Keto Diet for Schizophrenia: Cure or Controversy?

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. recently suggested that Americans' diets are driving mental illness and that a ketogenic diet could potentially cure schizophrenia. This assertion, made on February 5th, referenced a 2019 study from Harvard where two women with schizophrenia reportedly entered remission after adopting a keto diet.

The ketogenic diet, characterized by low carbohydrates, moderate protein, and high fat, is known for its use in managing epilepsy and diabetes, and has gained popularity for weight loss. However, leading medical professionals have voiced strong opposition to the notion that it can cure mental disorders.

Columbia psychiatry professor Dr. Mark Olfson stated there is "no credible evidence" that ketogenic diets cure schizophrenia. Dr. Paul S. Appelbaum, also from Columbia University, described such suggestions as "misleading," noting that studies on keto and schizophrenia offer only "very preliminary evidence."

Even the study's author, Dr. Christopher Palmer, clarified in Psychology Today that the women in his study were in remission, not cured, and stressed the need for more research. He further defined keto as an "adjunct or alternative therapy," not a substitute for conventional treatment.

Supporting this nuanced view, a study from last April found that the keto diet can be a "feasible and acceptable supplemental treatment to neuroleptic medication" for schizophrenia, reinforcing its role as an addition to, rather than a replacement for, established medical care.