Over the past few weeks I’ve been spending a portion of my research time digging into the history of nutritional ketosis.
As most nutritional ketosis advocates know, formal discussion of NK in modern medical literature appears to have first been reported by Guelpa and Marie in 1911, two Parisian physicians who noted that fasting had consistent, demonstrably favorable impacts in epilepsy.
Perhaps even more interestingly, fasting is reportedly the only therapeutic measure against epilepsy documented in the Hippocratic collection (disclosure – I haven’t read all the Hippocratic collection), and there’s even a purported reference to fasting for a child with an apparent seizure disorder during Jesus’ time (Mark 9:14-29, KJV).
For those with an interest, I’ve listed below several more current references / links which are fairly easy, if not lengthy, reads. I certainly can’t vouch for the absolute accuracy of the information reported therein, though if you read through all you’ll note the consistencies.
History of the ketogenic diet (Epilepsia, 2008)
History and Origin of the Ketogenic Diet (Chapter two of Epilepsy and the Ketogenic Diet, pp 31-50)
The Origin (and future) of the Ketogenic Diet Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 (Robb Wolfe’s team)
Do ketogenic diets have a place in human evolution? (Break Nutrition, 2017)
