Hello and

I'm your host Monica Reinagle.

And as you may have seen or heard, May is Mental Health Awareness Month.

So today I thought we'd take a look at the latest research on the interactions between diet and mental health.

There has been some research looking at specific

therapeutic diets for the treatment of pretty serious mental health disorders

such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. A ketogenic diet, which is high in fat and extremely low in

carbohydrates, was found to reduce psychiatric symptoms in a small clinical trial.

Not surprisingly, it also helped to mitigate

some of the negative effects that the medications

for these conditions can often cause,

such as insulin resistance and significant weight gain. These kinds of

side effects are often troubling enough that people discontinue taking their meds,

which is usually quite detrimental to their ability to function.

A diet that deals with some of those side effects could help people stay on their meds

and the fact that it can also lead to further improvements in

their condition, well that's just a very big cherry on that Sunday.

It is really exciting to see that dietary interventions could play such a significant role in the treatment of these very difficult psychiatric conditions.

But the ketogenic diet as a long-term regimen is quite restrictive and it poses other

potential risks. In the case of less severe mental health challenges such as depression or anxiety.

I'm not sure the benefits of a ketogenic diet

would outweigh the risks.

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