A Pilot Study shows use of a Ketogenic Diet reduced symptoms of disorders such as bipolar and major depressive disorders by 69 to 71 % by week 10 to 12.(Decker, et al., 2025).

This Ohio State University study follows much of the antidotal talk online and on the street about how proper carnivore and keto diets are having dramatic effects on various conditions. When people do a keto diet it is also important to compare what is the protein and fat ratio to carbohydrates and how side effects are addressed. This pilot stu, A., & Volek, J. S. (2025). A pilot study examining a ketogenic diet as an adjunct therapy in college students with major depressive disorder. Translational psychiatry, 15(1), 322. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-025-03544-8

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41398-025-03544-8#citeas

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-09-keto-diet-linked-depression-symptoms.html

The Diet Breakdown

Carbohydrates were restricted to < 50 g/day, protein to 1.5g/kg/day, and fat was eaten til full. There is a popular general rule of limiting it to 20% to 25% of the calorie intake a day.

Volek, J. S., Phinney, S. D., Krauss, R. M., Johnson, R. J., Saslow, L. R., Gower, B., Yancy, W. S., Jr, King, J. C., Hecht, F. M., Teicholz, N., Bistrian, B. R., & Hamdy, O. (2021). Alternative Dietary Patterns for Americans: Low-Carbohydrate Diets. Nutrients, 13(10), 3299. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu13103299

Electrolyte replenishment is a key part of a healthy keto diet and prevents or resolves issues such as headaches or muscle cramping.

Skartun, O., Smith, C. R., Laupsa-Borge, J., & Dankel, S. N. (2025). Symptoms during initiation of a ketogenic diet: a scoping review of occurrence rates, mechanisms and relief strategies. Frontiers in nutrition, 12, 1538266. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2025.1538266

Keto Treats Refractory [Untreatable or Resistant] Epilepsy

Keto already has an already established itself in its ability to treat refractory epilepsy.

Martin-McGill, K. J., Jackson, C. F., Bresnahan, R., Levy, R. G., & Cooper, P. N. (2018). Ketogenic diets for drug-resistant epilepsy. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, 11(11), CD001903. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD001903.pub4

Keto Plus Exercise

It is often overlooked that keto along with exercise does result in improved metabolic function. We sometimes want immediate improvement in metabolic function and overlook exercise.

Miller, V. J., LaFountain, R. A., Barnhart, E., Sapper, T. S., Short, J., Arnold, W. D., Hyde, P. N., Crabtree, C. D., Kackley, M. L., Kraemer, W. J., Villamena, F. A., & Volek, J. S. (2020). A ketogenic diet combined with exercise alters mitochondrial function in human skeletal muscle while improving metabolic health. American journal of physiology. Endocrinology and metabolism, 319(6), E995–E1007. https://doi.org/10.1152/ajpendo.00305.2020

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32985255/

LaFountain, R. A., Miller, V. J., Barnhart, E. C., Hyde, P. N., Crabtree, C. D., McSwiney, F. T., Beeler, M. K., Buga, A., Sapper, T. N., Short, J. A., Bowling, M. L., Kraemer, W. J., Simonetti, O. P., Maresh, C. M., & Volek, J. S. (2019). Extended Ketogenic Diet and Physical Training Intervention in Military Personnel. Military medicine, 184(9-10), e538–e547. https://doi.org/10.1093/milmed/usz046

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30877806/

Significant Improvements were noted by the 2nd week.

The improvements were noted in a period of 2 to 12 weeks.

• A 37% reduction in symptoms was noted by self-reported depression by week 2.

• This reached 69% by week 10-12.

• The clinician ratings at week 6 was 59% and by week 10-12 at 71%.

• The improvements included a decrease in symptoms of depression, body composition, psychological wellbeing, and thinking performance.

• High insulin is associated with depression.

• Weight Loss Noted

Danan, A., Westman, E. C., Saslow, L. R., & Ede, G. (2022). The Ketogenic Diet for Refractory Mental Illness: A Retrospective Analysis of 31 Inpatients. Frontiers in psychiatry, 13, 951376. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.951376

[Conclusions: The administration of a ketogenic diet in this semi-controlled setting to patients with treatment-refractory mental illness was feasible, well-tolerated, and associated with significant and substantial improvements in depression and psychosis symptoms and multiple markers of metabolic health.]

Calabrese, L., Frase, R., & Ghaloo, M. (2024). Complete remission of depression and anxiety using a ketogenic diet: case series. Frontiers in nutrition, 11, 1396685. https://doi.org/10.3389/fnut.2024.1396685

Adams, R. N., Athinarayanan, S. J., McKenzie, A. L., Hallberg, S. J., McCarter, J. P., Phinney, S. D., & Gonzalez, J. S. (2022). Depressive symptoms improve over 2 years of type 2 diabetes treatment via a digital continuous remote care intervention focused on carbohydrate restriction. Journal of behavioral medicine, 45(3), 416–427. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10865-021-00272-4

Elamin, M., Ruskin, D. N., Masino, S. A., & Sacchetti, P. (2018). Ketogenic Diet Modulates NAD+-Dependent Enzymes and Reduces DNA Damage in Hippocampus. Frontiers in cellular neuroscience, 12, 263. https://doi.org/10.3389/fncel.2018.00263

González Ibáñez, F., Halvorson, T., Sharma, K., McKee, C. G., Carrier, M., Picard, K., Vernoux, N., Bisht, K., Deslauriers, J., Lalowski, M., & Tremblay, M. È. (2023). Ketogenic diet changes microglial morphology and the hippocampal lipidomic profile differently in stress susceptible versus resistant male mice upon repeated social defeat. Brain, behavior, and immunity, 114, 383–406. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2023.09.006

Jensen, N. J., Wodschow, H. Z., Nilsson, M., & Rungby, J. (2020). Effects of Ketone Bodies on Brain Metabolism and Function in Neurodegenerative Diseases. International journal of molecular sciences, 21(22), 8767. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms21228767

Lilamand, M., Porte, B., Cognat, E., Hugon, J., Mouton-Liger, F., & Paquet, C. (2020). Are ketogenic diets promising for Alzheimer's disease? A translational review. Alzheimer's research & therapy, 12(1), 42. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13195-020-00615-4

Conclusion Cautions

The limitations and noticed cautions of any study are of importance. The cautions and main limitations of the pilot study include:

• The study had only 15 students.

• There was no control or dietary comparison group.

• The composition was 10 women to 6 men.

• The median age was 24 years of age and college studies.

• Repeat cognitive testing could skew the results of the cognitive tests.

The Pilot Study appears to confirm the use of a Ketogenic Diet to reduce symptoms of disorders such as bipolar and major depressive disorders by 69 to 71 % by week 10 to 12. This is indicative of both gut and brain changes that the diet produces.

Have you noticed any changes when if you have tried a healthy keto style diet?