LIVINGSTON, NJ — When 11-year-old Alexander Yucht experienced his first major seizure in 2010, his father knew Alex had inherited the childhood epilepsy that he suffered from for several years. Livingston father-of-two Scott Yucht, alongside two mothers in similar situations with their own kids, created a family-friendly support system called the Keto Kids Club that will hold its first annual event on Oct. 22 at the Livingston Ambulatory Care Center.
Scott and his co-founders Michelle Sanders and Renee Klein quickly discovered that there are additional and alternative treatment options for neurological disorders like epilepsy than expensive medications. Together they created the Keto Kids Club to support children and their families using a dietary treatment called the Ketogenic Diet, which in Yucht and Sanders’ cases improved the symptoms of the disorder and for Klein, this dietary plan is a way of life.
“This is a very difficult and isolating diet—you’re basically the little baby bird that gets pushed out of the nest and either you fly or you splat on the ground,” said Yucht. “We felt there was a tremendous need for a little cushion to break the fall.”
Even though the strict change in diet helped these families, Scott said there were no resources or support systems for families to be able to help each other through this difficult transition. According to Scott, the Keto Kids Club event in Livingston will create an environment for parents and kids to get to know and help each other.
Alex, whose story began when he was rushed to a hospital after passing out the parking lot of a supermarket, is one of many children who endured the overnight adjustment no-carb, no-sugar diet. In order to experience the dramatic and immediate effects of the Ketogenic Diet, epileptic kids like Alex wake up one morning to find that kid-friendly foods like pasta, cereal, bread, most fruits, ice cream and even many vegetables are suddenly eliminated from their daily intake.
Read more at … https://www.tapinto.net/towns/livingston/sections/health-and-wellness/articles/livingston-residents-keto-kids-club-to-host-firs