Below you’ll find the following:

• a video of Dr. Palmer’s comments from his Instagram account.
• The text of Dr. Palmer’s comments.
• a video of all the scientists and physicians commenting at this session

My name is Chris Palmer. I’m a physician and researcher at Harvard Medical School. As you all know, we now have epidemics of obesity and diabetes in this country. 

Most people assume these problems are fairly straightforward – they are, after all, lifestyle diseases. They revolve around choices – what people eat and whether they exercise. Simple explanations, with simple solutions. Eat less. Exercise more. 

Well, I’m here to tell you that it is not so simple. You see, back 25 years ago when I was a young physician, I was following the dietary guidelines to a tee… eating the recommended diet and exercising regularly. I was meticulous about it because I wanted to avoid the fate of the suffering people that I saw in the hospital every day. And yet, the guidelines didn’t work for me. I had high blood pressure and high cholesterol even though I was only in my 20’s.

After years of the guidelines not working, I was told that I had to go on medications. In a last-ditch act of defiance, I changed my diet to a low carbohydrate diet. Low and behold, after 3 months, all of my cardiac risk factors improved dramatically. I’ve never looked back, and I’ve remained healthy, off medications, for 23 years now on this diet. 

As a physician, I want to understand what happened. Why did the guidelines fail me, and what can we do about it going forward? One clear problem with past guidelines is that they weren’t based on the best science. They were based on correlational studies, not randomized controlled trials. Everyone knows that correlation doesn’t equal causation. I wish the past guidelines committee knew that. We also know that when diets leave people feeling hungry, they are destined to fail. If people often feel hungry, maintaining a normal weight is next to impossible. 

We now have science showing that hunger is driven by many hormones and their effects on the brain. One of these is insulin.  When the brain is insulin resistant, it is hungry. So what can we do about this? One solution already proven to work is eating a low carbohydrate diet. You see, the science now explains why this diet has worked so well for me. But it’s not just me.

As a physician, I have seen this work in countless patients. I have a patient right now who has lost over 150 pounds and has kept it off for over 4 years. He’s still going strong. And by the way, he also has schizophrenia. Most people see him as profoundly ill and unmotivated. Yet he did this, and is still doing it, because it works. With accurate and effective advice, even he can maintain a healthy weight now. And oh… by the way, his cardiac risk profile improved dramatically too. 

I ask you to prioritize the science, and include a low carbohydrate diet as at least one option in the new guidelines. The American Diabetes Association has done this, and so should you. Hundreds of millions of people are counting on you to get this right.

Video of comments made by all of the speakers during the January 24th, 2020 afternoon comment period.

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Low Carb USA presentation from January 2019. Great overview of medical ketogenic diet developed for epilepsy.

Brought to us courtesy of Keto Mojo’s ketone and glucose meters. They have arranged to make last year’s presentations available for free.

Dr. Palmer’s Boca 2020 presentation was even stronger, and is available from LowCarb USA’s site for an additional fee.

The post Low Carb USA – “Keto for the Brain: Treating Neurological and Psychiatric Conditions” appeared first on Chris Palmer, MD.

In this video presentation, Dr. Palmer shares research and his use of ketogenic medical therapy to treat mental illness. The presentation was given to fellow medical professionals as “Grand Rounds.” McLean Hospital is an affiliated teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School.

The post McLean Hospital Grand Rounds – Overview for healthcare professionals appeared first on Chris Palmer, MD.

Epilepsy & ketogenic diet research

Dr. Palmer’s Psychology Today article on the ketogenic diet in epilepsy treatment. 

• Neal EG, Chaffe H, Schwartz RH, et al. The ketogenic diet for the treatment of childhood epilepsy: a randomized controlled trial. Lancet Neurology 2008; 7:500–506. [Article] [PubMed]
• Freeman JM, Vining EPG, Kossoff EH, et al. A blinded, crossover study of the ketogenic diet. Epilepsia 2009; 50:322–325.
• Martin K, Jackson CF, Levy RG, Cooper PN. Ketogenic diet and other dietary treatments for epilepsy. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2016, Issue 2. Art. No.: CD001903. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD001903.pub3.
•  Bough, K. J. and Rho, J. M. (2007), Anticonvulsant Mechanisms of the Ketogenic Diet. Epilepsia, 48: 43-58. doi:10.1111/j.1528-1167.2007.00915.x

Weight loss, type 2 diabetes and ketogenic diet research

Our keto research summary article

• Abbasi J. Interest in the Ketogenic Diet Grows for Weight Loss and Type 2 Diabetes. JAMA. 2018;319(3):215–217
• Bueno, N., De Melo, I., De Oliveira, S., & Da Rocha Ataide, T. (2013). Very-low-carbohydrate ketogenic diet v. low-fat diet for long-term weight loss: A meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. British Journal of Nutrition, 110(7), 1178-1187.
• Ebbeling CB, Swain JF, Feldman HA, Wong WW, Hachey DL, Garcia-Lago E, Ludwig DS. Effects of Dietary Composition on Energy Expenditure During Weight-Loss Maintenance. JAMA. 2012;307(24):2627–2634. doi:10.1001/jama.2012.6607 [PubMed]
• Palmer, C. M. (2019). Diets and Disorders: Can Foods or Fasting Be Considered Psychopharmacologic Therapies? The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, 81(1), 0–0. https://doi.org/10.4088/JCP.19ac12727
• Saslow, L, Daubenmier, J, Moskowitz, J, Kim, S, Murphy, E, Phinney, S, Ploutz-Snyder, R, Goldman, V, Cox, R, Mason, A, Moran, P, Hecht, F. (2017). Twelve-month outcomes of a randomized trial of a moderate-carbohydrate versus very low-carbohydrate diet in overweight adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus or prediabetes. Nutrition & Diabetes. 7. 10.1038/s41387-017-0006-9.
• Snorgaard O, Poulsen GM, Andersen HK, et al. Systematic review and meta-analysis of dietary carbohydrate restriction in patients with type 2 diabetes. BMJ Open Diabetes Research and Care. 2017; 5:e000354. doi: 10.1136/bmjdrc-2016-000354 [PubMed]
• Tobias, Deirdre K et al. Effect of low-fat diet interventions versus other diet interventions on long-term weight change in adults: a systematic review and meta-analysis. 2015. The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, Volume 3 , Issue 12 , 968 – 979 [Article]

Schizophrenia and ketogenic diet research

Our keto research summary article

• Sarnyai Z, Kraeuter AK, Palmer CM. Ketogenic diet for schizophrenia: clinical implication. Current Opinion in Psychiatry.  2019 Jun 11. doi: 10.1097/YCO.0000000000000535. Epub ahead of print [PubMed]
• Palmer C, Javier T, Westman C. The ketogenic diet and remission of psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia: Two case studies. Schizophrenia Research 2019; April 6 
• Pacheco et al.  A pilot study of the ketogenic diet in schizophrenia. Am J Psychiatry 1965, 121:1110-1111. [Article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
• Kraft and Westman. Schizophrenia, gluten, and low-carbohydrate, ketogenic diets: a case report and review of the literature. Nutrition & Metabolism 2009, 6:10 [Article] [Google Scholar]
• Gilbert-Jaramillo, J., Vargas-Pico, D., Espinosa-Mendoza, T., Falk, S., Llanos-Fernandez, K., Guerrero-Haro, J., Orellana-Roman, C., Poveda-Loor, C., Valdevila-Figueira, J., & Palmer, C. (2018). The effects of the ketogenic diet on psychiatric symptomatology, weight and metabolic dysfunction in schizophrenia patients. Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism, 1(1). https://doi.org/10.15761/CNM.1000105
• Kraeuter, A.K., Loxton, H., Lima, B.C., Rudd, D., Sarnyai, Z., 2015. Ketogenic diet reverses behavioral abnormalities in an acute NMDA receptor hypofunction model of schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research. 169, 491-493. [Abstract] [Google Scholar]

Bipolar & ketogenic diet research

Our bipolar &  keto research summary article

• Yaroslovsky et al. Ketogenic Diet in Bipolar Illness. Bipolar Disorders 2002: 4: 75
• Phelps et al.  The ketogenic diet for type II bipolar disorder. Neurocase, 2013;19(5):423-6 [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
• Coello K, Vinberg M, Knop FK, et al. Metabolic profile in patients with newly diagnosed bipolar disorder and their unaffected first‑degree relatives [published online April 2, 2019]. International Journal Bipolar Disorder. doi:10.1186/s40345-019-0142-3

Cardiovascular disease & ketogenic diet research

• Dehghan M, Mente A, Zhang X, et al. Associations of fats and carbohydrate intake with cardiovascular disease and mortality in 18 countries from five continents (PURE): a prospective cohort study.  Lancet. 2017 Aug 28 doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(17)32252-3
• Samaha FF, Iqbal N, Seshadri P, Chicano KL, Daily DA, McGrory J, et al. A low-carbohydrate as compared with a low-fat diet in severe obesity. New England Journal of Medicine. (2003) 348(21):2074–81.

Inflammation, longevity and ketogenic diet research

• Dupuis N, Curatolo N, Benoist JF, Auvin S. Ketogenic diet exhibits anti-inflammatory properties. Epilepsia. 2015; 56:e95–e98.
• Roberts MN, Wallace MA, Tomilov AA, et al. A Ketogenic Diet Extends Longevity and Healthspan in Adult Mice. Cell Metabolism. 2017 Sep 5;26(3):539-546.e5

Useful overviews of low carb and ketogenic research –

• Diet Doctor: The Science of low carb and keto
• Virta Health: A comprehensive list of low-carb research. 2018, January 31.
• Public Health Collaboration UK: Randomised controlled trials comparing low-carb diets to low-fat diets

The post Bibliography – Medical ketogenic diet for metabolic and mental health research appeared first on Chris Palmer, MD.

Episode 10 “Nutritional Psychiatry, Metabolic Disorders, and Using the Ketogenic Diet as a Medical Intervention for Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder with Chris Palmer, M.D.”

Mental Horizons Podcast with Virgil Stucker & Associates’s Stephanie McMahon put together great show notes here.

The post Mental Horizons interviews Dr. Palmer – Using ketogenic medical therapy for schizophrenia, bipolar, and metabolic disorders appeared first on Chris Palmer, MD.

Dr. Palmer is director of the Department of Postgraduate and Continuing Education at McLean Hospital.

Ketogenic therapy from treating epileptic seizures to mental illness

The post McLean Hospital’s Mindful Things interviews Dr. Palmer appeared first on Chris Palmer, MD.

Come hear Chris speak at the Metabolic Health Summit during the 2020 conference.

The post Metabolic Health Summit’s Victoria Field interviews Dr. Palmer appeared first on Chris Palmer, MD.