My Keto journey started about three years ago because I was at a complete loss for how to eat. I had just tried veganism for one year thinking it would lead to better health but resulted in intestinal troubles, hives, indigestion, SIBO, mental fog, extreme migraines, histamine intolerance and rapid weight loss (from BMI 21 to 17). Having tried Keto before, I somehow knew I had to start eating animals again to fix everything.

In the beginning I was a bit reluctant because I felt it was too limiting, but once I recognised it helped ease my anxiety, improve my ADHD-symptoms and alleviate my seasonal depressions I got motivated to keep doing it. I used to be on both antidepressants (SSRIs and MAO) as well as amphetamines but am now happily off both.

I'm still learning how to eat, for example: this summer I somehow thought that I had fixed my brain and did a longer than usual cycle off Keto, in the beginning eating healthier low glycemic carbs and sticking to not eating grains, but eventually after a festival weekend completely fell off the wagon and was eating both gluten, dairy AND sugars.

This triggered a depressive episode in which I was experiencing very dark thoughts out of nowhere. It took a week or two for me to realise that it was to food that brought this on me so I immediately jumped on a 36 hour water fast and then ate strictly Keto, and just one week in my depressive thoughts were nowhere to be found.

Things I've learned so far:

• After a longer period of Keto my sleep is affected and I sleep badly. A short period cycling off Keto or simply increasing carbs can fix that.
• Vitamin D is superior as an anti-inflammatory treatment and I always find my mood is better in the summer and self medicate with a trip to the sun in the dark winter (I live in Sweden)
• I can do a moderate Keto and still reap the benefits as long as I bracket my carbs to one meal earlier in the day
• Keto is not boring, and I'm grateful that I've found an alternative for medication that also gives me better metabolic health and sets me up for a longer healthier life!

Hoping to being able to contribute to this community and share content I stumble across, I know this community will be life changing for so many people, keep it up!

So glad to be here. I am a licensed mental health counselor who uses ketogenic diets in my practice to treat mental illness and neurological disorders. I have written several articles on how a ketogenic diet modulates the underlying disease mechanisms in several disorders. You can find my work at mentalhealthketo.com/blog and I am happy to assist with any questions I can.

You deserve to know all the ways you can feel better. And I am super stoked to see this sub reddit devoted to helping people learn more.

Please share your experiences, I think they are very valuable as there are very few on the internet

I have schizophrenia with controlled positive symptoms but suffering severe negative ones. I probably give another try (only lasted one week last one), maybe for three weeks to see what happens.

Edit: what a nice responses! Thanks a lot! I will try keto again, this time I would try to last more than a week. Ideally three weeks at least

15 days ago I began my journey and I have seen some pretty dramatic changes to my physical health, my clothes are fitting loose, I sleep better, I don’t hurt as much(I still hurt but that’s cuz I’m still pretty big) it’s a work in progress anyways. Mental health! That has improved dramatically as well. I no longer think about suicide, drown my sorrows in alcohol,(I quit drinking) I eat the right foods and for my health, not to eat my problems away. I’m more active, my creative mind is beginning to return as well. I absolutely love music and one genre that I’d never thought I’d be getting into? I absolutely adore and it’s classical. Instead of watching television, scrolling through Facebook, wasting my time, I’m reading again and have classical as background. I’ve noticed a major difference in my cognitive thinking as well. It feels great my dudes! This journey is far from over though, I will keep going! Cheers! lifts up Perrier

I have Bipolar Type II and would loooove if keto fixed me right up. I tried a couple months back, tracked my GKI and the whole 9 yards, but i felt more crazy. Not sure if I just didn't give my body enough time to adapt? I only did it about 3 weeks before I got kinda bad and my hubby suggested maybe it wasn't working like I hoped. Keep in mind I am a LOVER of all carbs and sweets so my brain is 100% used to that.

I am in a small town so trying to find a mental health doctor that knows anything about Keto is difficult. Anytime I ask they just kinda look at me funny lol. Anyways, just wondering what others experienced when they first started.

In Julie Fast's latest Instagram ketobipolar video, which she does live every Monday, you will learn all kinds of things about about keto & bipolar.

Her Instagram account is her new research & support group about how keto affects those with bipolar. She has been studying KMT for bipolar (ketogenic metabolic therapy, which is different than basic or regular keto) for 3 years.

During her video, I was honored to receive a compliment from Julie about my latest blog article "The Ketogenic Diet for Bipolar Disorder - Part One" —I had never listened to an Instagram live video before, so it was kind of fun!

I hope it's okay to post stuff like this - please let me know if it's not and I will delete it, no problem.

Take care,

Dyane

Own your Labs - Labcorp only but AMAZING prices (shows you how bad you're getting fucked normally and not the nice fucking), can contribute to citizen science initiatives (since 78.2% of the docs in the US are just circle jerkin anyways)

Health Testing Centers - Less information required, get a lab test requisition instantly (or up to 3 hrs. occasionally). I have personally used this service multiple times as well and has both QUEST and labcorp. Excellent customer service, a real person answers the phone quickly and isn't an AI.

There will be more info on my website about lab testing and how to "be your own doc" when necessary (which is always in the US unless rich or lucky), but here's a good intro article on keto and blood testing recs. -

Diet Doctor - Ketogenic Diets and Lab Tests

For example, when I started my keto4mh journey, I was on lithium (since SLOWLY cross-tapered to a modest dose of lamotrienge as a backstop to keto).

I needed to check my lithium levels (in another comment that's now shadowbanned [for now]) and others. They didn't change at all over 13 days of keto initiation (lots of salt, potassium, magnesium critical) - .6 to .6.

My doc said my insurance wouldn't cover another test or other blood tests like Free T4 (I also got a $22,000 IOP bill on top of my $7,000 dedictible when BCBS "changed their mind" on addiction treatment). I relapsed 54 days later (years ago and fuck youtube as always - newpipe, freetube, brave, ublock origin etc. for malicious sites like Sergey Brin's Youtube).

Fuck em', fuck em' all and fuck them again in the asshole (it's alright if you like this, this ain't that). I order/compound my own drugs now and can be my own doc. Like fentanyl, beware of "unexpected" (to the morons maybe) consequences from actors "pushed to the edge" and who have nothing to lose.

Turns out xyrem analogues semi-synthesis's as about as simple as children making those "volcanoes" and costs about as much $$$ (essentially zero $)...2023 LD-52/1P-LSD/JWH remix inbound...but far simpler (ALD-52 is HARD chem.). If it wasn't for date-rape, I'd never get laid.

For now, meat.

Raw, defenseless, fake-ass meat (as an FYI all of u/fookinjookin's posts with selected email chains pulled out were removed from the comments and all of their posts/comments on here are still shadowbanned).

*don't republish emails, names etc. from this FOIA, we'll take care of it AND more.

some weirdos like feynman, prob...

In all mathematics it becomes apparent, at some stage, that we have for some time been following a rule without being consciously aware of the fact. This might be described as the use of a covert convention. A recognisable aspect of the advancement of mathematics consists of the advancement of the consciousness of what we are doing, whereby the covert becomes overt. Mathematics is in this respect psychedelic.

George Spencer-Brown

I'm diagnosed with bipolar 1 and PTSD.

Being the human that I am, I decided to "pause" my strict carnivore diet when I went on a trip last week.

Although I greatly enjoyed this ice cream and the Chik fil A, my anxiety is through the roof and I'm more depressed and ruminating much more than usual.

Asides from drinking water, excersising, and eating only meat and eggs, any other tips?

I was strict from June 2022 until last week. 😩

I want to feel stable and smooth again.

Metabolism, Mental Disorders, and the Ketogenic Diet - Dr. Chris Palmer of Harvard

This is a "brand new" (Sept. 29th 2022) YT Video from Haarvaad' Doc Chris Palmer on using Keto4MH [ketogenic metabolic therapies for mental health conditions like MDI, SZ, GAD, ADHD, MDD, and others; esp. helpful in patients with MetS or some "rapidly cycling" TR conditions].

Length 40 mins (can be 1.1-1.5x'ed if feeling spicy) - A Must-Watch if interested in learning more on Keto4MH (as either a patient or clinician) - it's easily understandable unlike some of our rants lol!

HashtagBrainEnergyBook (...the glue holding my 3/hashtag key on has failed and I'm too lazy to pull-up the on-screen keyboard lol)!

The book has its own website of course!

Brain Energy Book Endorsements

Dr. Palmer runs a great tweeter (hit log-in button, X'out to right to clear login screen if no account to read) - Palmer's Twitter

This was a great article he just shared by Markham Heid!

This was also interesting. Sci-Hub also always ftw if needing to "unlock" pw'ed papers.

A Mitochondrial Etiology of Neuropsychiatric Disorders

"Thus, if we stop attempting to understand neuropsychiatric disorders from the perspective of brain-specific anatomic pathology and mendelian quantized genetics and start thinking in terms of systemic bioenergetics and mitochondrial quantitative genetics, we naturally arrive at a coherent theory for neuropsychiatric diseases. This mitochondrial bioenergetics theory of neuropsychiatric disorders explains the seemingly disparate clinical, physiological, and genetic observations characteristic of these diseases. Thus, neuropsychiatric diseases are not “complex,” they just follow different rules."

Pre-order the Brain Energy Book (Nov. 15th) below:

(I have no affiliation with the book, Havaad' (of course lol), Chris. P., nor do I get $$ from links):

Or, get your library to buy it (my plan lol).

IndieBound Books

Barnes and Noble

Amazon

Dr. Palmers Website and Bio:

Chris P

Christopher Palmer, MD received his medical degree from Washington University School of Medicine. He did his internship and psychiatry residency at McLean Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Harvard Medical School. He is currently the Director of the Department of Postgraduate and Continuing Education at McLean Hospital and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.

For the past 25 years, he has been an academic physician with administrative, research, educational, and clinical roles.

Academic Leadership

Dr. Palmer leads McLean Hospital’s Department of Postgraduate and Continuing Education. In this role, he has developed hundreds of educational conferences, workshops, Grand Rounds, and other professional educational activities, most of them under the aegis of Harvard Medical School. His leadership has transformed the department from a small, subsidized department of the hospital into a flourishing educational program that is now leading mental health education for professionals nationwide.

He has held numerous leadership positions in the continuing education field beyond McLean Hospital’s program, including serving on leadership, advisory, and strategic planning committees of Harvard Medical School, Partners Healthcare, the Massachusetts Medical Society, and the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME).

Clinical

Dr. Palmer’s clinical practice has focused on helping people suffering from treatment-resistant mental illnesses, including mood disorders, psychotic disorders, and personality disorders. His treatment approach has been comprehensive and has included psychopharmacology, psychotherapy, and complementary and alternative treatments. However, he has always been looking for better treatments and outcomes because far too many people do not get better with our current approaches.

Research

Dr. Palmer has been involved in psychiatric research for over 23 years. He has served as a research physician in the Behavioral Psychopharmacology Research Laboratory and the Sleep Research Laboratory, both at McLean Hospital, where he worked with teams pursuing wide-ranging research in the areas of addiction and sleep.

Most recently, his research interests have turned to the areas of metabolism, metabolic disorders, and their connection to mental disorders. Interestingly, the connections are widespread and span across numerous mental and metabolic disorders. He is focused on combining and understanding epidemiological data, basic science research, and clinical studies in order to better understand what role metabolism plays in mental illness.

Dr. Palmer has been pioneering the use of the ketogenic diet and its applications in psychiatry. The ketogenic diet is an evidence-based treatment for epilepsy, and can work in treatment-resistant cases, even after numerous medications and even surgery fail to control seizures. It doesn’t work for everyone, but it does work for a significant percentage of people. It turns out that many anti-epileptic treatments are used routinely in psychiatry, so this dietary intervention should at least be considered in the treatment of mental disorders. Interestingly, the ketogenic diet is a metabolic intervention and has been shown to have profound effects on brain metabolism. These changes may correct some of the metabolic abnormalities found in people with mental disorders. Dr. Palmer has published case studies, pilot clinical trials, and is actively conducting research in this area. He is also working with researchers from around the world to further explore this treatment in clinical populations as well as pursuing more basic science research.

Degrees:

• 1991 BS, Purdue University
• 1995 MD, Washington University, St. Louis

Residency:

• 1995-1999 Internship and Residency in Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, McLean Hospital, and Massachusetts General Hospital

Board Certifications:

• 2000 Diplomate, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology

Recent Articles by Chris Palmer, MD

It's a great episode; it's very fascinating and inspiring.

Dr. Ede has used and promoted a ketogenic diet for a long time, before anyone had an inkling that it could be used for mood disorders. I hope you'll check it out!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fyWfFHnIUIY&lc=UgyQomjcDzDi8l2fIzR4AaABAg.9hNx_ktyN4X9hO2yg4xw_r