Read the latest from Baszucki Group and its partners.
For many, the ketogenic diet conjures up images of “keto bros” flexing their muscles and obsessively avoiding carbs. But keto is a serious therapeutic approach for brain disorders dating back more than a century. As we learn more about the connection between metabolic health and mental health, researchers are increasingly studying this nutritional approach as a treatment for severe mental illness.
August 26, 2026—In 2009, medical student Shebani Sethi watched a patient in a weight loss program make a remarkable recovery. The dietary intervention she underwent alleviated her schizophrenia symptoms, something the woman had tried – and failed – to treat with medication for years. That experience sent Shebani down a medical path that would lead her to treating mental health in a radically different way.
Published today in Schizophrenia Bulletin, a first-of-its-kind randomized controlled trial (RCT) from researchers at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and funded in part by the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), adds to growing literature on the potential benefit of a ketogenic diet for treating psychotic disorders.
June 16, 2026—Early research suggests that some mental health conditions could stem from metabolic disorders. If so, the findings could change how we treat mental illness.