{"id":12714,"date":"2026-02-09T09:29:18","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T05:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/?p=12714"},"modified":"2026-02-09T09:29:20","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T05:29:20","slug":"keto-diet-against-depression-results-of-a-new-clinical-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/keto-diet-against-depression-results-of-a-new-clinical-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"Keto diet against depression: results of a new clinical trial"},"content":{"rendered":"<p data-path-to-node=\"3\"><span class=\"\">According to a new study published in the journal <\/span><b class=\"\" data-path-to-node=\"3\" data-index-in-node=\"50\">JAMA Psychiatry<\/b><span class=\"\">,<\/span><span class=\"\"> the ketogenic (keto) diet may be effective for patients who do not respond to antidepressants.<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"4\"><span class=\"\">Researchers from the <\/span><b class=\"\" data-path-to-node=\"4\" data-index-in-node=\"21\">University of Oxford<\/b><span class=\"\"> determined that individuals on a keto diet for six weeks experienced a greater reduction in depression symptoms compared to those focused on a plant-based diet.<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"5\"><b class=\"\" data-path-to-node=\"5\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">How does the keto diet affect the brain?<\/b><span class=\"\"> The essence of the keto diet is that the body uses ketones derived from fats as an energy source instead of glucose.<\/span><span class=\"\"> According to <\/span><b class=\"\" data-path-to-node=\"5\" data-index-in-node=\"171\">Stanford Medicine<\/b><span class=\"\">,<\/span><span class=\"\"> the state of ketosis may stabilize neurons and reduce neuroinflammation,<\/span><span class=\"\"> which directly impacts mental health.<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"6\"><span class=\"\">Out of the 88 participants in the study,<\/span><span class=\"\"> those who consumed fewer than 30 grams of carbohydrates per day showed a <\/span><b class=\"\" data-path-to-node=\"6\" data-index-in-node=\"114\">10.5-point improvement<\/b><span class=\"\"> on a 27-point depression scale.<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"7\"><b class=\"\" data-path-to-node=\"7\" data-index-in-node=\"0\">Expert Opinions<\/b><span class=\"\"> Despite the promising results,<\/span><span class=\"\"> experts highlight several significant challenges,<\/span><span class=\"\"> the most prominent being the difficulty of maintaining the diet.<\/span><span class=\"\"> The keto regimen is so strict that only 9% of participants were able to continue it after the study concluded.<\/span><span class=\"\"> This suggests that the method may be impractical for many patients in the long term.<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"8\"><span class=\"\">Doctors also believe that similar antidepressant effects can be achieved through more accessible alternatives,<\/span><span class=\"\"> such as healthy eating,<\/span><span class=\"\"> weight management,<\/span><span class=\"\"> and regular physical activity.<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"9\"><span class=\"\">Furthermore,<\/span><span class=\"\"> the study\u2019s success was heavily influenced by the <\/span><b class=\"\" data-path-to-node=\"9\" data-index-in-node=\"63\">intensive social and professional support<\/b><span class=\"\"> participants received from specialists.<\/span><span class=\"\"> This reaffirms that in the fight against depression,<\/span><span class=\"\"> human factors and social engagement are often as decisive as the diet itself.<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"10\"><span class=\"\">Specialists note that while the keto diet can be considered a supportive tool for depression,<\/span><span class=\"\"> it is not a complete replacement for traditional treatment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p data-path-to-node=\"10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/jamanetwork.com\/journals\/jamapsychiatry\/fullarticle\/2844388\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">JAMA<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to a new study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, the ketogenic (keto) diet may be effective for patients who do not respond to antidepressants. Researchers from the University of Oxford determined that individuals on a keto diet for six weeks experienced a greater reduction in depression symptoms compared to those focused on a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12713,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1631,1594,1645,1587,1657],"tags":[4285],"class_list":["post-12714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-neurology","category-news","category-psychiatry","category-research","category-science","tag-keto-diet"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12714"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12721,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12714\/revisions\/12721"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medscriptum.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}