Avocados may be known to carry numerous health benefits, but one 5-year-old’s family said the fruit helped stop the young girl's numerous seizures.
Leafy Liu, of England, was born with a brain disorder that had caused her to have up to 60 seizures a day.
"We both hoped that she would grow out of it, and it's not too uncommon for babies to have seizures,” Leafy’s mom, Claire Liu, said of her daughter's first episode. "But three weeks later she had her second seizure, and it continued like that. Every 21 days or so, she would have another fit."
At the time, Leafy was 6 months old.
"It was exhausting for her," Claire Liu added. "Every time that she had one, she would sleep for hours afterwards."
The couple moved to Perth, Australia, hoping the warmer climate would calm Leafy’s seizures. Unfortunately, it didn't.
After conventional medication failed to stop the fits, Leafy's worried parents researched alternative treatments and discovered the ketogenic diet, which is high in fat and low in carbs.
Some experts believe the way the body burns up carbohydrates can trigger epileptic fits.
“We thought that we would give it a go, and were stunned by the effect that it had,” Justin Liu, Leafy’s dad, said. "Within two days it had impacted Leafy.”
Since the diet switch, the 5-year-old has eaten roughly 3,000 avocados, at least two a day for the last four years. Now, she only has a few seizures a year, her parents said.
“We’re now at the point where she only has four seizures a year," Justin Liu said. "It’s a miracle. Almost as soon as she started on the diet, she felt fit, happy, healthier, more relaxed — everything you’d want for your little girl."
The couple said that although they spend a fortune buying the fruit, it’s worth it.
“When she was at her worst, I could never had envisioned that avocado would be the thing to help her through, but that’s how it’s turned out,” Justin Liu said.
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