Genuine breakthroughs are rare. Especially in the world of mental health. Prozac was a gamechanger until it turned out it wasn't really, as are a whole host of new treatments if you go by the manufacturer's brochures that is...
A genuine one this time?
So when I hear about a potential gamechanger I always take it like my chips, with a pinch of salt. But my friend, I think we have a 24 carat one here...
A quote if I may
Before I jump into it I just want to share a quote from Stanford Medicine with you to highlight the fact that these ideas are gaining serious momentum inside the research community:
"In patients with psychiatric illness, diseases such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease occur in much greater proportions than the general population" (Stanford Metabolic Psychiatry)
We've been foolishly trying to separate mind and body
Ok call me smug, but the reason I called my business MindBody (not Mind and Body) Consulting is to promote the idea that mind and body are one organism, and cannot be separated. How you treat one influences the other, because its all one thing.
The experiment
In May 2024 researchers took 21 adults (average age 43.4 years), 33% male and 62% female and carried out a 4 month trial to measure the effects of following a ketogenic diet on their physical and mental health. The ketogenic diet is basically a high fat, moderate protein and low carb diet. The study was published in the journal 'Psychiatric Research'.
All 21 of the participants had a DSM 5 (the psychiatrists bible) diagnosis of either schizophrenia (5 people) or bipolar (16 people), were currently taking medication for it, and were asked to keep doing so throughout the study.
Each was taught how to follow a ketogenic diet, then allocated a health coach to answer any questions along the way. They were also given a ketone monitor to measure how well they adhered to the diet indicated by the percentage of time they spent in ketosis (a metabolic state where your body switches from using glucose for fuel to fat)
The Keto protocol
Participants followed pretty standard keto ratios:
Up to 10% of daily calories from carbohydrates (equivalent to 20g)
30% of daily calories from protein
60% of daily calories from fat
What happened?
All of the study participants started with a BMI in the overweight category, and at least one other 'metabolic abnormality', which means either high blood pressure, high BMI, high triglycerides, high blood sugar, or high cholesterol. But by the end of the study none qualified as having any metabolic abnormality
On top of this:
10% average weight reduction
11% average waist reduction
Systolic blood pressure (your 2nd number) reduced by an average of 6.4%
BMI reduced by an average of 10%
Triglycerides (blood fats) reduced by an average of 20%
Visceral fat (the deep stuff) reduced by an average of 36%
And LDL cholesterol reduced by an average of 21%
But that's only the physical health effects
Participants were assessed before and after the study on a range of psychological health scales and they found the following:
Of those that fully adhered (ie: stayed in ketosis for the whole 4 months) 100% of them fully recovered and no longer met the criteria for their mental health diagnosis
Overall (inc those that didn't fully adhere) 43% of the participants fully recovered from their diagnosis
19% increase in Sleep quality measured by the Pitsburgh Sleep Quality Index
17% improvement in Life satisfaction (Manchester short assessment of quality of life)
24-36% Reduction on the Generalised Anxiety scale
What about side effects?
Glad that you asked, yes there were some. Participants reported the following: headache, fatigue and constipation. But all were at a minimal to negligible beyond the third week of the study.
The greater the adherance the greater the effects
I mentioned at the start that participants were all given a ketone monitor to track how well they stayed in a ketogenic state, and from the results its very clear that those who achieved the greatest physical and mental benefits were those that stayed in ketosis the longest.
So what does this mean for workplace wellbeing?
Well, here's my tuppence for what its worth... This study clearly shows that changing the dietary element of our lifestyle can play a huge role in our physical and mental wellbeing. It also highlights the fact that many businesses are unwittingly facilitating some of the very absence-causing problems they want to avoid through the following practices:
Beige foods in canteens
Sweets in reception
Junk van at 11am
Beige foods/sweets in training rooms
Donuts for birthdays
Vending machines full of high carb processed foods
The above bullet points pretty much represent the polar opposite of the dietary protocol mentioned in the study. If I wanted to help my staff get UNhealthy quickly and increase my absenteeism levels I would immediately implement the 6 bullet points above. Why, because they're a fast route to poor metabolic health.
Part of the solution to our workplace and global health crisis?
With approximately 24 million people globally diagnosed with Schizophrenia, 50 million with Bipolar, and Bipolar costing the UK economy £20m per year (Bipolar UK) we need to grab hold of research like this and begin implementing it in the most suitable way for every organisation.
What did the participants have to say?
I'll leave you with a handful of quotes from some of those that took part in the study:
“Since being on the diet I haven’t noticed any significant anxiety level or attacks. And I’ve been able to work through basically everything I’ve come across”
"It can honestly save a lot of lives, it saved mine. I would not be here today if it wasn’t for keto. Its helped a lot with my mood stabilisation”
“My opportunity to participate in the metabolic psychiatry study changed my life. I gained knowledge and became able bodied again and my mood disorder and eating disorder symptoms lessened dramatically”
“I can tell you that I never felt better than I have since using ketosis, it worked far better than lamotrigine ever did”
“If things continue in a positive trajectory its definitely not out of the realms of possibility that my bipolar could go into remission”
Jonathan Pittam
Preventative Wellness Educator
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