Researchers recently found that a ketogenic diet consisting of low-carb and high-fat foods might help patients suffering from mental illnesses such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder by easing the metabolic side effects of their medications.
The study conducted by researchers at Stanford Medicine, observed the changes undergone by 23 patients, diagnosed with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, on following a diet consisting of 10 percent carbohydrates, 30 percent protein and about 60 percent fat.
The researchers instructed participants to eat one cup of vegetables per day, two cups of salad per day and to drink eight glasses of water a day. The participants were encouraged to include avocado, coconut oil and olive oil in their diet while continuing their medications.
Health coaches were assigned to the participants to check whether they adhered to the diet plan or not, and to monitor their weekly blood tests.
After four months of a keto diet, the researchers noted that 79 percent of participants showed a “clinically meaningful improvement” in psychiatric symptoms.
Also, the participants lost an average of 12 percent of their body weight, dropped 13 percent of their waist circumference, and reduced 36 percent of their visceral adipose tissue.
Before the trial, the researchers observed that several patients suffered from major metabolic side effects of the medications such as insulin resistance, heart disease risk and weight gain, but after the study period, none of the participants had metabolic syndrome.
“The working theory is that we’re providing energy to the brain that circumvents these metabolic deficits,” said Shebani Sethi, a clinical associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford Medicine and the lead author of the study.
However, more research is required to determine the effects of dietary change on patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder as the study conducted at Stanford Medicine was on a small scale for a short duration.
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