A price check on the ketogenic diet for adults with epilepsy in Australia

The ketogenic diet is an established and effective treatment for drug-resistant epilepsy and is an emerging therapy for other conditions. Affordability of therapeutic ketogenic diets for epilepsy has not been well studied. This study aimed to compare weekly cost of ketogenic diets with national dietary guidelines and a typical Australian diet.

Seven-day meal plans were created for a reference male and female, aged 31-50 years, for five diets: classical ketogenic, modified ketogenic, specialty modified ketogenic, national dietary guidelines, and a typical Australian diet. Prices were obtained from three supermarkets.

For females, the classical ketogenic diet ($70.07AUD) and typical Australian diet ($75.91AUD) were cheaper than the national dietary guidelines ($99.23AUD). For males, all ketogenic diet types and the national dietary guidelines ($94.81-119.60AUD) were more expensive than the typical Australian diet ($82.98). Following the dietary guidelines, modified or specialty modified ketogenic diets increased food costs by 9%-31% for females and 26%-44% for males compared to current spending on a typical Australian diet.

Our study demonstrates that, for males aged 31-50 years, ketogenic diet therapy for epilepsy is more expensive than the typical Australian diet. Financial assistance may be considered to reduce barriers to dietary therapy for epilepsy.

A specialized ketogenic diet is an effective treatment for managing epilepsy when medication has been ineffective at controlling seizures. This study shows that some ketogenic diets for epilepsy cost more than a typical Australian diet. The higher costs may stop people from starting or staying on this helpful treatment. Providing financial support to help pay for these diets could make them easier to follow and allow more people to access this treatment. This could help more people manage their seizures and lower the long-term costs of epilepsy for the healthcare system and society.