100% works & helps. I discovered this by default one Christmas going through a divorced and battling depression. Fasting for 3 days just because I was in bed and not eating. 72 hour in a felt a major shift in my mood. Almost like a wave come over me and the depression lifted. Now when I have a low mood I always resort to fasting and keto
I noticed my mood evened out when I was in ketosis. When I eat too many carbs, especially from ultra-processed food, I'm in a constant state of agitation, and wonder why am I so aggravated. Yep, along with occasional embarrassing meltdowns.
Pretty sure there are benefits to all mental disorders. Some scars may be deeper than others, but there's indisputable evidence that a ketogenic state is ancestral. Our modern processed food supply and dietary recommendations are the most extreme diet in human history.
I am so upset, I have been really trying so hard with the ketogenic diet it’s been now months, super rigorous, researching and following all the books and podcasts etc, but I have had no benefit with the depression nor energy and have been gaining a lot of weight which makes it all worse! I am giving it a last month before giving up, this is not apparently working for everybody, I am so disappointed I was hoping to find real help 😢
We are sorry to hear that you aren't seeing the improvements you had hoped for. Unfortunately, not everyone responds to ketosis the same. If you are interested in working with an experienced clinician to decide whether to switch gears or try a different version of ketosis, you can search for one here. www.diagnosisdiet.com/directory We hope that helps, and we wish you the best.
A ketogenic diet is any diet that keeps you in ketosis. It sounds like you might not be in a ketogenic state. Do you test your blood? Keto friendly products can kick you out of ketosis if you eat too much. Carnivore is a safe, very low carb ketogenic diet.
I notice if I eat more fat like added butter it helps with weightloss as well as speeding up ketosis. I was well into ketosis then did a 48 hour fast. Broke the fast with steak and bacon. But although I was in mild ketosis it was not as marked as before the fast. Before I broke the fast I was jumping out of my skin. Perhaps I should have fasted a bit longer.
build up to it, but a longer fast works wonders for healing. I did an 8 day fast in Dec and plan to repeat similar a few times each year. Late winter would be a typical time of year for extended fasting by our ancestors.
Good question. In epilepsy kids can stop after a couple of years and frequently see extended benefits. Will the same thing happen for depression? Most experts would probably say to be careful and assume it wont be the same until we learn more.
