Low-carb diet alleviates schizophrenia symptoms.

The keto diet helps relieve symptoms of depression and schizophrenia, but not anxiety disorders, according to a study published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.

The authors analyzed data from 50 studies involving more than 41,000 adults from 15 countries. The study included people with mental disorders such as schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, and post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as participants without psychiatric diagnoses, including those with obesity.

The new study found that participants on the keto diet experienced modest reductions in depressive symptoms. However, no similar pattern was found for anxiety disorders. Additional subgroup analyses also failed to identify any factors that consistently increased the keto diet's effect on anxiety symptoms.

The ketogenic diet, a high-fat, moderate-protein, and low-carbohydrate diet, has long been used as a treatment for refractory epilepsy. This diet shifts the brain from glucose to ketone bodies, which affects mitochondrial function, inflammation, oxidative stress, and neurotransmitter transmission in the brain.