An Overview of the Ketogenic diet and mental health

Mental health disorders including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder remain among the leading causes of disability worldwide and are often characterized by metabolic disturbances, treatment resistance, and reduced quality of life. Conventional pharmacotherapies, while effective for many, frequently fail to achieve full symptom remission and may exacerbate metabolic dysfunction. The ketogenic diet (KD), a high-fat, low-carbohydrate, and moderate-protein dietary regimen originally developed for epilepsy management, has recently gained attention as a potential therapeutic approach for psychiatric and neurocognitive disorders. Emerging preclinical and clinical evidence suggests that KD exerts neuroprotective effects by enhancing mitochondrial function, stabilizing neurotransmission, reducing oxidative stress, and modulating inflammatory and epigenetic pathways. This review integrates data from animal studies and clinical trials to elucidate how ketogenic metabolism may alleviate psychiatric symptoms, improve cognitive function, and enhance insulin sensitivity. By addressing both neural and metabolic dysregulation, KD represents a multifactorial, mechanism-driven adjunctive intervention with potential to transform therapeutic strategies in severe mental illness.

کلیدواژه ها:

Ketogenic diet ، psychiatry ، bipolar disorder ، schizophrenia ، neuroinflammation ، mitochondria ، metabolic health