Keto Diet and Dual Diagnosis Treatment

A recent article published in JAMA Psychiatry revealed that ketogenic diets (KD) could be useful in alleviating symptoms commonly suffered by individuals with a dual diagnosis of depression and addictive disorders.

Although several popular KD brands exist, they’re all built on the principle of improving physical and mental health outcomes by drastically reducing and, at times, eliminating carbohydrate intake.

Ketogenic Diets in Dual Diagnosis Treatment

Dr. Russell Wilder first formulated KD back in the 1920s. Wilder worked at the Mayo Clinic and specialized in treating epilepsy and diabetes.

He saw that folks who fasted lowered their seizure rate and developed KD to mimic the metabolic effects of fasting. This induced ketosis, which gave its name to the diet.

When in ketosis, your body turns fat and fat cells into ketones, which provides the bulk of your energy when carbohydrates are scarce.

Several innovative methods to fight depression have hit the market recently. KD is unique in that it takes a dietary approach.

So, why does cutting carbs help with treatment of mental health? The answer is twofold.

How Ketosis May Support Mental Health Treatment

Carbohydrates, especially sugars, cause neuroinflammation. This is an inflammation of the brain when one overindulges.

Any time your brain experiences constant neuroinflammation, its activity slows down. People who constantly eat too much sugar risk damaging important tissues, and this increases over time.

Cutting carbs allows your brain to get back to operating at full speed. Second, when your brain cells burn ketones for fuel, they support your brain’s neurotransmitters and reduce oxidative stress.

This improves your ability to think, helps balance your mood, and keeps brain tissue healthier and stronger for longer. KD joins other holistic therapies that help heal the body and mind.

Depression, Addiction and Nutritional Therapy

Because KD improves the brain’s disrupted neural networks and pathways, it’s a powerful lifestyle tool to help people with epilepsy manage and mitigate seizures.

Moreover, many other conditions that share traits with epilepsy, including depression and addiction disorders, can be managed in a similar manner.

Depression, for instance, often presents with unhealthily low neurotransmitter synthesis (low serotonin being the stereotypical example).

In several studies, ketosis stabilized patients’ neurotransmitter synthesis and led to reported improvements in their condition in just six weeks.

This can be helpful for seniors with addiction tied to undiagnosed mental illness.

Integrating Nutrition Into Behavioral Treatment Centers

Similarly, experts characterize alcoholism and drug use as disordered reward seeking behaviors and patterns.

In this state, individuals favor the neural pathways that reinforce substance use while the substance itself causes or worsens neuroinflammation. 

KD helps reverse the effects of neuroinflammation and strengthens the brain’s ability to use alternative neural pathways to those created by drug dependency.

For patients whose withdrawals could include seizures, particularly involving drugs and alcohol, the diet might mitigate symptoms.

Additionally, many individuals living with addictions don’t get the proper nutritional support needed for mental and physical health. A structured diet, like KD, offers a person in recovery an effective mix of micro and macronutrients.

For these reasons, experts conclude that KD can be a complementary tool used alongside traditional medical detox, residential treatment centers, and supervised outpatient treatment programs.

If you’re interested in KD or other rehab options, call 800-908-4823 (Sponsored) or consult our directory to find centers nearby.

Author

Emile Oosthuizen

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Emile is a law student in South Africa with a long history of outreach work in and around the country. He holds an undergraduate degree in Commercial Law and Economics. Having seen the problems the legal system in an unequal society can perpetuate, he intends to use his legal career to help people who face complex and difficult legal problems. When he’s not working, he’s either running, playing music, or fixing his (really old) car.

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Eric Owens

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Eric Owens has been a writer and editor for various businesses as well as his own successful websites. He has extensive experience creating content in the health and wellness space and the sustainability space. He holds a bachelor degree in Philosophy which helped him with presenting complex information in a simple way that all audiences can understand.