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The study in question is: Ketogenic Diet Intervention on Metabolic and Psychiatric Health in Bipolar and Schizophrenia: A Pilot Trial (2024) (PMID 38547601) H

The study in question is: Ketogenic Diet Intervention on Metabolic and Psychiatric Health in Bipolar and Schizophrenia: A Pilot Trial (2024) (PMID 38547601) Here are the findings from its abstract: > Results showcased improvements in metabolic health, with no participants meeting metabolic syndrome criteria by study conclusion. Adherent individuals experienced significant reduction in weight (12 %), BMI (12 %), waist circumference (13 %), and visceral adipose tissue (36 %). Observed biomarker enhancements in this population include a 27 % decrease in HOMA–IR, and a 25 % drop in triglyceride levels. In psychiatric measurements, participants with schizophrenia showed a 32 % reduction in Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale scores. Overall Clinical Global Impression (CGI) severity improved by an average of 31 %, and the proportion of participants that started with elevated symptomatology improved at least 1–point on CGI (79 %). Psychiatric outcomes across the cohort encompassed increased life satisfaction (17 %) and enhanced sleep quality (19 %). This is fine for psychiatric patients, but for everyone else, a real ketogenic diet adds substantial risks as documented in these studies: 1. Ketogenic diets inhibit mitochondrial biogenesis and induce cardiac fibrosis (2021) (PMID 33558457) 2. Ketogenic diet induces p53-dependent cellular senescence in multiple organs (2024) (PMID 38758782) The problem is that what actually counted as a ketogenic diet in the psychiatric study will get lost in its application, getting misinterpreted as a high-meat high-fat diet, which it wasn't.

arijo 2y ago
Why wouldn’t these substantial risks also apply to psychiatric patients - are there any studies corraborating your assertion?
- OutOfHere 2y ago
  Firstly, what different studies mean by a ketogenic diet is quite different. For example, it is very possible that a healthy ketogenic diet doesn't carry these risks, whereas an unhealthy high-meat ketogenic diet carries them. Secondly, even if the risks continue to be present in psychiatric patients, the psychiatirc benefits could still outweigh the risks, and the risks could perhaps be offset in other ways, e.g. using a statin.
  - arijo 2y ago
    If it’s possible that some healthy ketogenic diets don't carry the risks mentioned in those 2 papers then by definition there’s an over generalization implicit in the research results. If there are issues between different ketogenic diets let’s try to figure out what those are without dropping the baby with the bath water.

arijo 2y ago

Why wouldn’t these substantial risks also apply to psychiatric patients - are there any studies corraborating your assertion?

OutOfHere 2y ago
Firstly, what different studies mean by a ketogenic diet is quite different. For example, it is very possible that a healthy ketogenic diet doesn't carry these risks, whereas an unhealthy high-meat ketogenic diet carries them. Secondly, even if the risks continue to be present in psychiatric patients, the psychiatirc benefits could still outweigh the risks, and the risks could perhaps be offset in other ways, e.g. using a statin.
- arijo 2y ago
  If it’s possible that some healthy ketogenic diets don't carry the risks mentioned in those 2 papers then by definition there’s an over generalization implicit in the research results. If there are issues between different ketogenic diets let’s try to figure out what those are without dropping the baby with the bath water.