Keto Lifestyle

Nehe’s Recovery From Epilepsy with Ketogenic Therapy & a Special Presentation!

Jim and Nancy Abrahams (left) met Nejemia’s (Nehe) parents at an epilepsy conference in Los Angeles in 2015. They were desperate to find a solution to Nehe’s epilepsy which worsened with medications and made his behavior unbearable.

Nehe had his first Tonic Clonic seizure at 2 and half years old.  At first, he had relatively good seizure control with Keppra but his tonic clonic seizures came back and he was having 5-10 a week. Drop attacks, absence and complex partial seizures became a part of his daily life – up to 100 of each of those daily.  Tripleptal, Depakote, Banzel, and, Onfi failed to control his seizures. Over the next 6 months, while on keto, they were able to wean the drugs. Currently, he is 3 plus years seizure- free and is now on a modified ketogenic diet. 

When he was first tested for his Individual Education Program (IEP) at school he couldn’t hold a pencil long enough to draw a line and he was barely able to speak. At his IEP renewal meeting a year later, the family was told that he has not only caught up, he’s excelling in all of his studies.  

Nehe’s family allowed us to photograph them enjoying a ketogenic Thanksgiving meal. All three of the children eat similarly, but only Nehe’s diet is ketogenic. Dad, who is a chef, makes most of the family meals and has designed special sauces with spices for Nehe. You can download the free Thanksgiving e-book featuring Nehe and his family here!

In 2017, Nehe was chosen by the Epilepsy Foundation in Los Angeles to present Beth Zupec-Kania with an award for assisting people with epilepsy on ketogenic therapies. This was the highlight of the day to see him so vibrant after meeting him 2 years earlier, when before keto, he was withdrawn and having daily seizures.

*Note from the Charlie Foundation: The published statistics on drug use in epilepsy is as follows. After a first anti-seizure drug fails to control seizures, there is a 13% change the second one will control seizures and a 1% chance the third will stop epilepsy. These statistics have been unchanged for the past fifty years.

Kid Keto’s Keto Kid Oil Experiment: a Science Fair Project Presented by Nehe

This past spring, Nehe’s family shared these photos of his science fair project titled “Kid Keto’s Keto Kid Oil Experiment”. He designed and tested the “spraying capabilities” of avocado oil, olive oil, vegetable oil and sesame oil to determine which would spray the furthest.

Which will it be? Do you have your own hypothesis? Maybe Goliath from our “Keto vs. Goliath” editorial cartoon would like to know as well!

We especially love his “How to be a Brainger!” handout. It says:

” Hi. I’m Kid Keto – I have epilepsy that I cured with my super KETOGENIC POWERS. Ketogenic means a diet high in fat. Your brain is 60% fat. HEALTHY fats help your brain (not hurt your brain). Some oils are healthy fats like olive oil and avocado oil. That’s why I wanted to test the distance of oil sprays for my project. When I was fighting my epilepsy, I became Kid Keto and he is very….”

“POW!erful…”

“You can become a Brainger too!!! You have to keep your brain healthy by eating healthy fats like avocado oil, butter, olive oil, and cream! You have to train by using the vocabulary in this word find.”

And The Conclusion Is…

“My hypothesis was correct (and mom’s was not). I thought the lightest oil would have the advantage and the heaviest oil would have the disadvantage. The olive oil was the lightest and it went the farthest. The vegetable oil was the heaviest and it went the shortest. Kid Keto should use olive oil for his sprayer.”

Thank You Nehe!

All of us at the Charlie Foundation could not be more proud of how far you have come! You are an inspiration and a true superhero. We feel so happy to know that Kid Keto is out there saving brains (and the world) with healthy fats and helping to create more and more Braingers. You certainly are POW!erful Nehe!

Other Articles by Beth Zupec-Kania