


Ketogenic Diet
There is increasing research evidence that ketogenic diets can improve symptoms in mental health conditions such as major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizoaffective disorder. Historically, ketogenic diets have been used for decades to treat epilepsy.
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The ketogenic diet is difficult to follow and isn't a ‘magic-bullet’ or ‘cure-all’ for psychiatric disorders. At St George's Hospital in London, while I was working in neurology, the ketogenic diet was prescribed for treatment of epileptic seizures in children. It was my role to oversee this for the parents and kids, calculating amounts of fats/carbs and protein; then translating this in to 'real food' and supplement prescription. Essentially, the diet consisted of a lot of fat, small amounts of protein and hardly any carbohydrate.
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What is ketosis?
Ketosis occurs when your brain uses fat as its primary fuel source instead of glucose from carbohydrate foods. To achieve nutritional ketosis, you severely restrict the amount of carbohydrates you eat and replace them with foods that contain fat. When your intake of carbohydrate drops below a certain threshold, your body will start using ketones (from fat) as a source of energy instead.
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While the concept of nutritional ketosis may seem simple, everyone’s metabolism is different, and there is no guaranteed threshold or formula for how to achieve ketosis. Some people may only require slight modifications to their foods to achieve ketosis, while others may require considerable changes to their diet.
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It is always recommended that you talk to your doctor before considering the ketogenic diet, and use a dietitian with experience in ketogenic diets to help you navigate its implementation.
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