Our aim with THINK+SMART is to be descriptive, not prescriptive. There is no one right way to employ metabolic strategies to improve mental and physical health, and personalization is key. To help you develop your own program, THINK+SMART consolidates strategies and tactics reported by our community of clinicians and peers as safe and effective.
THINK+SMART is a self-guided tool built on community knowledge to help you develop a metabolic approach to mental health. THINK+SMART encourages individuals to learn, share, and implement personalized strategies for lasting wellness.
Therapeutic Integration of Nutritional Ketosis
What is included in a THINK Protocol?
A well-designed THINK protocol will typically define a personalized approach to ten elements of ketogenic therapy:
Ketogenic therapy–or what we call THINK–is a medical nutritional intervention that has been used for over a century to treat refractory epilepsy and that is widely employed in obesity and Type 2 diabetes. Emerging evidence in psychiatry demonstrates that ketogenic therapy can improve overall brain function as well as symptoms of even the most serious mental illnesses.
Unlike the popular “keto” diet for weight loss, a THINK protocol can incorporate many different combinations of animal and/or plant foods providing that overall carbohydrate intake is limited. THINK can accommodate carnivore, omnivore, Mediterranean, vegetarian, and with the right supplementation and oversight, even vegan dietary patterns.
Other terms used to describe this approach include ketogenic diet, metabolic diet, ketogenic metabolic therapy, medical keto, therapeutic carbohydrate reduction, therapeutic nutritional intervention, and precision therapeutic nutrition.
TH – Therapeutic
I – Integration
N – Nutritional
K – Ketosis
Sleep • Move • Avoid • Rebuild • Track
The SMART framework invites you to adopt specific approaches to sleep, movement, avoidance, rebuilding, and tracking to improve metabolic function. Strategies can include tools, talk therapies, stress reduction techniques, mindfulness, 12-step programs, bedtime routines, tracking apps, and more.
Although what and when you eat is the primary driver of healthy metabolic function, many other variables are also critical, including but not limited to:
Different things work for different people, and we certainly don’t have all the answers at Metabolic Mind, nor is that our goal. Instead, we hope that through the generosity of our community, we can harness the power of individual experiences to build an informal collective knowledge base that benefits us all. You will learn about what has worked for others, including useful apps, tracking tools, talk therapies, stress reduction techniques, mindfulness, 12-step programs, and more.
We invite you to sign up for our newsletter so we can send you the THINK+SMART worksheet for developing your plan. Once you have at least four months of experience using these therapies, we invite you to share your overall experience as well as your specific strategies with Metabolic Mind.
S – Sleep
M – Move
A – Avoid
R – Rebuild
T – Track
Hear inspiring stories of how our community members have achieved health breakthroughs using metabolic approaches. Discover real experiences, including challenges, setbacks, and successes on the path to wellness.
