Can a Keto Diet Help Serious Mental Illness? Exciting New Research from North Queensland

Did you know that nutrition may play a powerful role in mental health?

A new world-first clinical trial led by Professor Zoltan Sarnyai at James Cook University is exploring the ketogenic diet as a treatment for serious mental illness — and the early results are looking very encouraging. Professor Sarnyai gave a talk to the Australian Metabolic Health Society last month.

🔍 What’s the Connection Between Metabolism and Mental Illness?
It’s been known for decades that people with schizophrenia often have insulin resistance and impaired brain energy metabolism. Their brains have a problem using glucose as fuel, which may contribute to symptoms like low mood, poor concentration, and psychosis.

💡 Why the Ketogenic Diet?
The ketogenic diet produces ketones, a cleaner energy source that bypasses the faulty glucose pathway. These ketones can provide fuel to the brain and also reduce inflammation and oxidative stress. This diet also reduces the nasty metabolic side effects of many psychiatric medications.

🧪 About the Trial (NQDIT)
This trial compares a standard healthy diet with ketogenic metabolic therapy. Participants are monitored for:

• Weight & energy

• Sleep (via Oura Ring)

• Gut microbiome

• Cognitive performance

• Psychiatric symptoms — mood, anxiety & sleep

✅ Early Results (small sample, but promising!):
✔ Keto group lost more weight
✔ Reported more energy and higher ketone levels seem to associate with higher energy.
✔ Improved cardiovascular markers

Professor Sarnyai says it’s “looking very encouraging” — though it's still early days. Only 20 participant's data has been analysed. They have 100 total in the trial.

🌱 What This Means for You
This research is a big step forward in metabolic psychiatry. It suggests that  metabolism may directly influence mental health — and that dietary therapy could be a future tool in treating serious conditions.

Want to learn more? THis is the best website on all things ketogenic and mental illness : https://www.metabolicmind.org/