Are you curious about how what you eat can impact your mental health? If so, you’re not alone. The ketogenic diet has gained a lot of attention lately, not just for its potential to help with weight loss, but also for its promising effects on mental health. If you’ve ever wondered whether this dietary approach could make a difference in managing conditions like depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, or schizophrenia, you’re in the right place.
In this blog, I’ll dive into the science behind the ketogenic diet and explore how it might improve your mental health. Plus, I’ll share insights from a conversation I had with my dietician, who provided valuable advice and practical tips on implementing these diets safely and effectively.
Ready to learn more about how changing your diet might change your mind? Let’s get started!
Understanding the Ketogenic Diet
In case you aren’t familiar, the ketogenic diet (aka keto) is a low carbohydrate, moderate protein, high fat diet that puts the body into a state of ketosis. Ketosis occurs when your body switches from using glucose (sugar) for fuel to burning fat (from your body or food) for fuel.
Ketogenic History
You may or may not know that the ketogenic diet was developed by doctors, not for weight loss, but for epilepsy treatment in the 1920s. This was before the advent of prescription medication for epilepsy. It fell out of favor once medication was developed for epilepsy, but in the last fifteen years or so has experienced a resurgence, not just in the field of epilepsy or medicine beyond that, but as a weight loss diet.
Ketogenic Therapy for Mental Health
Yesterday we covered briefly how ketones that occur when our body burns fat instead of glucose provides an alternative fuel source for our body and, more importantly, our brain that allows it to operate more efficiently and even heal mitochondria. But, as always, there’s more to it than that.
There’s this thing called the blood brain barrier. It is basically a filter that keeps the bad things, like viruses, away from your brain while letting in all the important things your brain can’t function without. Ketones pass through this blood brain barrier more easily than glucose which is another reason it is a more efficient fuel source.
Remember when we talked about ATP, the fuel that all cells and their organelles use to function? Well ketones generate more ATP (fuel) than its counterpart, glucose.
There are these nasty little buggers in your cells called ROS (Reactive Oxygen Species) that are created when your cell breathes (yes, our cells breathe). ROS likes to smash around like monster trucks and destroy everything in their path. Well, ketones produce less of this nasty stuff lowering the stress on your brain.
Ketones can stimulate the production of mitochondria (read more about that in my last post) which means your cells get a little healthier and more productive (which means your brain does too).
Ketones help regulate levels of two neurotransmitters-GABA (the calm down one) and glutamate (the get excited one). As you can imagine, these two need to be in a healthy balance to prevent things like anxiety and other mental health issues.
All of the above lead to some interesting mental effects such as improved learning and memory and better mental clarity.
Macronutrients
The guidelines for ketogenic therapy for mental health are not well established as the field is lacking in randomized control trials, especially when it comes to the best way to implement the ketogenic diet.
From my research I’ve established that your macronutrient breakdown should involve 20 grams or less of carbohydrates per day with the remaining 20-25% of your calories coming from protein and 70-75% coming from fat.
There are mixed answers on whether that is 20 grams of total carbohydrates or 20 grams of net carbohydrates. You can calculate your net carbohydrates by subtracting your fiber from your total carbohydrates. I am sticking to 20 grams of total carbohydrates or less a day for now.
Ketone Monitoring
Ultimately, the goal appears to be to reach a level of ketosis where you have 1.5 mmol/L or more of ketones in your body (and some sources say a GKI score of less than 2.0). You may be wondering how to figure out what your ketone levels are. Well, you have options. You can get a breathalyzer for ketones or urine strips, which both have their issues with accuracy. Alternatively, you can get a blood ketone monitor that works very similarly (almost identically) to how blood glucose monitors work.
I ordered the Keto-Mojo GK+ Blood Glucose and Ketone Monitor from their website (not sponsored). I got the promo bundle that includes more test strips, more lancets (the things you poke yourself with), and a handy keto guidebook. I have not received it yet or read the ebook, but I will provide a review of both in the next couple of weeks.
The nice thing about this monitor is that it automatically calculates your GKI score (Glucose Ketone Index) when you take your glucose and ketone levels together. It also comes with a control solution that allows you to check how accurate your monitor is. The downside is even the promo bundle only came with 20 lancets and no alcohol swabs so I had to order both separately.
A Conversation with My Dietician
I came into my dietician appointment well researched and well prepared (and sent her a link to some research as well). She was pleasantly surprised that I already had my macronutrient goals and had been following them for a few days now.
She was glad I chose to taper carbohydrates. Basically, I took the average of what I’d been eating before and dropped them by 10-15 grams a day until I got to 20 grams of carbohydrates per day. She also thought that it was clever that I am drinking pickle juice to get electrolytes (which you need to avoid the dreaded keto flu).
I highly recommend the carbohydrate taper and supplementing with more water and electrolytes (it doesn’t have to be pickle juice).
Her only real concern is my protein goal. It’s a little lower than she would like, but we are keeping it for now. We will likely increase it in the future and see how it effects my ketone levels. She also wanted me to start strength training, which is not my favorite thing in the world.
We set a couple goals: 1. strength train for 10-15 minutes once or twice this week and 2. stick to my macros and report back. These feel immensely achievable. I meet with her again next Tuesday. I’ll keep you updated if I learn anything new. Today was mostly a get to know you session.
Conclusion
Thank you for joining me on this exciting exploration of the ketogenic diet and its potential benefits for mental health! I hope you found the information both enlightening and empowering. By understanding how dietary choices can impact your brain and overall well-being, you’re taking a proactive step toward better mental health. Remember to consult with healthcare professionals before making any significant changes to your diet. If you have any questions or want to share your own experiences, feel free to leave a comment below.
Until next time, take care and keep prioritizing your health!
Metabolic & Mental Health 
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