or rice or pasta or corn

that the rest of the family eats. When the family has tacos, we have taco salad

(or I might make a " shell " of microwaved cheese).

Her weight has remained constant from the beginning. She was an extremely

petite little girl (before seizures). Since the seizures/ meds, she has bulked

up some. Her frame is still petite, and she wasn't fat by any stretch, but she

was bulky. Her bulk is gone. She is much more petite looking again. She is 11

and weighs 69-71 pounds. She hasn't lost any weight, but for some reason she

still " unbulked. "

I don't know if the success of the diet is ketones or ph balance or something

else. By defintion of her grain-free diet, she is gluten free. Perhaps this

has helped. It is also a healthy diet in that all of the foods she eats are

real, whole foods. The only exception is the shake mix, which is a " processed

food " . If you compare to a " normal " child, think of what we don't get: no

sugar, Twinkies, chips, pretzels, Teddy Grahams, Chees-Its, candy, Mcs,

and who knows what other junk I don't even know exists!) She does get a lot

of fat, but I don't have a problem with that (I guess I'm sold on the Atkins

philosphy!)

Now, as far as fitting into lifestyle, this has been very easy for us. We don't

eat junk and fast food anyway. Upon the rare occasion that we do, we just

manage. We do go out to eat with my parents every so often. I bring cream and

Hansen's (probably could skip this, but I don't) and I order something Atkins

friendly, which we split. Usually we get a salad with chicken in it. I also

bring cheese crisps so she can eat those while everyone else is munching the

bread/crackers that they bring in the beginning of the meal.

When we have birthdays, I make us a dessert. I make cakes, cheese cakes,

cookies. Lots of possibilities. I think this is one place where Atkins is a

lot easier. I don't have to worry about weights, ratios, whatever. As long as

it fits into our plan and is very low carb, we can do it.

Well, I always give a long answer to a short question, so here it is!

Re: Atkins diet?

Is there any one else " out there " who

is having success with the Atkins diet?

Anyone who did not have success with it?

Is the success of the diet just being in ketosis?

, does Hannah eat when she wants to?

(can she have snacks during the day?)

Can you give me an example of what a

meal for her would be? Do you give

her any carbs? If so, how do you determine

how much to give her? Does she have

any problems with constipation? Is she

able to maintain an " ideal " weight?

Timo is so sick of butter, oil, cream and

mayo! This diet is becoming more and more

difficult. I have got to continually remind my

self of how he looked when having that last

seizure.

Thank you for taking time to post her story

and I'm looking forward to reading the rest.

Tina

[Guest guest]

Thank you very much for your long answer! =)

You were very thorough. And I appreciate

your time.

We also eat whole foods. Very rarely my

children will eat white refined sugar...usually

birthday parties. My husband loves meat and

cheese....maybe he should go on it with Timo?

I'm seriously considering the Adkins diet for him.

That's how we got Timo into Ketosis in the

first place.

Do you ever eat any of the Adkins bars? What

about the Keto friendly stuff I've see in the Health

food store? Lots of artificial junk?

Any recipes you could send my way would

be greatly appreciated. Hopefully you can

copy, paste and send? Flax seed cereal...

bought or made by you? (I've only heard

of flax seed never even seen it) I'm going

next door here in a little while to go online

and I'm gonna go to the recipe site.

Thanks again! =)

Tina

[Guest guest]

Atkins diet?

>

>

> Hi

>

> Thank you for sharing your story. My daughter Hannah has seizures

> primarily when she sleeps also. We started the keto diet in April and

> are very pleased with the progress we have made. We are currently

> weaning meds. I was hoping when we started Hannahs bad breath would

> go away, they said it should smell sweet in ketosis. It hasn't

> happened. Do you think it was caused by the meds your daughter was on

> or do you think it has to do with the diet. I don't know anything

> about the Atkins diet( plan to research it) Are you able to maintain

> ketosis on the diet? Any info you can share would be appreciated.

>

> Thanks Fran (mom to Hannah 3yrs ketokid since 4/02 and 2yrs)

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Tina,

We use some low-carb bars, but not Atkins. We do not use pork products and the

Atkins have gelatin, which is a pork derivative. I use Herbalife and Carb

Solutions. We keep some in the van for when we're out and she needs something.

The Herbalife bars are fairly tasty. The Carb Solutions have some very good

ones and some that are so awful I wouldn't feed them to my dog! The bars are

good sometimes if you want something a little sweet, but a little bit of a bar

goes a long way. I eat a couple of slices. They taste fine, but too much is

too much. They also have glycerin, which does affect some people's blood sugar.

I have not seen a problem with Hannah.

I have found the fact that I am on Atkins with Hannah has been very helpful. It

is never " What am I having? " but instead is " What are we having? " However, she

fully recognizes that I can cheat and she can't.

I use some of the Keto friendly items. I have used low-carb pasta a couple of

times. It was okay. I have some on hand and the next time the other kids have

mac and cheese, I will make some for Hannah. I use these items in limited

amounts, but they are nice to have once in a while.

You can buy Flax O Meal, but it is expensive. I make flax cereal like this: 3

T of cream, 3 T water heated in microwave. Add ground flax seed and wheat bran

(a little heavier on flax seed) until proper conistency. Sweeten with Splenda.

Add cinnamon or berries, as desires. My whole family likes it.

You'll find a lot of good recipes and ideas at atkinsfriends.com. There's a

bulletin board and a recipe room.

Re: Atkins diet?

Thank you very much for your long answer! =)

You were very thorough. And I appreciate

your time.

We also eat whole foods. Very rarely my

children will eat white refined sugar...usually

birthday parties. My husband loves meat and

cheese....maybe he should go on it with Timo?

I'm seriously considering the Adkins diet for him.

That's how we got Timo into Ketosis in the

first place.

Do you ever eat any of the Adkins bars? What

about the Keto friendly stuff I've see in the Health

food store? Lots of artificial junk?

Any recipes you could send my way would

be greatly appreciated. Hopefully you can

copy, paste and send? Flax seed cereal...

bought or made by you? (I've only heard

of flax seed never even seen it) I'm going

next door here in a little while to go online

and I'm gonna go to the recipe site.

Thanks again! =)

Tina