{"id":138597,"date":"2025-09-12T12:43:11","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T12:43:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/138597\/"},"modified":"2025-09-12T12:43:11","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T12:43:11","slug":"keto-diet-has-positive-impact-on-mental-health-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/138597\/","title":{"rendered":"Keto diet has positive impact on mental health: Study"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.<\/p>\n

The ketogenic diet, commonly known as the \u201cketo\u201d diet, is used by many for weight loss.<\/p>\n

But a new study has found that the low-carbohydrate, high-fat eating plan can help with mental health.<\/p>\n

The diet\u2019s intention is to trigger \u201cketosis,\u201d a metabolic state in which the body burns fat for fuel instead of carbohydrates.<\/p>\n

A group of 16 students drastically cut carbs and upped the consumption of fat and protein for at least 10 weeks and the researchers out of Ohio State University saw a 70% decrease in depression symptoms, according to a press release.<\/p>\n

The study, published in the journal Translational Psychiatry<\/a>, found that the students\u2019 \u201cglobal well-being\u201d increased in multiple ways, including improvements in memory, processing speed, executive function, and attention.<\/p>\n

The group included 10 women and six men, with an average age of 24 \u2014 all of whom were already receiving medication, counselling or both for major depressive disorder before starting keto.<\/p>\n

The participants received \u201cextensive education\u201d on the eating plan, which consisted of fewer than 50 grams of carbs per day combined with higher fat and moderate protein.<\/p>\n

They were instructed to eat when hungry, stop when full, and to not track calories.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was very important to make sure participants knew what they were getting themselves into,\u201d Drew Decker, first author of the study and a graduate student, said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd a big part of increasing chances for adherence to the diet was talking to each individual about what they like and don\u2019t like to eat, so we could tailor some suggestions for how they could structure their diet.\u201d<\/p>\n

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The study concluded that achieving nutritional ketosis may serve as an \u201cadjunctive therapy for depression,\u201d though they acknowledged that they did not have a non-keto control group for comparison, so further research is warranted.<\/p>\n

That said, Jeff Volek, a human sciences professor at OSU and lead author of the study, said the \u201cmagnitude of improvements\u201d was \u201cdefinitely a surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n

He told Fox News<\/a>: \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of evidence that ketones improve brain function and can change people\u2019s mood through a variety of different neurochemicals.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued: \u201cThe ketones could have a direct impact on certain neurotransmitters and so forth that are related to depression.\u201d<\/p>\n

Volek pointed out that ketones have anti-inflammatory properties, which could contribute to improving mood.<\/p>\n

Also, while weight loss impacts physical health, it could factor into an individual\u2019s mental health.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is evidence that people who are overweight and obese are more likely to be depressed, and there\u2019s probably some connection there,\u201d Volek added.<\/p>\n

The study noted that all but one participant lost weight, averaging 11 pounds and a 2.4% decrease in body fat.<\/p>\n

Volek recommended those with a mental health disorder should try a \u201cdifferent eating pattern.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cIf you are someone who is suffering from a mental health condition, this is another tool in the toolbox that might be worth trying.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cAnd if so, seek out help to find somebody who understands the principles of the ketogenic diet and can support you in that process.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":138598,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[49,48,33542,2771,49312,84,74907,69809,393,35945],"class_list":{"0":"post-138597","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-depression-symptoms","11":"tag-diet","12":"tag-eating-plan","13":"tag-health","14":"tag-jeff-volek","15":"tag-ketogenic-diet","16":"tag-mental-health","17":"tag-ohio-state-university"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138597\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/138598"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}