Schizophrenia And The Ketogenic Diet

[IChoseTheRedPill]

This is an extremely interesting article... There are other patients on this diet... I am bipolar and I just started the diet... I am one of them... I realize that this is more or less anecdotal (there's no formal study as of yet) My hope is that this helps someone here...

Quote

An article that two colleagues and I just published April 6, 2019 in the medical journal Schizophrenia Research describes two patients with longstanding schizophrenia who experienced complete remission of symptoms with the ketogenic diet, a well-established, evidence-based treatment for epilepsy. Of particular interest in our research, both patients were able to stop anti-psychotic medications and have remained in remission for years now. Though more evidence is certainly needed, this is extraordinarily hopeful news for those with this disorder and for the mental health professionals treating them.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/advancing-psychiatry/201904/chronic-schizophrenia-put-remission-without-medication

 

Edited November 27, 2019 by IChoseTheRedPill

[Michael569]

Fascinating, thanks for sharing! Heard about the benefits of keto for epilepsy but didn't know it can be helpful for schizophrenia. Are you the 39-year-old patient? 

They said that it works through bypassing the insulin resistance of brain cells by feeding them ketones? Does that mean that schisophrenia is not caused by excessive neuron firing but rather brain cells being starved? 

Is this a permanent diet to follow for you or will you be able to get some carbs back in the future>? 

[SgtPepper]

Look into this book

https://www.amazon.com/Psychology-Syndrome-D-D-D-H-D-Schizophrenia/dp/0954852028

[IChoseTheRedPill]

Michael569... No it's not me... I'm bipolar 1... I am seriously thinking of trying this diet myself... I think You're right regarding brain cells being insulin resistant... It would help explain why ketones work supplying the brain (and body) as a fuel/energy source... I recently read that the brain operates more efficiently off of ketones... This is a permanent diet change for these patients although I imagine clean carbs could be eaten every once in awhile... The patient needs to be careful not to fall out of ketosis... Thank You for asking Your questions and sharing Your ideas...

[IChoseTheRedPill]

SgtPepper... Thank You for this... I just bought a copy on eBay...

[outlandish]

I met a guy who claimed he was stuck in a mental hospital for years until he figured out that he was completely celiac, and that even a tiny crumb of bread would send him into schizophrenic symptoms, batshit crazy. This was around the year 2002, so well before "gluten intolerance" was a trendy thing. Once he figured that out and strictly avoided any trace of wheat, he was able to function as a totally normal guy (well maybe a little bit trippy), no psych meds or anything, holding down a job, pleasant to be around, chill.

I wonder if these keto people were really just the same kind of celiac, and all they needed to do was avoid wheat, rather than go full keto?

[Average Investor]

I would be hesitant to dive into it looking for the results that two people had. It is really hard to determine all of the factors of each of those individuals.  Take a look at the rate of bipolar in each country and look how it differs and check out their diet. Not only that take a look at the leading causes of death. For the US it is heart disease. Take a look around at other countries and see what their leading causes of death are and what they eat. 

Here is just a quick search online lead me to this https://www.wikihow.com/Treat-Bipolar-Disorder-Naturally

There might be a lot of other factors causing you to have issues with it. I think a big piece is to not identify with having it either. The brain is very complex and to condition it to be deficient somewhere or in pain it tends want to amplify the issues. Just like you can have a placebo effect and actually  get a good result without actually having anything added to help the issue. 

Of course pharmaceuticals are probably going to be best to avoid. But life style changes are going to be important. Drop all drugs and drinking. Exercise and eat better. Look into a lot of different healing modalities.

When I say eating better there is a lot of culprits. Tap water contains a lot of bad stuff usually. Sugar, wheat, and processed foods are quite bad. But do your research and really investigate. I have a feeling if you do enough research you will come to a different conclusion on the route you want to go. 

[InfinitePotential]

I would highly recommend giving it a shot.  Being in ketosis is, in general, a very healing state (if I can speak very loosely).  And for sure, it is safe.

One hypothesized reason that ketosis helps in epilepsy so much is that it improves the handling of glutamate in the brain, the most important excitatory neurotransmitter, and improves conversion of glutamine into GABA, the most important inhibitory neurotransmitter: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2722878/ https://www.naomiwhittel.com/the-ketogenic-diet-and-gaba-connection/

As for schizophrenia, Just from quickly searching, it sounds like GABA and glutamate play a role here as well, so improving the functioning of these could help a lot.

As for bipolar disorder, I could see rises and crashes in blood sugar being a major culprit, which keto eating gets rid of.

So basically, it is safe to try, you'll see some positive benefits, and it might help you with any bipolar symptoms.

[brugluiz]

I was diagnosed with schizophrenia and tries keto diet for some time (I think it was 3-4 months). I lost a lot of weight, but had no difference on the negative symptoms (social withdrawal, alogia, anhedonia, lack of will and cognitive symptoms). Just happened that by decreasing my antipsychotic dose my negative symptoms simply disappeared.

Anyway, keto diet helped me to lose weight (more than 12 kg during the diet).

But I stopped because there were many researches saying this diet is dangerous for the long-term. Nowadays, from the researches and books I read, I think it depends of many factors such as genetics and biology of the person.

[IChoseTheRedPill]

Dominic D'Agostino, PhD was given the responsibility of figuring out why Navy seal teams were experiencing a specific physical problem during diving missions... I don't recall what that problem was but D'Agostino figured it out and determined a ketogenic diet would solve the issue which it did... In followup research he discovered/verified that it may be promising for treating mental illnesses... He also determined that Thomas Seyfried PhD was right about cancer... Seyfried took all of Otto Warburg's work regarding cancer and ran with it... Seyfried is stating that cancer is not a genetic disorder but rather a metabolic disorder of the cells mitochondria becoming dysfunctional causing the cell to basically begin to ferment glucose... He does admit that certain genes "associated" with cancer are turned on through epigenetic action (for a lack of a better word) but that these genes can be turned off as well... Seyfried is saying the keto diet can help reverse cancer by helping to restore mitochondrial function... D'Agostino and others are supporting his claims... Sorry for the tangent but I guess the moral to my story is D'Agostino is claiming that the keto diet may help the mentally ill... It may not work for everyone, like anything else but as I've said in a previous post, mental illness may be caused by inflammation of the brain just like inflammation can be linked to many many many other disorders... Inflammation and insulin resistance (glucose metabolism) By the way, an endoscopy verified a blood test that predicted I have celiac disease and Otto Warburg won the Nobel Prize for his discoveries regarding cancer... I'm sorry for causing controversy and posting in the wrong sub forum... I was just trying to share some information... I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the weekend...

Edited December 8, 2019 by IChoseTheRedPill

[Average Investor]

@IChoseTheRedPill What research showed it was good for mental illness? I am looking at the clinical trials and not sure what you are referring to https://www.ketonutrition.org/clinicaltrials

You're fine I am interested in learning about the topic. If you try it and have good results that is awesome and excellent. So not trying to say that is not a possibility. Just thinking there is other factors you are going to have to help control. Looking at this diet looks better than what most Americans eat, so it is definitely an improvement and I have heard of people doing well on it.