People with severe mental health disorders can ease symptoms of their condition by following a ketogenic diet, new research has unveiled.
Scientists from Stanford Medicine in the US have found that following a keto diet can ease symptoms of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
According to the researchers, an individual’s diet can be a key tool in the fight against their mental health illness.
First author Dr Shebani Sethi said: “It’s very promising and very encouraging that you can take back control of your illness in some way, aside from the usual standard of care.”
According to Dr Sethi, a keto diet can reduce the number of auditory hallucinations people with treatment-resistant schizophrenia experience.
She said: “The ketogenic diet has been proven to be effective for treatment-resistant epileptic seizures by reducing the excitability of neurons in the brain. We thought it would be worth exploring this treatment in psychiatric conditions.”
A total of 21 adults with either schizophrenia or bipolar disorder were examined during the study.
Each participant was taking antipsychotic medications and had a metabolic abnormality, such as dyslipidaemia, weight gain, hypertriglyceridemia, insulin resistance or impaired glucose tolerance.
In addition, each participant was following a ketogenic diet throughout the research investigation.
Dr Sethi said: “The focus of eating is on whole non-processed foods including protein and non-starchy vegetables, and not restricting fats.”
The results show that 14 of the participants followed a keto diet fully, while six were semi-adherent and one non-adherent.
Those who followed a ketogenic diet for four months no longer had metabolic syndrome and most of the participants lost 10% of their body weight, the findings have revealed.
Dr Sethi noted: “We’re seeing huge changes. Even if you’re on antipsychotic drugs, we can still reverse the obesity, the metabolic syndrome and the insulin resistance. I think that’s very encouraging for patients.”
Alongside the physical improvements, most of the participant’s improved their mental health conditions by 31%.
“The participants reported improvements in their energy, sleep,…