The version of the diet that appears to work for serious psychiatric disorders is the strict medical ketogenic diet (3:1 or 4:1 ratio). The same dietary therapy is used to treat pediatric epilepsy.
This therapeutic dietary intervention should be medically prescribed and monitored. This ketogenic diet version is very difficult to do and has serious risks, as well as potential benefits. Levels of ketones, glucose, and body weight all impact the effectiveness of the diet. Additionally, medications often need to be adjusted. New side effects can emerge when people are in ketosis. Some medications can interfere with the effectiveness of the ketogenic diet by increasing blood glucose levels and preventing ketosis. Such medicines may need to be safely reduced or stopped.
Adjusting psychiatric medications can sometimes be very dangerous, and should only be done with medication supervision and monitoring. Finally, when starting the ketogenic diet, people can experience an increase in their psychiatric symptoms, hypoglycemia, low blood pressure, weakness, dizziness, and other worrisome symptoms, which all need to be monitored and safely managed by a skilled medical team.
This isn’t an “our lawyers made us say it” warning. We mean it.
Grand Rounds – “Ketogenic Diet in Medicine and Psychiatry” 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...
Case Reports / Podcasts / Start Here
by Volunteer Journalist · Published November 1, 2019 · Last modified April 13, 2022
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...
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:...
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...
Dr. Palmer is director of the Department of Postgraduate and Continuing Education at McLean Hospital. Ketogenic therapy from treating epileptic seizures to mental illness
Show notes for Low Carb MD Podcast Episode 49 00:00 Welcome to the Low Carb MD podcast with Dr. Chris Palmer. He is a Harvard psychiatrist who has case reports and case studies on...
Part 1: Episode 63 – Keto Naturopath by Karl Goldcamp interviews Chris Palmer Show notes – Addiction and ketogenic diet This podcast discusses behavioral disorders and a ketogenic therapeutic intervention. Diet and addiction 3:20 ...
Victoria Field, Co-founder of Metabolic Health Summit interviewed Dr. Palmer. Come hear Chris speak at the Metabolic Health Summit during the 2020 conference.
Chris Palmer, MD was a co-author of this Chris Palmer, MD was a co-author of this 2018 case study which showed an improvement in schizophrenic symptoms in young Ecuadorian twins on a ketogenic diet. They were a...
The exact causes of bipolar disorder (formerly known as manic depressive illness) are unknown. Most people believe it is related to a chemical imbalance, referring to neurotransmitter imbalances in the brain. Current treatments are...
