Studies of the ketogenic diet and mental health are exploding in number

(Bob M) #1

Not sure how many people are seeing this, but the number of studies for evaluating the keto diet for mental health is exploding.

Here’s one study trying to ascertain what is happening when children with autism spectrum disorder are given a keto diet:

Part of what they think is happening is due to anti-inflammatory effects on the brain. Here is one of their figures attempting to explain what they think are these effects:

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But that’s only one factor:

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On to another study. This one is for ADHD and depression for college students. It appears to be funded mainly (?) crowdfunded.

Another one: " Ketogenic Diet Intervention on Metabolic and Psychiatric Health in Bipolar and Schizophrenia: A Pilot Trial"

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165178124001513?via%3Dihub

A ketogenic trial for anorexia:

A case report in the same vein:

Exciting times!

As I find more of these, I’ll report them here.

Edit: Forgot about keto and migraines:

(Bob M) #2

Another one: “Investigating the Effectiveness of a Carb-Free Oloproteic Diet
in Fibromyalgia Treatment”

You have to download the PDF from here:

It’s an impressive study, with a lot of data.

The conclusions:

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#3

I just love how studies avoid actually using a true, traditional Keto diet in their testing. God forbid they prove it’s superior to the other diets pushed by the medical community, so they use something else that’s more obscure. The oloproteic diet isn’t really Keto at all. It actually incorporates the Mediterranean diet in the last stages and is used for quick weight loss. This was the best description I could find for it:

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Still, the truth has to seep out somehow and if studies like these loosen the attitudes towards low carb enough that other studies begin to feel more free in testing with actual Keto then that’s a win.

(KM) #4

I’m pretty sure this is Atkins, in a Mediterranean wrapper. :it:

I agree, it’s one of the biggest frustrations with these experiments. Claim it’s low carbohydrate, but don’t limit carbohydrates to the point where ketosis takes place. Claim it’s not calorie restrictive, and then limit everyone to 1800 calories a day. Claim it’s “healthy” and then drag out the old trope of low-fat / low saturated fat / whole grains as the definition of healthy. Why not get radical and actually test something different!

(Chuck) #5

I am not on a keto diet or any type of diet for as that goes. I eat only real food. No fast food, no highly processed food, no artificial sweeteners, no soft drinks. No fruit drinks but I will drink homemade fruit juice with nothing added. I stay away from wheat, meaning no bread made from wheat, no desserts with wheat flour. If it is all natural then I am fine with eating it, if it has anything that looks like it is from a factory or chemistry lab no way.

(Geoffrey) #6

I’ve been coming across several interviews with psychiatrists about the improvements that they’ve been seeing with mental disorders when the patients are eating a ketogenic diet.
It only makes sense because a ketogenic diet is a high fat diet and the brain needs fat and then there’s testimonials of so many people who have lifted their brain fog and improved their mental clarity.

(Bob M) #7

This is the diet that was followed in the study I referenced:

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Less than 10g a day of carbs…seems ketogenic, no?

What I think is interesting includes studies of the biome. My daughter has ADHD, autism, and misophonia. There is definitely a link between ADHD and autism and the biome. (And, oddly, she was the one born vaginally, whereas my other daughter was born via c-section and has none of these issues.) Most if not all people with ADHD and autism have digestive issues, as does my daughter.

What is the keto diet doing there? And how does that affect ADHD and autism?

I went from being a biome “believer” (used to take resistant starch and probiotics) to being a disbeliever (take some time to research whether any of that stuff actually does anything…there’s often not a lot “there”) to being a “the biome does…something” person. But if the biome and digestion gets better on keto, what does that mean? Cause? Effect? A great help? Meaningless?

While I think insulin resistance in the brain might be going on, there’s likely a lot more that’s happening. Ketones are one benefit, but – like everything – the answer is probably complex.

@Geezy56 I think it’s complex. They think some (many? all?) people can’t process glucose in their brain. For instance, one theory for migraines is that the body can’t handle glucose, starts looking for another fuel, and doesn’t have it, and a headache erupts.

Certainly, insulin resistance could be a part of that, but that doesn’t explain younger children who have these issues. (Though I guess maybe they could be very sensitive to insulin resistance? Doubt it, but not sure. And the fact that we transition babies from breast milk to high carb can’t help.)

I’m sure ketones are part of the solution, but they don’t explain everything.

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #8

This works in a few different ways: first, the diet is anti-inflammatory, because β-hydroxybutyrate inhibits activation of the NLR3P inflammasome; second, ketones enter brain cells by a completely different mechanism from glucose, so that they can feed the brain even when insulin-resistance prevents glucose from getting in; and thirdly, the ketones are metabolised with far less oxidative stress and no glycation, which allows the mitochondria to heal and begin to function properly.

(Bob M) #9

Here’s another one, with Chris Palmer as an author:

" The Ketogenic Diet as a Treatment for Mood Disorders"

Edit: Published: 28 May 2024

#10

What changed me into a believer was that anecdote about the woman whose daughter gave her a fecal transplant for C-Dif and she gained 40 lbs over the next 6 months. Also studies which mirrored that where if you give mice a fecal transplant from fat people they gain weight but not from thin people.

I used to drink diet soda as a treat about once a month at restaurants. I won’t anymore because it is not supposed to be good for the micro biome. I enjoy most of the prebiotics anyway so having kraut, kimchi and goat milk kefir with the occasional green banana is not a hardship

As for the migraines, I have one kid who gets migraines who also should be gluten free but isn’t. Every time I suggest keto I get pushback

(Bob M) #11

We have tried to convince our kids to go lower carb. It’s a challenge, if they’re teens. They love things like pasta. And schools are set up to make high carb eating and snacking almost mandatory.

The biome is an interesting subject. I’ve seen people do amazing things buy drinking/eating nothing but bone broth. Amazing transformations.

The problem comes in that anything we do in diet really can’t be separated out. You can’t change one thing in diet. For instance, you go from eating normally to drinking/eating nothing but bone broth. You’re now heavily ketotic. Are the benefits from there? Or from healing your digestive system and biome? Or both?

Say you begin to eat higher protein. Assuming all things are equal, you’re eating less of something else. If you get benefits, is it the higher protein, the lack of whatever you used to eat, or the combination?

The fecal transfer cases are the one area that seems to have an effect on the biome. The problem is if you don’t or can’t do a fecal transfer, how do you try to get that “good” biome? (Assuming we even know what a “good” biome is.) That’s the tricky part.

#12

The kid has a migraine today, called me to complain after I posted. Is a young working adult. Its ironic but would not accept the keto suggestion (is willing to give up alcohol but not carbs!) I suggested more water, got pushback on that. Meanwhile migraines have been severe lately. I suggested trying for a month and see what happens, nothing

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #13

Whether I get migraines or not seems to have a lot to do with my salt intake. Enough salt, no migraines.

Of course, I regularly got migraines for three or four months,regardless of my salt intake, while recovering from omicron Covid, so salt intake is not the whole story. Though it certainly helps in my case.

(KM) #14

Yes, totally agree with this. A further confounding variable is that so much of this is not RCT. Usually when people make the big changes (even if they’re told to only modify one thing at a time) there’s a lot of overall motivation and idealism driving it, and a lot of different elements of change, especially at first. Very few people say hey, I’m going to eat nothing but bone broth… and bourbon. Or wow, I’m going vegan … now where did I put my crack pipe. :smile:

#15

I used to have a boss who was a strict vegetarian in the 90s (before vegan was mainstream). She did not wear leather and was a big animal rights supporter. Worst diet I have ever seen, would eat yoddles and twinkies on a regular basis

@PaulL what other foods or activities helped or hurt migraines. Water consumption?

(You've tried everything else; why not try bacon?) #16

I drink only to thirst, not to a target proposed by a sport drink manufacturer. Salt is the only thing that seems to be related to migraines, in my case. If I don’t get enough salt, I get migraines. If I get more salt, I don’t get migraines, regardless of whatever else I eat or don’t eat. I’m not saying that other factors don’t matter to other people, just that this is my own experience.

And learning about keeping my salt up has been a god-send, because a full-blown migraine knocks me down for at least 24 hours, and even if the aura doesn’t bloom into a full migraine, it still takes an hour or two to recover.

#17

Thank you. Migraines still ongoing. Glad salt works.

I do not think it is salt because I remember we were on vacation one time that it happened and we were having sushi and the migraine came toward the end of dinner. I cannot imagine anything with more salt. They did have a mixed drink at the beginning of dinner and that can be a trigger. They no longer drink because even a glass seems to trigger. OTOH it was a beach vacation so they may have been salt depleted but was not hot