 The ketogenic diet is indicated as an adjunctive ( additional ) treatment in children with drug @-@ resistant epilepsy . It is approved by national clinical guidelines in Scotland , England and Wales and reimbursed by nearly all US insurance companies . Children with a focal lesion ( a single point of brain abnormality causing the epilepsy ) who would make suitable candidates for surgery are more likely to become seizure @-@ free with surgery than with the ketogenic diet . In the UK , the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence advises that the diet should not be recommended for adults with epilepsy . About a third of epilepsy centres that offer the ketogenic diet also offer a dietary therapy to adults . Some clinicians consider the two less restrictive dietary variants — the low glycemic index treatment and the modified Atkins diet — to be more appropriate for adolescents and adults . A liquid form of the ketogenic diet is particularly easy to prepare for , and well tolerated by , infants on formula and children who are tube @-@ fed . 
