Treatment-resistant depression occurs when a person’s symptoms do not improve after trying at least two different antidepressants, notes Medical News Today. Researchers in the United Kingdom looked at whether a ketogenic, low-carb diet could help adults with treatment-resistant depression. Depression is common in the United States. Although there are many medications and treatment options available, some people do not respond to treatment.
Previous research shows that food choices can influence mood.
The study included 88 participants. They were randomly assigned to follow a keto diet or a control diet for six weeks. The results of the study were published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry.
The goal of a ketogenic diet is to induce the body into ketosis. Also, to burn fat by reducing carbohydrates and increasing consumption of healthy fats. The researchers recruited 88 adults aged 18 to 65 with treatment-resistant depression. Half of the participants followed a keto diet and the other half of the control group followed a phytochemical diet.
The researchers provided the keto group with prepared foods that contained 30 grams of carbohydrates or less per day. Participants in the control group used vouchers to buy fruit and vegetables and replaced saturated fat with unsaturated fat. The researchers provided guidance and support to both groups. They made sure all participants ate enough to maintain their current weight. The scientists used the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) to monitor depression symptoms over the six weeks.
The researchers followed the participants for 12 weeks.
At the six-week follow-up, both groups experienced improvements in depression symptoms. The keto group showed the greatest improvement, with depression scores dropping by about 10 points, compared to the control group’s drop of about eight points. In addition, some participants achieved depression remission at six weeks — 25% in the keto group versus 9% in the control group. At the 12-week follow-up, half of the participants in the keto group had stopped following the diet.
The rest of the participants in this group followed the keto diet only sometimes, and about 9% followed it almost every day. Depression decreased slightly in both groups, while remission rates remained about the same. One finding of the subgroup was that people with more severe depression at the start of the study seemed to benefit more from the keto diet.
Although the study shows that the keto diet may help in the short term, the decline from six to 12 weeks suggests that the benefits may not be long-term. Min Gao, lead author of the study published in JAMA Psychiatry, said: “The ketogenic diet may offer a small short-term benefit for some people with severe depression, but it is not a cure.”
Zishan Khan, a psychiatrist at Mindpath Health, described the study as “well designed”. He cautioned that the keto diet cannot replace established treatments for depression. All participants continued to take antidepressants during the study.
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(source: AFP)
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