Wikipedia talk:Today's featured article/January 17, 2010

Can I suggest a slight revision to the blurb. This


 * reduces the mechanism explanation (which might be a little off-putting) by removing one sentence
 * removes the impression the diet is no longer used
 * emphasises the medical aspect/supervision
 * adds that its mechanism is unknown

The overall length is 92 characters less.

The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate diet primarily used to treat difficult-to-control epilepsy in children. This medical nutrition therapy mimics aspects of starvation by forcing the body to burn fats rather than carbohydrates. Normally, the carbohydrates contained in food are converted into glucose, which is then transported around the body and is particularly important in fuelling brain function. However, if there is very little carbohydrate in the diet, the liver converts fat into fatty acids and ketone bodies. The ketone bodies pass into the brain and replace glucose as an energy source. The diet provides just enough protein for body growth and repair, and sufficient calories to maintain the correct weight for age and height. Developed in the 1920s, the classic ketogenic diet contains a 4:1 ratio by weight of fat to combined protein and carbohydrate. This is achieved by excluding high-carbohydrate foods such as starchy fruits and vegetables, bread, pasta, grains and sugar, while increasing the consumption of foods high in fat such as cream and butter. The diet, which is closely supervised by a neurologist and a dietitian, is effective in half of the patients who try it, and very effective in a third. The mechanism by which the ketogenic diet reduces the frequency of epileptic seizures is unknown. (more...)

Colin°Talk 11:41, 16 January 2010 (UTC)


 * I have implemented these changes and I look forward to seeing the article on the Main Page. Graham Colm Talk 12:34, 16 January 2010 (UTC)

What about using one of the less gross picture?
What about using one of the other pictures? The Ministry (talk) 18:28, 16 January 2010 (UTC)