A pilot study revealed that a ketogenic diet, combined with usual care, significantly reduced depressive symptoms in college students with major depressive disorder (MDD). Conducted over 10-12 weeks, participants showed a 69% drop in depression scores on the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 and a 71% decrease on the Hamilton Rating Scale. Global well-being scores tripled, with improvements in cognitive performance. Despite limitations such as small sample size and lack of control group, the findings suggest that this dietary approach may be a viable adjunct to standard treatments for MDD.

Source: Translational Psychiatry