“A ketogenic diet for anorexia”
You heard that right. A new study published TODAY suggests cutting carbs might help in anorexia.
The reason that pairing sounds so paradoxical is that we’re still largely trapped in a framework that views eating disorders as purely psychological phenomena, and assumes restrictive eating should never be treated with a restrictive diet.
On the surface, that logic seems reasonable.
But one of the most important shifts occurring in psychiatry is the growing recognition that the brain, like every other organ, is fundamentally metabolic.
When metabolism goes awry in the brain, the consequences can manifest as psychiatric illness—including eating disorders.
From that perspective, it becomes far less surprising that a metabolic therapy such as a ketogenic diet could help treat anorexia nervosa, one of the deadliest psychiatric disorders in existence.
Quoting from the author of the research
@GuidoFrank “The level of recovery [on a keto diet] was far better than what we see in other anorexia treatments.”
Huge kudos to
@janellison @BaszuckiGroup for supporting this life-saving work.