This is great stuff. As an NP in primary care, I recommend keto to so many patients for a variety of reasons including mental health disorders. It’s a rare day that someone actually follows my advice. Our culture is so indoctrinated to taking a pill to fix everything. I have been following the ketogenic diet since 2018. It has been wonderful and has been so beneficial in so many ways. It’s not easy though so I do empathize with patients.
I was wanting to do Keto for bipolar disorder but I was told it isn’t good cuz it would heighten my cholesterol too much and it would make me skinnier, and I’m trying to gain weight and muscle. So im not a candidate for it
Matt and Iain are rock stars! They provided this great info that saved me in Dec 2022. I am forever grateful to them and their families for this outreach and continued work. Congratulations to anyone who is discovering this and beginning their journey to recovery.
Metabolic Health Summit 2024 sounds incredible!!! Must make plans to make it to this one. So grateful for this info and all you do at Metabolic Mind and Bipolarcast! Changing the world one person at a time. Thx all for another amazing interview!
I have bipolar 1. It has severely limited my life. I found Dr. Palmer a few weeks ago. I started keto. Matt’s comments about diet, exercise, and sleep is brilliant. Thank you, Matt, 🙏🏻
Great video. At it's core, "Bipolar Disorder" is about energy. This reminds me of an article by Nikola Tesla about increasing human energy. But moreso, it may be a key to wiping out stigma. Everybody gets energy and it has positive vibes. Keep up the good work!
Thank you for sharing. I lost my father to bipolar illness. I have it and have been managing, and I have a 20 year old son that I’m trying to work on prevention with. I can’t wait for on the ground support in Canada.
The keto diet formulated for epilepsy is much more stringent than one that might be used for mood elevation and weight loss. The fat macros for epilepsy are really high. So, I think a general keto diet is not that difficult to follow. The tough part initially is getting over the sugar addiction which is REAL. Given the sugar addiction is rampant, yes folks are very weary of this eating approach.
Do you suppose that for a segment of the population, that carbs cause poisoning and affects each individual’s metabolism or endocrine system differently depending on their genetics? And that we see this poisoning vary widely because of the vastly detrimental impacts to our bodies? Hyperinsulinemia (SP?) being behind it all?
I don't think that we, as a species, evolved eating very many carbs. Think about what was available during most of our evolution. Meat was probably highly prized and the plants we ate were not like the fruits and vegetables available today at the supermarket. They would have been very low carb. Fatty acids and ketones were more than likely our default fuel source. Glucose from carbohydrates were more than likely available only in high volume at very specific times of the year. So yes. there are probably many of us modern humans who are (high) carb intolerant.
Regarding “KETO dieting is difficult to adhere to”, it depends on the individual. For me, the magical transition point was when, after nearly six years on keto, I opened my eyes to the carnivore diet. The complexity of maintaining the keto diet just disappeared. Carnivore is a subset of KETO. On the KETO diet I was constantly challenged with keeping the carbs low enough that I was, at best, only ever in low-level nutritional ketosis. As a Carnivore, it’s so much easier. I only ever have to decide when and what carb food to cheat with or not; when influenced by the social situation. Granted, you do have to learn about carb food macros and their effect on your ketosis. Once learned, there is no guesswork. In my experience, Carnivore keeps me in a state of high-level nutritional ketosis much more easily than KETO.
Such a great conversation! I came to the keto space more for physical health, but the mental stuff still fascinates me. I think it's a HUGE shame how few docs even try dietary approaches. When I turned 40 and my new doc found all my metabolic issues, she didn't even suggest diet changes.. just prescribed some meds and looked shocked when I asked about diet (because I already thought I was basically doing it right). The recommendations were unsurprising but also unfulfilling and I've been figuring this out for myself for five years. Weight is down, blood work better, energy levels back, it all works. Back to that day... I don't hold it against the doc. I think she just got used to patients wanting a pill and not lifestyle change. I think those people are insane but docs are tired of trying to convince them to try. Also doesn't help that a lot of the standard recommendations don't work. It's a whole mess of issues that need to be worked out.
The thing I wonder about is how much meds are hindering ketosis via ketogenesis. I’m doing keto and have noticed that I can make dietary ketones but struggle making ketones from stored fat overnight. I’ll wake up out of ketosis which is the opposite of what I was before starting meds. I used to do a lot of intermittent fasting prior to starting bipolar meds and I could get my ketones up to 2-3 but on bipolar meds it’s very low like 0.6-0.8 and I feel very low in energy. So I feel like we need to address the challenges of how meds are going to make it harder for some bipolar patients to get the full benefits of ketosis. Maybe they might need to supplement with mcts to do well as I have experienced.
The info I'm having trouble finding is, what exactly does a ketogenic diet look like? Can I eat green vegetables? Is there a recommended information link?
I experience severe depression, with suicide thoughts. I can't work or function. My cognitive impairment and short memory is quite bad. I am wondering how long it takes to feel the brain functioning again properly? Some of us with don't have family support. Not to mention intrusive thoughts, brain fog. It seems i will never to be able to survive this with all the stress and agony i have to endure this.. At 40 all is destroyed. Is a struggle even to eat sometimes. I just feel that the one that manages to overcome it are either able to work, or even smart people. I feel lonely and at the edge of ending.
I was highly suicidal and in deep depression, started keto and felt something better within a week, the great change came after 2-3 weeks. It completely changed my mood. When I was depressed I went a couple of days without eating, and that's when I thought I might take the most of it and start keto right away because doing fasting makes going into ketosis faster. I just ate eggs for breakfast and ground beef for dinner and/or lunch. A lot of salt and water, and some carrots. I didn't have energy to cook, so sometimes I just boiled several eggs and ate them during several days for breakfast with mayo. It's very simple, no need to think at all about cooking. This is only for the first few days to just start when I didn't have any mental energy. After a while I felt a little bit better, so I started caring more about macros, reading and tracking food. You don't have anything to lose, eating a piece of meat with some green leafs, or a boiled egg takes very few steps and very little energy. Just start with it, and then, after some days you'll be able to do a little more, and finally hopefully you can feel good again. You just have to take the first step.
@@unrespiro thank you for your comment. I did 6 weeks with no relief. I can't work because of having bipo😢, cognitive issues, memory issues and all this is adding to my suicidal thoughts non stop. I am glad for you that you felt improvement. The fact i can't function and be able to work is really hard on me. I am planning to start again. I believe that younger people like Matt have more chances to recover.
For me is because it affected my cognitive ability, memory and high anxiety. Plus i can't function and work wich adding more stress and more depression. I did 6 weeks and didn't felt any relief. I am happy for you
@@nickcaption308 I'm so sorry that you found no relief! Your situation is tough and trying something new, having hopes and not seeing benefits is hard. Chris Palmer says that some people need to give it 3-4 months to see results. Unfortunately it's hard to feel motivated to do this change during some months without positive outcomes, so many don't complete the "3-4 months challenge". I hope you can do it again and persist a little bit more, and see some results. When we have a chronic condition, we just can't give up and try everything possible to find out own way to feel better.
I’m curious about the macros. Wish there was a place for support since no one on my mental health team is recommending Leto. I’ve been doing Keto for bipolar for almost two months. Less than 20 grams carbs a day. Hard to get enough fat without doing straight oil? I was easily in ketosis fist 5 weeks, now I seem to be out of ketosis based on ketomojo that I’ve been using since beginning. A meal that used to keep me in ketosis is now tossing me out
You can focus on fatty meats, sardines, put butter on meat, vegetables. Coffee with heavy cream. Spoonful of mct oil in coffee or drizzled on food. Just ideas
@@teriortiz5360 thank you Teri. I feel mentally best in high level GKI ketosis, but it’s very hard for me to sustain that level, generally in low level GKI ketosis on my meter. I think some of it is due to perimenopause and related insulin resistance. So to your point increasing fat ideas are helpful, to get fat macros correct, fasting also helpful
Focus on how you feel, not the ketones. It’s normal that blood ketones elevate more easily to begin with. Lower ketone readings may just be a result of adaptation - you’re burning fat more efficiently. You could buy a quality ketone breath acetone device to measure breath ketones. For me, blood ketones became harder and harder to get above 0.3-0.5 mmol. But breath ketones showed I was in ketosis. Eating MORE dietary fat just to see higher blood ketones is not advisable. Keep carbs low and eat fat and protein in its most natural form. Ketogenic fat macros (80% +) is partly a myth if your objective is reaping the benefits of nutritional ketosis or therapeutic ketosis. The clue is carbohydrate restriction. Then adequate protein and fats together will give you building blocks and energy.
@tcancella7286. You are correct that hormones can affect ketosus state. Make sure you’re getting about 2 fat gram:1 gram protein ratio. If you’re the sort to skip breakfast and mostly eat lunch and dinner time, you can switch to breakfast and lunch times. If you’re not prioritizing deep sleep, then you should. Magnesium helps reduce cortisol, which helps lower insulin spikes, which is helpful for you. Also Magnesium Glycinate before bed will help with deep sleep. I believe magnesium and B’s have helped me significantly as well. I only take mwthylated B’s. The link between MTHR B-9 deficiency and mental health is huge. Ergo metylated B-9. Vitamin D is also a player for depression. Some people see a difference between keto and carnivore in ketosus. Possibly food intolerances are at play for those.
@tcancella7286 My spelling is bad. Methylated*. Also Dr. Boz podcast explains ways to address your specific question re: how to get into deeper ketosis when you’ve been doing it for awhile. She explains the mechanisms as well. You got this!!
It would be hilarious if Kraepelin cracked the basic cause a hundred years ago and we've just been in weeds ever since. Mankind has a short memory sometimes. Lithium was forgotten and rediscovered at least three times.
Ok now I have a question: what consequences for nosology & psychiatry ? Will bipolar patients be treated by endocrinologists rather than psychiatrists ?
I would say just start doing keto, you can supplement with whatever med he is on. I want to start with my daughter when she comes home from college, I also heard this helps with addiction, makes me wonder what part of the brain is in dysfunction and how diet would have such a huge impact, either way I keep talking to my daughter about it and sending her articles about keto and bipolar, she’s 20 but she loves sugar, she is working on her sobriety and for whatever reason she really craves sugar. It’s almost a replacement for pot.
Have you seems success using Keto Diet with Schizophrenia? It seems like there is not much of a difference, in symptoms, between most mental disorders.
There is an interview on UA-cam with Dr. Chris Palmer where he discusses using this diet with a patient of his who had Schizophrenia. She was older and reversed this diagnosis. Dr. Palmer wrote a book about using nutrition for mental health called 'Brain Energy.'
Once keto adapted your carb/sugar addiction WILL disappear. That has to be first step and often in conjunction with meds. Thats what doctors should encourage.
This is great stuff. As an NP in primary care, I recommend keto to so many patients for a variety of reasons including mental health disorders. It’s a rare day that someone actually follows my advice. Our culture is so indoctrinated to taking a pill to fix everything. I have been following the ketogenic diet since 2018. It has been wonderful and has been so beneficial in so many ways. It’s not easy though so I do empathize with patients.
Do you care for patients out patient?
I was wanting to do Keto for bipolar disorder but I was told it isn’t good cuz it would heighten my cholesterol too much and it would make me skinnier, and I’m trying to gain weight and muscle. So im not a candidate for it
Matt and Iain are rock stars! They provided this great info that saved me in Dec 2022. I am forever grateful to them and their families for this outreach and continued work. Congratulations to anyone who is discovering this and beginning their journey to recovery.
Thanks to Matt, Iain and Victoria.
Glad you enjoyed the episode!
2 absolute heroes. Thank you so much for sharing your stories.
Metabolic Health Summit 2024 sounds incredible!!! Must make plans to make it to this one. So grateful for this info and all you do at Metabolic Mind and Bipolarcast! Changing the world one person at a time. Thx all for another amazing interview!
I have bipolar 1. It has severely limited my life. I found Dr. Palmer a few weeks ago. I started keto. Matt’s comments about diet, exercise, and sleep is brilliant. Thank you, Matt, 🙏🏻
Cannot agree more with what Matt said towards the end: The keys are sleep, diet and exercise.
Great video. At it's core, "Bipolar Disorder" is about energy. This reminds me of an article by Nikola Tesla about increasing human energy. But moreso, it may be a key to wiping out stigma. Everybody gets energy and it has positive vibes. Keep up the good work!
Thank you for sharing. I lost my father to bipolar illness. I have it and have been managing, and I have a 20 year old son that I’m trying to work on prevention with. I can’t wait for on the ground support in Canada.
The keto diet formulated for epilepsy is much more stringent than one that might be used for mood elevation and weight loss. The fat macros for epilepsy are really high. So, I think a general keto diet is not that difficult to follow. The tough part initially is getting over the sugar addiction which is REAL. Given the sugar addiction is rampant, yes folks are very weary of this eating approach.
I had the pleasure of meeting Dr Campbell last week and look forward to collaborating! He is very impressive!
How exciting! Thanks everyone for such a great interview!
Very informative from people who went though it! Thank you!
Yes! Their experience and education are just a gift to all those still suffering and needing hope!
Thank you so much ❤
Really interesting, will there any more studies taking place. I would be very interested to take part.
Do you suppose that for a segment of the population, that carbs cause poisoning and affects each individual’s metabolism or endocrine system differently depending on their genetics? And that we see this poisoning vary widely because of the vastly detrimental impacts to our bodies? Hyperinsulinemia (SP?) being behind it all?
I don't think that we, as a species, evolved eating very many carbs. Think about what was available during most of our evolution. Meat was probably highly prized and the plants we ate were not like the fruits and vegetables available today at the supermarket. They would have been very low carb. Fatty acids and ketones were more than likely our default fuel source. Glucose from carbohydrates were more than likely available only in high volume at very specific times of the year.
So yes. there are probably many of us modern humans who are (high) carb intolerant.
Regarding “KETO dieting is difficult to adhere to”, it depends on the individual. For me, the magical transition point was when, after nearly six years on keto, I opened my eyes to the carnivore diet. The complexity of maintaining the keto diet just disappeared. Carnivore is a subset of KETO. On the KETO diet I was constantly challenged with keeping the carbs low enough that I was, at best, only ever in low-level nutritional ketosis. As a Carnivore, it’s so much easier. I only ever have to decide when and what carb food to cheat with or not; when influenced by the social situation. Granted, you do have to learn about carb food macros and their effect on your ketosis. Once learned, there is no guesswork. In my experience, Carnivore keeps me in a state of high-level nutritional ketosis much more easily than KETO.
I tried carnivore but after one month I had no energy in legs muscles when walking and had heart troubles.
@1:06:11 could you please write the names of the scientist? Please! Thanks from Mexico. Nicté
Such a great conversation!
I came to the keto space more for physical health, but the mental stuff still fascinates me.
I think it's a HUGE shame how few docs even try dietary approaches. When I turned 40 and my new doc found all my metabolic issues, she didn't even suggest diet changes.. just prescribed some meds and looked shocked when I asked about diet (because I already thought I was basically doing it right). The recommendations were unsurprising but also unfulfilling and I've been figuring this out for myself for five years. Weight is down, blood work better, energy levels back, it all works.
Back to that day... I don't hold it against the doc. I think she just got used to patients wanting a pill and not lifestyle change. I think those people are insane but docs are tired of trying to convince them to try. Also doesn't help that a lot of the standard recommendations don't work. It's a whole mess of issues that need to be worked out.
Thank you ❤️❤️❤️❤️
The thing I wonder about is how much meds are hindering ketosis via ketogenesis. I’m doing keto and have noticed that I can make dietary ketones but struggle making ketones from stored fat overnight. I’ll wake up out of ketosis which is the opposite of what I was before starting meds. I used to do a lot of intermittent fasting prior to starting bipolar meds and I could get my ketones up to 2-3 but on bipolar meds it’s very low like 0.6-0.8 and I feel very low in energy. So I feel like we need to address the challenges of how meds are going to make it harder for some bipolar patients to get the full benefits of ketosis. Maybe they might need to supplement with mcts to do well as I have experienced.
Sleep, diet, exercise. Vital. Anytime I've had a relapse was due to a deficient in sleep. Thank you ❤
The info I'm having trouble finding is, what exactly does a ketogenic diet look like? Can I eat green vegetables? Is there a recommended information link?
A basic ketogenic diet might consist of
Great talk
What is the keto diet for bipolar patients?
I’m in Austraila and asking for my son how do you find a doctor that will be onboard with this treatment 17:14
There is an international clinicians directory on the metabolic website . They definitely have clinician Australia.
I experience severe depression, with suicide thoughts. I can't work or function. My cognitive impairment and short memory is quite bad. I am wondering how long it takes to feel the brain functioning again properly? Some of us with don't have family support. Not to mention intrusive thoughts, brain fog. It seems i will never to be able to survive this with all the stress and agony i have to endure this.. At 40 all is destroyed. Is a struggle even to eat sometimes. I just feel that the one that manages to overcome it are either able to work, or even smart people. I feel lonely and at the edge of ending.
I was highly suicidal and in deep depression, started keto and felt something better within a week, the great change came after 2-3 weeks. It completely changed my mood. When I was depressed I went a couple of days without eating, and that's when I thought I might take the most of it and start keto right away because doing fasting makes going into ketosis faster. I just ate eggs for breakfast and ground beef for dinner and/or lunch. A lot of salt and water, and some carrots. I didn't have energy to cook, so sometimes I just boiled several eggs and ate them during several days for breakfast with mayo. It's very simple, no need to think at all about cooking. This is only for the first few days to just start when I didn't have any mental energy. After a while I felt a little bit better, so I started caring more about macros, reading and tracking food. You don't have anything to lose, eating a piece of meat with some green leafs, or a boiled egg takes very few steps and very little energy. Just start with it, and then, after some days you'll be able to do a little more, and finally hopefully you can feel good again. You just have to take the first step.
@@unrespiro thank you for your comment. I did 6 weeks with no relief. I can't work because of having bipo😢, cognitive issues, memory issues and all this is adding to my suicidal thoughts non stop. I am glad for you that you felt improvement. The fact i can't function and be able to work is really hard on me. I am planning to start again. I believe that younger people like Matt have more chances to recover.
For me is because it affected my cognitive ability, memory and high anxiety. Plus i can't function and work wich adding more stress and more depression. I did 6 weeks and didn't felt any relief. I am happy for you
@@nickcaption308 I'm so sorry that you found no relief! Your situation is tough and trying something new, having hopes and not seeing benefits is hard. Chris Palmer says that some people need to give it 3-4 months to see results. Unfortunately it's hard to feel motivated to do this change during some months without positive outcomes, so many don't complete the "3-4 months challenge". I hope you can do it again and persist a little bit more, and see some results. When we have a chronic condition, we just can't give up and try everything possible to find out own way to feel better.
@@unrespirohow are you doing?
I had no idea they treat bipolar with epilepsy medications . Thanks for the info , we have three in our family with bipolar , 30:43
I’m curious about the macros. Wish there was a place for support since no one on my mental health team is recommending Leto. I’ve been doing Keto for bipolar for almost two months. Less than 20 grams carbs a day. Hard to get enough fat without doing straight oil? I was easily in ketosis fist 5 weeks, now I seem to be out of ketosis based on ketomojo that I’ve been using since beginning. A meal that used to keep me in ketosis is now tossing me out
You can focus on fatty meats, sardines, put butter on meat, vegetables. Coffee with heavy cream. Spoonful of mct oil in coffee or drizzled on food. Just ideas
@@teriortiz5360 thank you Teri. I feel mentally best in high level GKI ketosis, but it’s very hard for me to sustain that level, generally in low level GKI ketosis on my meter. I think some of it is due to perimenopause and related insulin resistance. So to your point increasing fat ideas are helpful, to get fat macros correct, fasting also helpful
Focus on how you feel, not the ketones. It’s normal that blood ketones elevate more easily to begin with. Lower ketone readings may just be a result of adaptation - you’re burning fat more efficiently. You could buy a quality ketone breath acetone device to measure breath ketones. For me, blood ketones became harder and harder to get above 0.3-0.5 mmol. But breath ketones showed I was in ketosis. Eating MORE dietary fat just to see higher blood ketones is not advisable. Keep carbs low and eat fat and protein in its most natural form. Ketogenic fat macros (80% +) is partly a myth if your objective is reaping the benefits of nutritional ketosis or therapeutic ketosis. The clue is carbohydrate restriction. Then adequate protein and fats together will give you building blocks and energy.
@tcancella7286. You are correct that hormones can affect ketosus state. Make sure you’re getting about 2 fat gram:1 gram protein ratio. If you’re the sort to skip breakfast and mostly eat lunch and dinner time, you can switch to breakfast and lunch times. If you’re not prioritizing deep sleep, then you should. Magnesium helps reduce cortisol, which helps lower insulin spikes, which is helpful for you. Also Magnesium Glycinate before bed will help with deep sleep. I believe magnesium and B’s have helped me significantly as well. I only take mwthylated B’s. The link between MTHR B-9 deficiency and mental health is huge. Ergo metylated B-9. Vitamin D is also a player for depression. Some people see a difference between keto and carnivore in ketosus. Possibly food intolerances are at play for those.
@tcancella7286 My spelling is bad. Methylated*. Also Dr. Boz podcast explains ways to address your specific question re: how to get into deeper ketosis when you’ve been doing it for awhile. She explains the mechanisms as well. You got this!!
It would be hilarious if Kraepelin cracked the basic cause a hundred years ago and we've just been in weeds ever since. Mankind has a short memory sometimes. Lithium was forgotten and rediscovered at least three times.
Ok now I have a question: what consequences for nosology & psychiatry ? Will bipolar patients be treated by endocrinologists rather than psychiatrists ?
I would say just start doing keto, you can supplement with whatever med he is on. I want to start with my daughter when she comes home from college, I also heard this helps with addiction, makes me wonder what part of the brain is in dysfunction and how diet would have such a huge impact, either way I keep talking to my daughter about it and sending her articles about keto and bipolar, she’s 20 but she loves sugar, she is working on her sobriety and for whatever reason she really craves sugar. It’s almost a replacement for pot.
Have you seems success using Keto Diet with Schizophrenia? It seems like there is not much of a difference, in symptoms, between most mental disorders.
There is an interview on UA-cam with Dr. Chris Palmer where he discusses using this diet with a patient of his who had Schizophrenia. She was older and reversed this diagnosis. Dr. Palmer wrote a book about using nutrition for mental health called 'Brain Energy.'
Thank you@@marcias2641
Once keto adapted your carb/sugar addiction WILL disappear. That has to be first step and often in conjunction with meds. Thats what doctors should encourage.
Is that Matt? Goodness he looks amazing
👍👍👍👍👍👍
Thank you ❤
Thank you ❤