INFORM September 2024

24 • inform September 2024, Vol. 35 (8)

Pilot study shows ketogenic diet improves severe mental illness Nina Bai

For people living with serious mental illness like schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, standard treatment with antipsychotic medications can be a double-edged sword. While these drugs help regulate brain chemistry, they often cause metabolic side effects such as insulin resistance and obesity, which are distressing enough that many patients stop taking the medications. Now, a pilot study led by Stanford Medicine researchers has found that a ketogenic diet not only restores metabolic health in these patients as they continue their medications, but it further improves their psychiatric conditions. The results, published March 27 in Psychiatry Research , suggest that a dietary intervention can be a powerful aid in treating mental illness. “It’s very promising and very encouraging that you can take back control of your illness in some way, aside from the usual stan dard of care,” said Shebani Sethi, MD, associate professor of psychi atry and behavioral sciences and the first author of the new paper. The senior author of the paper is Laura Saslow, associate pro fessor of health behavior and biological sciences at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

• A small clinical trial led by Stanford Medicine found that the metabolic effects of a ketogenic diet may help stabilize the brain. • The researchers measured weekly ketone levels and found that higher levels improved a psychiatrist rating of mental illness. • The participants also reported better sleep and greater life satisfaction. • The results give credence to the hypothesis that there is a connection between metabolism in the body and the brain and improvements in general metabolism have benefits for mental health.