122 Achieving pH Balance to Treat Specific Ailments
Epilepsy
While little is known about epilepsy, electroencephalograms (EEGs)
give a clue as to its underlying cause by showing that the brain waves
in epileptics, even when the brain is not undergoing a seizure, contain
an excess of electrical activit y. (Medications such as Dilantin and Depa-
kote prevent tonic-clonic, or grand mal, seizures by reducing electricity
in the brain.) Electricity is generated by the overactivity of neurons that
have become infl amed. Infl ammation—from exposure to toxic waste,
estrogen, glutamate, heavy metals—causes the electrons orbiting
around the nucleus inside the neurons to speed up so that they generate
too much electricity. Excessive electrical activity in turn heats up the
neurons, causing them to spin so fast that they can no longer commu-
nicate with other cells. The degree to which the neurons “go crazy”—
that is, whether symptoms will be partial seizures (petite mals) or will
escalate into tonic-clonic (grand mal) seizures—depends on how
infl amed the neurons are.
I suspect that the pathology of epilepsy is no different from that of
most other neurological disorders since the neurons in particular areas
of the brain in Parkinson’s disease, obsessive-compulsive disorders, tin-
nitus, and depression, like those in epilepsy, are overactive. That the
symptoms presented constitute epilepsy rather than one of these other
mental disorders is due to the location of the brain injury.
W hen epilepsy is accompanied by frequent headaches, food allergies
are suspect. This could happen if injured areas in the brain are exposed
to the acidic wastes from food allergens. This would trigger seizures by
causing the neurons to spin out of control.The Ketogenic Diet for Epilepsy
In an impressive number of cases, mostly children, of those whose
epilepsy could not be controlled with drug medications, the ketogenic
diet has lessened or prevented tonic-clonic (grand mal) seizures. This
is a diet in which four times more fat than protein and carbohydrates
combined is eaten. Saturated fats such as butter, cream, cheese, bacon,
fatty pork, and beef fat are most effective. Saturated fat is said to
prevent seizures because fat rather than sugar is burned as energy,
producing ketones, which, when absorbed into the blood, calm the