Murrumbeena woman’s ‘remarkable’ results from Lite n’ Easy meal plan
A Murrumbeena woman who has suffered from epilepsy for more than 40 years claims a popular meal-delivery plan made her seizures suddenly stop. And a leading neurologist says the “remarkable” results are not as far-fetched as they seem.
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A woman who has battled fortnightly seizures for more than 40 years says eating Lite n’ Easy ‘cured’ her epilepsy.
Katrina Jonas has suffered from regular seizures since she was diagnosed with the neurological condition at just 22 months of age.
But the Murrumbeena woman told the Leader since she had only had two since she started on Lite n’ Easy almost two years ago.
“Seizures were just part of my life, I didn’t know any other way,” she said.
“(Epilepsy) has restricted my life quite a lot because I can’t drive and it’s been hard to work because of the constant seizures.”
Ms Jonas said once she signed up to the weight loss meal delivery service the seizures “just stopped”.
“Unbelievably, when I went off Lite n’ Easy for a little while I had a couple of fits,” she said.
She’s now under doctor’s orders to stay on the meal plan.
“My neurologist actually wrote on my hospital admission papers that I needed to be given Lite n’ Easy meals.”
Professor Mark Cook, director of clinical neurosciences at St Vincent’s Hospital and chair of medicine at the University of Melbourne, said there had been cases where certain diets — including ketogenic and low GI — had been known to reduce seizures in some people with epilepsy.
“It’s still an area where we’re learning and no one really knows yet how (dietary therapies) work,” he said.
Prof Cook said Ms Jonas’ case was “quite remarkable”.
“I’ve never heard of a result quite that good from a change in diet but it goes to show there are still so many surprises in medicine,” he said.
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Prof Cook said people with epilepsy shouldn’t stop their regular treatments but dietary changes could be worth trying.
“They wouldn’t necessarily work for everyone but it’s definitely worth trying and a very reasonable thing to try,” he said.
Ms Jonas, who has also lost 20kg since going on Lite n’ Easy, said her life had changed dramatically.
“I’m studying again and finally have the confidence to enter the work force so hopefully I’ll do that soon,” she said.
“It’s literally changed my life. You see these things on TV and read about them and think they can’t be true but I can tell you it is.
“I can’t thank Lite n’ Easy or the Murrumbeena community enough — I’ve lived here for 17 years and people know me and they’ve just been so incredibly supportive of me.”