Keto-Therapy: Unveiling the Potential of Ketogenic Diet in Psychiatric Care—A Scoping Review

IF 3.2 3区医学 Q2 NUTRITION & DIETETICS

Nutrition Pub Date : 2025-02-07 DOI:10.1016/j.nut.2025.112710

Margherita Boltri , Alberto Scalia , Federico Brusa , Francesca Manzo , Emanuela Apicella , Leonardo Mendolicchio

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Abstract

Background

Within the framework of gut–brain interactions, the ketogenic diet (KD), a high-fat, low-carbohydrate, and moderate-protein dietary intervention, has gained attention for its potential in psychiatric care. Renowned for its efficacy in managing obesity, KD has demonstrated effectiveness in facilitating weight loss and inducing favorable metabolic changes in the short term. With its established benefits in neurological disorders, KD is now being investigated as a potential therapeutic avenue for individuals with psychiatric conditions.

Objective

This scoping review aims to summarize the latest studies on this topic, consider clinical implications, and suggest future research directions.

Methods

Records were systematically (PRISMA-ScR guidelines) identified through PubMed, Scopus, and EBSCOhost searches.

Results

A total of 58 studies were initially identified, with 13 meeting the eligibility criteria. While clinical trials remain limited, emerging evidence from case reports, case series, and pilot studies highlights the potential of a KD in reducing symptoms across psychiatric conditions, including mood disorders, psychotic disorders, alcohol use, and eating disorders. A KD shows potential in reducing cravings in eating and alcohol use disorders by stabilizing brain metabolism and modulating addictive behaviors, while its neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effects may contribute to symptom improvement in mood and psychotic disorders.

Conclusions

Implementing a KD in patients with mental disorders seems to be a feasible and well-tolerated approach, resulting in psychiatric symptom reduction and improvements in metabolic health. Most interestingly, research suggests that KD can also be safely implemented in the care of patients with addictive-like eating disorders.

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酮疗法：揭示生酮饮食在精神科护理中的潜力——范围综述

在肠-脑相互作用的框架内，生酮饮食（KD），一种高脂肪、低碳水化合物和中等蛋白质的饮食干预，因其在精神病学治疗中的潜力而受到关注。KD以其控制肥胖的功效而闻名，已证明在短期内促进体重减轻和诱导有利的代谢变化的有效性。由于其在神经系统疾病方面的益处，KD目前正被研究作为精神疾病患者的潜在治疗途径。目的综述该课题的最新研究进展，探讨其临床意义，并提出未来的研究方向。方法通过PubMed、Scopus和EBSCOhost检索系统地（PRISMA-ScR指南）识别记录。结果共纳入58项研究，其中13项符合入选标准。虽然临床试验仍然有限，但来自病例报告、病例系列和试点研究的新证据强调了KD在减轻精神疾病症状方面的潜力，包括情绪障碍、精神障碍、酒精使用和饮食失调。KD显示出通过稳定脑代谢和调节成瘾行为来减少饮食和酒精使用障碍的渴望的潜力，同时其神经保护和抗炎作用可能有助于改善情绪和精神障碍的症状。结论在精神障碍患者中实施KD似乎是一种可行且耐受性良好的方法，可减少精神症状并改善代谢健康。最有趣的是，研究表明，KD也可以安全地用于治疗成瘾性饮食失调患者。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Nutrition 医学-营养学

CiteScore

7.80

自引率

2.30%

发文量

300

审稿时长

60 days

期刊介绍： Nutrition has an open access mirror journal Nutrition: X, sharing the same aims and scope, editorial team, submission system and rigorous peer review. Founded by Michael M. Meguid in the early 1980''s, Nutrition presents advances in nutrition research and science, informs its readers on new and advancing technologies and data in clinical nutrition practice, encourages the application of outcomes research and meta-analyses to problems in patient-related nutrition; and seeks to help clarify and set the research, policy and practice agenda for nutrition science to enhance human well-being in the years ahead.