The Ketogenic Diet

The use of starvation to treat various ailments has a long history, actually going back as far as Hippocrates, where starvation was used to treat epilepsy. There is a reference in the bible to Jesus’ curing an epileptic. The description of the epileptic child is reasonably accurate, with a description of symptoms including falling, gnashing of teeth, and wallowing. In the healing, a “spirit” is cast out of the epileptic child, resulting in a cure (St. Mark 9:17–27).