Research Database

This conceptual analysis discusses ketogenic metabolic therapies as an adjunct to bipolar disorder treatment guidelines using cognitive behavior therapy to improve patient outcomes.

This review suggests low-carbohydrate and ketogenic diets show clinical potential for reducing depressive and anxiety symptoms as adjunctive therapies for treatment-resistant mental health conditions.

This perspective review examines bipolar disorder through a metabolic lens. It highlights how nutrition, seasonal light, and metabolic shifts may contribute to symptom instability.

This case series describes nine participants experiencing mood changes after starting ketogenic therapy. Patients and doctors should be aware of risks and strategies to manage symptoms.

A review of growing evidence connecting metabolic dysfunction to mental health outcomes across psychiatric disorders. This review ranks metabolic interventions by evidence strength and clinical recommendation.

This conceptual analysis proposes ketogenic metabolic therapy as an adjunct approach in psychosis and develops a care pathway model to reduce barriers to cognitive behavioral therapy in schizophrenia…

Fecal transplants from ketogenic diet-fed mice into a validated schizophrenia mouse model improved behavioral deficits. This suggests gut microbiome changes may help drive the ketogenic diet’s beneficial effects.

This retrospective study found a 12-week remote ketogenic metabolic therapy program feasible and associated with reduced depression and anxiety symptoms in adults with varying mental health conditions.

Mental health experts developed consensus recommendations for safely using ketogenic metabolic therapy in adults with major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.

A case report found that a 45-year-old with treatment-resistant PTSD had reductions in PTSD, depression, and anxiety symptoms after 25 weeks on a ketogenic diet.

In a 6-week randomized trial, adults with treatment-resistant depression had modest depressive symptom improvements on the ketogenic diet.

Lamotrigine treats both epilepsy and bipolar disorder via shared neurobiology. This review explores whether therapeutic ketosis may synergistically enhance mood stabilization and metabolic health.

In a virtual 14-week pilot, participants maintained nutritional ketosis with high retention and tolerability, alongside significant reductions in depression, anxiety, and anhedonia.

This case report describes a 48-year-old woman with treatment-resistant schizophrenia and metabolic syndrome who completed a 5-week inpatient medical ketogenic diet. She showed notable reductions in insulin resistance…

This review describes preclinical and clinical work that suggests ketogenic therapy may improve schizophrenia symptoms by modulating inflammation, cellular metabolism, and epigenetics. Current evidence is preliminary and requires…

This case series followed seven individuals with bipolar disorder over three months of ketogenic metabolic therapy, assessing psychiatric, cardiometabolic, and patient-reported outcomes. Participants showed improved mood symptoms alongside…

This review and meta-analysis of 50 studies found that ketogenic diets modestly improved depressive symptoms, particularly when ketone levels are monitored, but there is inconclusive evidence for anxiety.

This review discusses genetic and metabolic factors that contribute to Anorexia nervosa and focuses on the effect of ketones, related molecules, and nutritional therapies e.g. the ketogenic diet…

A pilot study of college students found a ketogenic diet was feasible alongside standard care and associated with ~70% depression symptom reduction, improved well-being and cognition, and weight…

A retrospective case report describes an individual with schizophrenia who achieved remission and successfully tapered off all psychiatric medications after maintaining steady nutritional ketosis on a carnivore ketogenic…

A literature review evaluating the validity of quantifying ketone blood levels via β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB) testing as a measure of nutritional ketosis for research and clinical practice. Clinical trials…

This pre-clinical study found that combining a ketogenic diet with regular voluntary exercise significantly reduced anxiety and depression-like behaviors in an animal model.

This pre-clinical study found that fasting or a short-term ketogenic diet can prevent rapid increases in blood glucose typically seen with antipsychotic medications.

This pre-clinical study hypothesizes that chronic administration of BHB (beta-hydroxybutyrate) replicates the therapeutic effects of ketogenic diet for schizophrenia in mice.

Researchers at James Cook University suggest that metabolically-based intervention, shown through animal models, might have therapeutic value in the management of schizophrenia.

A pre-clinical study that investigated whether a ketogenic diet could reverse schizophrenia-like behavioral changes in mice caused by acute NMDA receptor hypofunction—a common experimental model for schizophrenia.

This pre-clinical study focuses on the ketogenic diet reducing the severity on an Anorexia Nervosa relapse through the reduction of compulsive exercise.

This pre-clinical study focuses on selected genetic, early neurodevelopmental and pharmacological animal models that capture the combined behavioral and metabolic abnormalities shown by schizophrenic patients.

This analysis paper aims to investigate associations between a ketogenic diet and mood stabilization among individuals with bipolar disorder.

This review paper describes a neurological model for why ketogenic therapy could address key alterations in anorexia nervosa and prevent the desire for weight loss.

This review paper aims to explain how ketogenic diets can improve mental illness biopathology and review the recent clinical literature.

This review paper describes recent findings, highlighting 2 types of neurobiological abnormalities in BD: 1) mitochondrial dysfunction and 2) neurotransmitter and neural network functional abnormalities.

This protocol paper reviews the commonly used best practices involved in applications of the ketogenic diet to facilitate its translation into clinical use.

This ongoing triple-blind, randomized controlled crossover trial investigates the effects of a single ingestion of KE (ketone esters) on signs and symptoms of schizophrenia spectrum disorders (SSDs) and…

This pilot clinical trial protocol aims to investigate the effect of a ‘ketogenic-mimicking diet’ on neural network stability, mood, and biomarker outcomes in the setting of bipolar disorder.

A case series on a 38 years-old female participating in a structured 8 weeks KMT psychoeducation program to put PTSD, ADHD, BED, and more into remission.

This case study explores the adjunctive use of ketogenic metabolic therapy (KMT) in conjunction with ERP for a 26-year-old man with treatment-resistant OCD over 12 weeks.

This case study examines a 47-year-old woman with lifelong treatment-resistant MDD who achieved complete remission and improved functioning through a ketogenic diet.

A case series of a 29 year-old woman who struggled with severe anorexia who experienced a complete recovery following a ketogenic diet and ketamine infusions.

A case series of two patients with schizophrenia who achieve full remission of psychotic symptoms after following a ketogenic diet.

A case series looking at glucose intolerance and insulin resistance, and how the ketogenic diet can help people with schizoaffective disorder.

A clinical trial paper demonstrating the use of ketogenic diet intervention to reduce alcohol withdrawal severity and alcohol cravings.

A pilot study aiming to assess the impact of a ketogenic diet in bipolar disorder on clinical, metabolic and magnetic resonance spectroscopy outcomes.

A process evaluation providing insights into the experiences of people living with bipolar disorder initiating and following a ketogenic diet.

A review that highlights how brain function relies heavily on energy metabolism and that disruptions in this process are common in neuropsychiatric disorders.

A collection of research exploring the potential of ketogenic metabolic therapy as a novel, low-risk intervention for a wide range of neuropsychiatric conditions.

A case series of three individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) who achieve medication-free remission and a 90.5% reduction in symptoms after adopting a ketogenic diet.

A case study describing the first clinical application of a ketogenic diet in adult OCD with ulcerative colitis (UC) resulting in complete remission of OCD, clinical remission of UC, and improved metabolic health.

A case series of two individuals who experienced full remission of psychotic and mood symptoms after implementing ketogenic metabolic therapy.

A ketogenic diet may benefit individuals with autism spectrum disorder by addressing underlying metabolic and neuroprotective mechanisms.

A clinical trial protocol to investigate whether a ketogenic diet can reduce psychiatric and metabolic symptoms in individuals with bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and schizoaffective disorder by comparing it…

A case study about how ketogenic therapy improved treatment-resistant depressive symptoms in a patient with bipolar disorder, leading to a stabilized mood, enhanced quality of life, and reduced medication…

Disruptions in metabolic pathways are linked to serious mental illness and suggest that ketogenic interventions may help restore metabolic balance based on gene expression data analysis.

Analysis demonstrating that in lived experience accounts of ketogenic therapy for depressive symptoms, pros outweigh cons for participants.

Review of evidence about how ketogenic diets may improve mood disorders by targeting metabolic dysfunctions, including mitochondrial issues, inflammation, oxidative stress, and insulin resistance, as explored in recent…

A 4-month clinical trial at Stanford of ketogenic diet for serious mental illness showed promising preliminary results indicating remission of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia in participants who adhered…

A case series of three adults who achieve complete remission of major depression and generalized anxiety disorder with a ketogenic dietary intervention.

A clinical trial paper demonstrating the safety and efficacy of using ketogenic therapy in bipolar disorder.

This study looked at people with both type 2 diabetes and depression, finding that standard treatments might not work as well for them. It tested whether adding a…

Researchers at Harvard published this case series suggesting a ketogenic diet may be useful for some patients with anorexia nervosa.

Drs. Shebani Sethi and Judy Ford call for more clinical trials to address the potential beneficial effects of the ketogenic diet in people with serious mental illness.

A small pilot trial demonstrated safety and efficacy for adults with chronic psychopathology and supports specific neurobiological mechanisms that can be normalized using therapeutic ketogenic diet and ketamine.

Dr. Albert Danan showed that in a French cohort of treatment-resistant inpatients, all experienced weight loss and psychiatric symptom reduction, with nearly half no longer meeting criteria for…

Dr. Cynthia Calkin and colleagues demonstrate that improving insulin sensitivity in treatment-resistant bipolar depression led to remission after decades of illness.

Drs. Harry and Iain Campbell suggest that mitochondrial dysfunction in bipolar disorder likely stems from issues with the Pyruvate Dehydrogenase Complex (PDC), leading to reduced energy production (ATP)….

A commentary reviewing the emerging evidence supporting the use of nutritional ketosis as a treatment for serious mental illness.