Psychiatric Disorders

Complete remission of depression and anxiety using a ketogenic diet: case series

Mental health disorders such as depression and anxiety are common and often challenging to manage with conventional treatments alone. Additionally, emerging research demonstrates a strong link between mental health and metabolic health, which has led to the rapidly growing field of metabolic psychiatry.

A recent case series suggests that ketogenic metabolic therapy targeting sustained nutritional ketosis can help people with mental health disorders achieve remission while losing body fat and improving cardiometabolic risk factors.

Three individuals with major depression and generalized anxiety disorder followed an animal-based ketogenic diet with a modest 1.5:1 ratio of fat: carbohydrates + protein. During this time, they tested blood ketones daily, targeting levels above 0.8 mmol/L, and received close clinical monitoring and support.

Within 7 to 12 weeks, all three individuals achieved remission of major depression and generalized anxiety, reported significant improvement in quality of life, lost body fat, and improved or normalized markers of metabolic health.

This promising case series suggests that ketogenic metabolic therapy, when coupled with close clinical monitoring and support, can be a highly effective intervention for putting mental health disorders into remission while promoting optimal metabolic health.