Erin Whitmer - Fighting Back with Fat

Another ketogenic diet book? Really? Yes, Ill admit it, when Jeanne Riether and Erin Whitmer, two of my Keto mothers approached me in August 2011 about the idea of writing a ketogenic diet book, my first reaction was skepticism. Besides my book, there are Keto Kid and The Keto Cookbook, so why do we need a fourth book? Jeanne and Erin, as firm and forthright as ever (which youll determine are their styles rather quickly as you read this book), told me that although these three books were great, they werent enough. In Jeannes original thoughts about the book relayed to me by e-mail, this would be from the parents perspectiveit would go into our experiences cooking, shopping, getting child compliance, travel tips. Erin added a month later after she and Jeanne had started to collaborate, this will also be a sort of handbook that encompasses the emotional preparation of these diets and survival tricks of the trade. Aha! now I got it! At the time I thought this was a great idea and certainly unique. After seeing the final project, it exceeds my expectations!

What makes this book different? First, this is the first ketogenic diet book to have literally dozens of parents, patients, and caregivers express their thoughts and tips about this amazing treatment from the trenches, so to speak. Keto Kid has one familys journey, Ketogenic Diets has several brief family stories, but Fighting Back with Fat has direct, first-person accounts. In many situations, these parents are brutally honest: Ketogenic diets are not simple and do involve a change in lifestyle, especially the first few weeks. Hearing these families stories, and how they dealt with and solved some initial difficulties getting started on the diet, will be extremely helpful to new families. At Johns Hopkins Hospital, we have a parent support group that comes on the Wednesday of our monthly admission week to chat with new families starting the Ketogenic diet. This book is essentially that support groups manual.

The second major difference is the broad, all-encompassing nature of this book. You will hear from adults, adolescents, and parents of formula-fed infants and gastrostomy-tube-fed children. Some of the children in this book are completely normal, others are disabled. Many families are from outside the United States, including one of the co-authors (Jeanne). Large sections are devoted to practical tips and advice for families on the modified Atkins diet. Practical tips are given for interacting with your ketogenic diet team, other family members, school representatives, and anyone else who may join you on this ketogenic journey. Throughout all this, the medical advice is sound and reasonable. Erin and Jeanne e-mailed me very frequently through this process to double check their facts, but also to know when to avoid going into medical details best left to ketogenic diet teams and information in Ketogenic Diets. I truly do respect them for doing this and keeping Fighting Back with Fat accurate and focused on parent-based tips.

So did we need another Ketogenic diet book? I believe we did, and Fighting Back with Fat is a worthy and unique supplement to the other ketogenic diet books available. Although written for parents, I think any neurologist or dietitian from a ketogenic diet team would find it a valuable insight into what our families deal with in order to use dietary treatments successfully. I was honored to be included and sincerely hope new Keto parents read this book and subsequently contribute their own tips and ideas to Jeanne and Erin to be included in a second edition!

Eric H. Kossoff, MD

Associate Professor, Pediatrics and Neurology

Medical Director, Ketogenic Diet Program

Johns Hopkins Hospital

Baltimore, Maryland