Health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has faced criticism after saying he recently saw a study showing that a ketogenic diet can cure schizophrenia. Mental health experts say there is no strong evidence to support calling the diet a cure.
While promoting his new food pyramid, which encourages people to eat more red meat and dairy, Kennedy Jr said he had seen research claiming that a Harvard doctor had “cured schizophrenia using keto diets”.
Researchers disagreed, saying the science does not support that claim.
Kennedy Jr appeared to be referring to Dr Christopher Palmer, a Harvard psychiatrist who studies the ketogenic diet and mental illness, reports the Guardian. Palmer responded by saying he has “never once used the word ‘cure’ in my work. I have never claimed to have cured any mental illness, including schizophrenia,” and added: “I have talked about ketogenic diet being a very powerful treatment, even to the point of inducing remission of symptoms of schizophrenia. ”
Palmer’s comments are based on two case reports published in the journal Schizophrenia Research in 2019. The reports described two women, aged 39 and 82, who had long-term schizophrenia.
They started a ketogenic diet for other health reasons. Over time, both said their psychiatric symptoms improved, and they later stopped taking medication.
But Palmer said that the evidence of two people facing positive results does not mean anything. He said, “Case reports don’t prove anything. They’re not controlled. They come with tremendous amounts of bias.” He explained that remission in schizophrenia is rare, and such cases can help guide future research.
He also warned that patients should not stop medication without medical supervision. In one case, the patient worked with her doctor to reduce her medication safely. The other stopped suddenly.
“Let me be clear, that was an unmitigated catastrophe for her. She became severely psychotic. She was hospitalized for over two months,” Palmer said. She later went back on medication and reduced it safely.
What is a keto diet?
The ketogenic diet is a high-fat, very low-carbohydrate eating plan designed to put the body into ketosis, a metabolic state where it burns fat instead of glucose for energy.
It was developed in the 1920s to treat epilepsy and is now also studied for weight loss and certain neurological conditions.
Common foods on a keto diet include eggs, meat, fish, cheese, butter, nuts, seeds and low-carbohydrate vegetables such as spinach and broccoli. A typical meal could be grilled salmon cooked in olive oil, served with sautéed spinach and avocado on the side.
