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Ketogenic diet for anxiety disorders: Dietary regimen for relapse prevention?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 August 2021

A. Włodarczyk*
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, Medical University of Gdansk, gdansk, Poland
W. Cubała
Affiliation:
Psychiatry, Medical University of Gdansk, gdansk, Poland
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

Anxiety disorders are a mental disorder that is widespread all over the world and are associated with a high burden of the disease. While poor dietary habits are common in depression, they can lead to worsening of the illness or prolong the treatment, which also leads to a higher risk of developing chronic diseases.

Objectives

With the array of the treatment modalities including monoaminergic antidepressants, benzodiazepines, psychotherapy, there is the unmet need for the effective treatment of anxiety disorders resulting in full remission and relapse prevention. Benzodiazepines can quickly resolve anxiety due to their positive allosteric GABA modulation mechanism of action. Although, they are not recommended for chronic use.

Methods

Ketogenic diet(KD) may be hypothesized as the promising strategy impacting treatment strategies, in particularly facilitating full remission, recovery and preventing relapses. In this popular high-fat diet, where daily calories intake is consists in at least 70% from fat, up to 25 % from protein and as little sugar as possible is mainly known for its helpful role in drug resistant epilepsy treatment, glucose levels balance or fast way for weight-loss.

Results

Could be effective in anxiety disorders treatment due to its possible role in GABA:glutamate balance change in favor of GABA levels, which may enhance the anxiolytic effect in sustaining remission and preventing relapse.

Conclusions

KD in some anxiety disorders may provide a rewarding outcome, but more research is needed. The evidence mentioned in this paper should encourage psychiatrists to recommend KD as advice somewhere between psychotherapy, pharmacology or as an add-on to those two.

Type
Abstract
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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