The study can be read in full here: https://www.frontiersin.org/article...022.951376/full

It is interesting that they include "autistic behaviours" as one of the things being decreased with a ketogenic diet. I have a colleague with two autistic sons who only want to eat pasta, bread and cookies 24/7/365.

I've always been curious about this and I hope it continues to be researched. Doesn't it stand to reason that if anti-seizure drugs are used in psychiatry, that the same ketogenic diet that helps with seizure disorders might also help people with those psychiatric illnesses?

One thing that stood out to me were the supplements: namely fish oil and Mg. Most people would find it impossible to get enough from diet, and guess what the symptoms of deficiency can be? Depression, anxiety, etc. I've taken these for years and believe them to be a useful tool in the toolbox for managing depression and anxiety without medications.

I'll second those two. I lost years of my life to major depression, despite trying numerous drugs, until I found the key in taking enough magnesium in an absorbable form. Calcium is toxic to brain cells when it's in enough of a high concentration, which was apparently what was happening to me.

For years I participated on an Alt Med psychiatry board and one time someone posted a poll asking people which supplement would they want most to have if stranded on a desert island. Magnesium got the most votes.

The studies have been conclusive enough for me for fish oil as well, although there's no definitive amount of EPA, DHA or both that I could determine, so I just take as much as I can afford. I recall one book I read on the subject saying that the fish eating areas of the world have a lower incidence of depression.

Dr Amen is the only other brain doctor In know of that points out diet is important and non- drug options.

Magnesium is 80% deficient world wide. In US we are only marginally better, at 60% as I remember another source.

It's a feel good mineral, and helps with moderating explosive behavior.

My autistic son generally avoids crap food and gas for years. His autism is not recognizable these days. Took years to reach this point.

Clean whole foods, not from a box, not ready made. Without as many chemicals as possible. He's not perfect as he doesn't eat much organic but , I'm guessing, 90% is real whole foods he cooks or prepares.

The push currently is to get mother's back into the work force. Maybe the health of children having home cooked meals again is more valuable....... Just a thought....

Similar experience here with my niece. Amazing how much sugar she puts away on a daily basis to the point of being alarming.

I'm encouraged that Dr. Ede and colleagues are pursuing this for autism and psychiatric issues, as eating healthy whole foods (primarily ketogenic, but hardly at the level of fat macros in the treatment groups), I have little anxiety and a generally positive outlook. This was not always the case years before going very low carb, and life issues were more prominent at that time. While my experience is purely anecdotal, I find solace in being able to remain calm even during stressful times nowadays, and I believe diet has some positive influence. I, too, have supplemented with magnesium and fish oil over the past 10 years to great benefit.

"Autistic behaviors" are often symptoms of sensory overload. Metabolic brain issues are going to appear at a weak point. In other people it can be depression or mood swings.

Low carb helped greatly with my anxiety. After the different medicines didn't make a dent, enough niacin really helped me turn a good corner.

Brain is also a body organ.

WB, as for sensory overload my son used to wear head phones to muffle class room noise. He could hear fine to have face to face conversations. Once in college, the sound level seems to be tolerable as he never mentions the headset.

Perhaps he is also less sensative at this point in his life.

I never used earbuds until a crowded office and I fir into podcasts. Which helped with the noise and my work. But took up energy processing either way.

I've started using Vibes earbuds. They are earplugs with a sound filter that dampens only the loudest and most abrasive noise, yet conversation is more clear. Great for supermarkets and long car rides. No batteries needed.

I'm schizoaffective bipolar. My metabolic state does seem to affect my mood state. I think I still have the underlying differences that cause the mood shifts. I'll usually eat ketogenically, and be doing relatively fine. I also drink a lot of coffee, keto and fasting seem to increase my sensitivity to caffeine and I think it acts as an anti-depressant.

Where the underlying differences come in--sometimes I'll decrease my coffee intake for a week or two in order to increase my caffeine sensitivity, I'll get to where I feel like I'm having to drink too much to feel normal. Or I'll go off keto for a day or two--somebody's birthday, Christmas or something. With the caffeine--a lot of the time I'll just get sleepy, but feel otherwise fine with less caffeine. But other times, I'll start feeling sort of depressed and more anxious. With the carbs--similar, sometimes I'll feel fine, sometimes I'll get really paranoid or something, some symptom will increase.

I've always had some level of sound sensitivity, it got ridiculous for a while when my Dad died a couple of years ago. I was wincing if I plunked frozen chicken breasts down on the grill too hard at work.

I actually think I do better on low fat--not compared to keto, but compared to the SAD diet--mentally. I do brief stints of it. The only low fat carby food that seems worth eating is oatmeal, so I don't do it that often because I don't want rickets and scurvy.

My son eats primarily whole foods. Low carb not very low carb. Avoids bread, likes rice. Big sushi eater, big on stir fry.

He seems to tolerate jams. Likely as it's a small portion of diet.

And he is physically active. Really. He can wrestle a 250# ram and win. It's summer so he's not sitting at a desk, like during the school year.

I still marvel at his ability to seem almost normal in his speech now. Perhaps the brain takes a long time to heal, then the delayed skills need more time to develop.

https://www.jcu.edu.au/news/release...linical-trials#