The study in question is:<p>Ketogenic Diet Intervention on Metabolic and Psychiatric Health in Bipolar and Schizophrenia: A Pilot Trial (2024) (PMID 38547601)<p>Here are the findings from its abstract:<p>> 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 %).<p>This is fine for psychiatric patients, but for everyone else, a real ketogenic diet adds substantial risks as documented in these studies:<p>1. Ketogenic diets inhibit mitochondrial biogenesis and induce cardiac fibrosis (2021) (PMID 33558457)<p>2. Ketogenic diet induces p53-dependent cellular senescence in multiple organs (2024) (PMID 38758782)<p>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.
I think compared to the average basically toxic US diet, almost any diet that avoids the worst ingredients will help with many diseases. There may be some differences in ourcomes between ketogenic diet, vegan and whatever but the biggest step for health will be eating/drinking cleaner in reasonable amounts.
"The focus of eating is on whole non-processed foods including protein and non-starchy vegetables"<p>I think the big thing here is not ketosis, it's cutting out a lot of trash from one's diet, which is a side-effect of going keto.
A sattvic diet would, I believe, show just the same improvements
I would encorage everyone to take a look at the metabolic mind site - <a href="https://www.metabolicmind.org/" rel="nofollow">https://www.metabolicmind.org/</a> (youtube channel - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@metabolicmind" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/@metabolicmind</a>).<p>Extensive presentation from Dr. Dom D'Agostino - <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxWUGuTV0JY&t=4s" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxWUGuTV0JY&t=4s</a><p>Do not trust opinions on the web, do your own research and approach everything with a critical mind - fact based medicine, not voice of authority matter here.<p>I have been following the ketogenic diet for about 2 months and I feel significantly better than before starting it - this is not medical advice, each one of us will have to learn about this medical intervention and decide what's best for him or her.<p>Good luck.
Interesting to me - no R01 or other NIH money listed on NIH RePORTER for the PI. Either Stanford is moving to boutique private funders a la this Baszucki people or chan-zuckerberg etc etc (with matching overhead?). Or she will be gone to greener pastures in 2 years.
Ketogenic diets are hard to get right without really good information. It turns out that a lot of things can send you out of ketosis including just walking by a donut shop and smelling the (delicious) aroma of fresh baked bread. You may even be susceptible to commercials that advertise a burger and fries or pizza.<p>Foods that are marked as “keto friendly” are not necessarily safe to consume as it is not about eating specific foods as it is about eating the right ratio of protein, fats and carbohydrates. This ratio needs to be tighter for some people to enter and stay in ketosis.<p>Finally, there are ways to detect whether you are in ketosis via breath … but they only work for so long while your body is getting used to being in ketosis.<p>All of this is to say that you should be wary of individuals who claim to have followed a ketogenic diet. Maybe they did… but maybe they only thought they did. If they attempted it without feedback, I am suspicious of their claim.<p>I’m not a doctor but I did spend a lot of time learning about ketosis from one. If you are going to attempt it, consider doing the same.