National Public Radio podcast examines the connection between a ketogenic diet and mental health. Psychiatrist Chris Palmer and his patient, Dan, are interviewed by host Karen Weintraub. Dan, who has schizophrenia, has been on a ketogenic diet for three years. During this time Dan’s quality of life was greatly improved.

“The good news in all of this is that these things (metabolic disturbances) are reversible. Metabolism can be changed by exercise and what we eat. That is a really exciting area of research.”

Chris Palmer, MD

https://dcs.megaphone.fm/BUR8345063909.mp3?key=812bcd5d8b9493d4a3f6d45474739e49

Podcast show notes

• 0:04 Introduction. The ketogenic diet contains large amounts of healthy fat, moderate amounts of protein, and very few carbohydrates. It has been used since the 1920’s to treat epilepsy.  Now it is also being tested as a treatment for depression, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.
• 0:35 Karen introduces Dan, Chris Palmer’s patient. Dan talks briefly about his history as a young patient struggling with schizophrenia.
• 1:14 Karen and Dan talk about Dan’s recovery and the medical ketogenic diet he adheres to.
• 1:47 Karen introduces Chris. Chris and Karen talk about the connection between metabolism, diet and mental illness. Mental illness is closely linked with diet and metabolic issues. Metabolism can be positively changed by a ketogenic diet and exercise.
• 3:10 Karen talks about a study being done at Northeastern University: how individual nutrients and chemicals affect the brain. She introduces a computer scientist, Albert-Laszlo Barabasi, and he further explains the study.
• 4:13 Karen and Dan talk about Dan’s recovery again. Dan has been on the ketogenic diet for 3 years. He talks about the positive changes that have occurred in his life. He lost 140 lbs, is on half the medication he used to be on, has an active lifestyle and says he feels great.
• 4:55 – Closing.

Other case reports on schizophrenia and ketogenic therapies

Bibliography – Medical ketogenic diet for metabolic and mental health research

The post NPR Interviews Dr. Palmer and his patient about managing schizophrenia with the ketogenic diet 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.

What can we learn from this study?

A central focus of this study was to assess how the ketogenic diet would affect these patients’ schizophrenic symptoms.

This pilot study employed a 6 week intervention of the ketogenic diet for these two people with schizophrenia. (A pilot study is a small study used to test whether the study question warrants a full-scale investigation. It is a building block for future medical research.) After allowing them to adapt to ketosis for 15 days, the twins’ psychiatric symptoms were evaluated. This evaluation was conducted by a psychiatrist who was unaware of the dietary intervention.

How did 15 days on the ketogenic diet affect the twins’ symptoms?

First off, they both lost weight. An effect well known for the ketogenic diet.

A second, and more important outcome was an improvement in their schizophrenic symptoms.

How were their schizophrenic symptoms measured?

The measure used in this study was the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS). The PANSS is an assessment used to evaluate the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia. It is often used in patient care in psychiatry.  It is also used in studies done to evaluate the efficacy of new medications. Therefore, it was an appropriate tool to use to evaluate this dietary psychiatric intervention.

Positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia?

Yes, schizophrenia has symptoms which are both positive and negative.

Positive symptoms are the presence of abnormal characteristics. One group of positive symptoms is hallucinations (false sensory experiences that feel real). Delusions (false beliefs that persist despite a contradicting reality) are another set of positive symptoms. Negative symptoms are the absence of characteristics that would be present in a typical person. These include a lack of motivation, diminished thought content, lack of social interaction, diminished emotional responsiveness and expression, and loss of pleasure. Together the positive and negative symptoms form the bulk of some of the basic dysfunctions in schizophrenia.

The case study results

It is important that a tool that can measure both positive and negative symptoms was used in this study.  Despite not being able to maintain high levels of ketosis for long periods of the experiment, the PANSS scores improved for both twins, that is, their schizophrenic symptoms got better. This improvement lasted only as long as the patients stayed on the diet. At the end of the study the participants went back to their normal diet and their symptoms returned. The exacerbation of symptoms while off the diet is a further vote of confidence that it was the diet that spurred the improvement.

What does this case study mean about keto and schizophrenia?

Because this was a small, pilot study, it does not demonstrate anything conclusively. It does provide another bit of evidence to support the idea that more research is called for to explore the efficacy of the ketogenic diet for the treatment of schizophrenic symptoms.

Another case study about the efficacy of the ketogenic diet might also be of interest to you, see Dr. Palmer’s case study. The ketogenic diet and remission of psychotic symptoms in schizophrenia: Two case studies.

See the Ecuadorian twin study for yourself.

More on the ketogenic diet – mental health – and metabolic connections

• Our research and how to participate
• Continuing education for professionals

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