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CASE REPORT article

Front. Nutr.
Sec. Clinical Nutrition
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1506304
This article is part of the Research Topic Ketogenic Metabolic Therapies in Prevention & Treatment of Non-communicable Diseases View all 7 articles

Ketogenic Metabolic Therapy for Schizoaffective Disorder: A Retrospective Case Series of Psychotic Symptom Remission and Mood Recovery

Provisionally accepted
Nicole Laurent Nicole Laurent 1*Erin L Bellamy Erin L Bellamy 2Katherine A Tague Katherine A Tague 3Donika Hristova Donika Hristova 4Ally Houston Ally Houston 5
  • 1 Mental Health Keto, Vancouver, United States
  • 2 University of East London, London, United Kingdom
  • 3 Well Supported Behavioral Health, PLLC, Greenwich, CT, United States
  • 4 Transformation Evoked, Virginia, Minnesota, United States
  • 5 University of Oxford, Oxford, England, United Kingdom

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Background: Schizoaffective disorder is a severe psychiatric condition characterized by mood disturbances and psychotic symptoms. Standard treatments, primarily pharmacological, often fail to control symptoms fully and can lead to significant metabolic side effects. Emerging evidence suggests that ketogenic metabolic therapy (KMT), also known as the ketogenic diet, may offer a powerful alternative to conventional treatments for mood components and resolve psychiatric symptoms in patients with schizoaffective disorder.Methods: This case series investigates the effects of KMT on two individuals diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder who pursued this therapy due to the ineffectiveness of conventional treatments. Both case presentations followed a modified ketogenic diet with medical oversight.Symptom changes in mood were assessed using validated tools, including the Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS-42), PTSD Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), and Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9).Results: Both case presentations experienced the complete cessation of psychotic symptoms and improvements in mood. Case 1, a 17-year-old female, achieved full remission of severe suicidal ideation, hallucinations, and anxiety within 6 weeks, with sustained improvements at a 24-week follow-up. Case 2, a 32-year-old female, achieved full remission of chronic psychotic and mood symptoms by six months. Patients either achieved full psychiatric deprescription or were in the process of deprescription at time of follow-up.This case series demonstrates that ketogenic metabolic therapy can resolve chronic psychotic and mood symptoms in patients with schizoaffective disorder, leading to full remission and significant functional recovery and reported improvements in quality of life that extend beyond symptom control with standard of care interventions.

    Keywords: Ketogenic Diet, ketogenic metabolic therapy, schizoaffective disorder, Psychiatric recovery, case series, metabolic psychiatry, Ketosis

    Received: 04 Oct 2024; Accepted: 21 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 Laurent, Bellamy, Tague, Hristova and Houston. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Nicole Laurent, Mental Health Keto, Vancouver, United States

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.