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No evidence behind RFK Jr’s claim keto diet can cure schizophrenia, experts say
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Valnao sh.itjust.works Valnao@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2026-02-13
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428   Original
RoidingOldMan lemmy.world RoidingOldMan@lemmy.world
Joined: 2024-08-09
#2 · Quote Reply

Who would have guessed you could cure mental illness back thousands of years by eating exclusively chicken.

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kikutwo lemmy.world kikutwo@lemmy.world
Joined: 2024-04-04
#3 · Quote Reply

Color me shocked!

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TrackinDaKraken lemmy.world DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world
Joined: 2025-02-26
#4 · (edited) Quote Reply

Who would have guessed you could cure mental illness back thousands of years by eating exclusively chicken.

That's a carnivore diet. A ketogenic diet can be vegan.

Not that I'm recommending a vegan keto diet, I'm just saying you got your diets mixed up.

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Chaotic_Altruist lemmy.zip Chaotic_Altruist@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2025-06-30
#5 · Quote Reply

Unless I'm mistaken he doesn't even make money off the keto diet, this is just stupidity for stupidity's sake

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RoidingOldMan lemmy.world RoidingOldMan@lemmy.world
Joined: 2024-08-09
#6 · Quote Reply

That's a carnivore diet. A ketogenic diet can be vegan. Not that I'm recommending a vegan keto diet, I'm just saying you got your diets mixed up.

When has RFK ever suggested a vegan diet? The article referenced a "red meat, whole milk and animal fats" diet. So my mistake I should have said steak not chicken.

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santa sh.itjust.works santa@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2023-06-23
#7 · Quote Reply

Unless I'm mistaken he doesn't even make money off the keto diet, this is just stupidity for stupidity's sake

He makes money off of stupidity, though; his and others.

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celeste kbin.earth celeste@kbin.earth
Joined: 2024-05-11
#8 · Quote Reply

The evidence that ketogenic diet might help with schizophrenia symptom remission comes from two case reports that Palmer published in Schizophrenia Research in 2019. When discussing them, Palmer was quick to emphasise that “yes, it’s only two”, and that “case reports don’t prove anything. They’re not controlled. They come with tremendous amounts of bias.” But, Palmer noted, that can be important for generating hypotheses about what treatments might work. Palmer thought it was valuable to publish these case reports because remission of schizophrenia symptoms is incredibly rare.

Two case studies! The scientist quoted knows that it means nothing! Don't read one article that might show something that confirms your bias and go "this is real."

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Jo Miran lemmy.ml JoMiran@lemmy.ml
Joined: 2023-06-29
#9 · (edited) Quote Reply

That's a carnivore diet. A ketogenic diet can be vegan. Not that I'm recommending a vegan keto diet, I'm just saying you got your diets mixed up.

After some health issues I did a whole food plant based, no SOS, Keto diet. My cholesterol ratio went to 1.08 without meds, I lost a ton of weight, was full of energy and got fit as fuck, and apparently I was "full of color" because I was now eating a ton of vitamins and nutrients. Great diet but viciously difficult to keep up with unless you have a peraonal chef.

Needless to say, I am no longer that strict.

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Carnelian lemmy.world Carnelian@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-27
#10 · Quote Reply

Unless I'm mistaken he doesn't even make money off the keto diet, this is just stupidity for stupidity's sake

It’s more insidious than that. In general, meat forward diet influencers are entry points into the conservative pipeline. You start out seeking to improve your health and very quickly end up exposed to jordan peterson types who will ominously warn you of the “normalization of inadequacy” among the general public and suggest progressively more conservative content as a pathway to achieving your full potential.

So in essence, though he may not seem to directly benefit, by highlighting these types of diets he knows plenty of people will hop on youtube or whatever and get algorithm’d right back into the broader MAHA/MAGA sphere

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Nurse_Robot lemmy.world Nurse_Robot@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-08-12
#11 · Quote Reply

No evidence behind most of what this walking crime against humanity says

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GreenShimada lemmy.world GreenShimada@lemmy.world
Joined: 2024-12-22
#12 · Quote Reply

After some health issues I did a whole food plant based, no SOS, Keto diet. My cholesterol ratio went to 1.08 without meds, I lost a ton of weight, was full of energy and got fit as fuck, and apparently I was "full of color" because I was now eating a ton of vitamins and nutrients. Great diet but viciously difficult to keep up with unless you have a peraonal chef. Needless to say, I am no longe...

I've also done several stints of mostly veg with some fish keto, and every time it's like magic. Feel great, clear head, drop 5kg over a couple weeks. It's always back-to-back social things or travel that break it. If I lived in a bubble or some keto-only hippie commune, I'd be shredded like a block of cheddar.

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hopesdead startrek.website hopesdead@startrek.website
Joined: 2024-05-27
#13 · Quote Reply

Don’t those who experience seizures eat a keto diet?

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DarkFuture lemmy.world DarkFuture@lemmy.world
Joined: 2024-11-06
#14 · Quote Reply

Look at the last year.

Now imagine permanently living in a conservative America.

That's a reality we're actually facing because Americans can't get their shit together.

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supersquirrel sopuli.xyz supersquirrel@sopuli.xyz
Joined: 2023-12-09
#15 · Quote Reply

Has anyone found evidence behind the claim that RJK Jr can integrate novel information?

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Jo Miran lemmy.ml JoMiran@lemmy.ml
Joined: 2023-06-29
#16 · Quote Reply

I've also done several stints of mostly veg with some fish keto, and every time it's like magic. Feel great, clear head, drop 5kg over a couple weeks. It's always back-to-back social things or travel that break it. If I lived in a bubble or some keto-only hippie commune, I'd be shredded like a block of cheddar.

It was the COVID lockdown that killed it for me. I haven't been terrible since, but I also have not found the motivation to go hard core again.

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Zier fedia.io Zier@fedia.io
Joined: 2023-06-17
#17 · Quote Reply

"RFK Jr’s claim keto diet can cure schizophrenia"
But RFK jr is living proof that it's not true or he would no longer be schizo.
Go away raw milk boy.

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Karyoplasma discuss.tchncs.de Karyoplasma@discuss.tchncs.de
Joined: 2023-07-03
#18 · Quote Reply

Isn't a keto diet dangerous without a prior check-up?

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Ghostalmedia lemmy.world Ghostalmedia@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-10
#19 · Quote Reply

I've also done several stints of mostly veg with some fish keto, and every time it's like magic. Feel great, clear head, drop 5kg over a couple weeks. It's always back-to-back social things or travel that break it. If I lived in a bubble or some keto-only hippie commune, I'd be shredded like a block of cheddar.

But a block of cheddar isn’t shredded. It’s a block. Shredded cheddar is shredded.

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ALoafOfBread lemmy.ml ALoafOfBread@lemmy.ml
Joined: 2023-06-01
#20 · Quote Reply

Even beyond like actual facts and evidence proving this wrong, I have one fundamental question for all these nutcases making wild claims about diet: why the fuck would X diet do Y thing?

Like what about eating more meat and fat & being in ketosis could possibly have any effect on schizophrenia, of all things.

It doesn't even make sense on any basic level. Could there theoretically be some counterintuitive thing that would cause an effect? Maybe, sure. But come on - these wacky claims don't even pass the sniff test.

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buddascrayon lemmy.world buddascrayon@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-08-28
#21 · Quote Reply

Nothing this snake oil salesman says is ever backed by any evidence.

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Kirp123 lemmy.world Kirp123@lemmy.world
Joined: 2025-02-06
#22 · Quote Reply

Even beyond like actual facts and evidence proving this wrong, I have one fundamental question for all these nutcases making wild claims about diet: why the fuck would X diet do Y thing? Like what about eating more meat and fat & being in ketosis could possibly have any effect on schizophrenia, of all things. It doesn't even make sense on any basic level. Could there theoretically be some c...

Why would anyone take anything seriously from a man who had actual brain worms.

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Kirp123 lemmy.world Kirp123@lemmy.world
Joined: 2025-02-06
#23 · (edited) Quote Reply

When has RFK ever suggested a vegan diet? The article referenced a "red meat, whole milk and animal fats" diet. So my mistake I should have said steak not chicken.

Whole milk has more sugar than it has fat.

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vaultdweller013 sh.itjust.works vaultdweller013@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2023-07-08
#24 · Quote Reply

It’s more insidious than that. In general, meat forward diet influencers are entry points into the conservative pipeline. You start out seeking to improve your health and very quickly end up exposed to jordan peterson types who will ominously warn you of the “normalization of inadequacy” among the general public and suggest progressively more conservative content as a pathway to achieving your ...

I really want to shove Peterson down a flight of stairs right into one of those industrial grinders they use to mulch engine blocks.

1
ALoafOfBread lemmy.ml ALoafOfBread@lemmy.ml
Joined: 2023-06-01
#25 · Quote Reply

Why would anyone take anything seriously from a man who had actual brain worms.

Maybe going keto would grow them some extra brain cells so they could realize it's a bad idea

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metallic_substance lemmy.world metallic_substance@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-07-04
#26 · Quote Reply

"RFK Jr’s claim keto diet can cure schizophrenia" But RFK jr is living proof that it's not true or he would no longer be schizo. Go away raw milk boy.

I don't know what you're trying to say here

1
celeste kbin.earth celeste@kbin.earth
Joined: 2024-05-11
#27 · Quote Reply

Don’t those who experience seizures eat a keto diet?

It's a treatment for people who don't respond to medicine.

https://www.epilepsy.com/treatment/dietary-therapies/ketogenic-diet

It's pretty interesting! I listened to a medical history podcast about keto years ago.

https://maximumfun.org/transcripts/sawbones/transcript-sawbones-ketogenic-diet
Apparently the diet started as a treatment for epilepsy. Way back in history people noticed that if you were inclined to have seizures and were starving, you had fewer seizures. In the early 1900s there were experiments to figure out how to reduce seizures without, you know, starving them to death. keto!

I wouldn't be shocked if keto had some kind of effect on the brain that helps with schizophrenia, but there's no real info yet.

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celeste kbin.earth celeste@kbin.earth
Joined: 2024-05-11
#28 · Quote Reply

Even beyond like actual facts and evidence proving this wrong, I have one fundamental question for all these nutcases making wild claims about diet: why the fuck would X diet do Y thing? Like what about eating more meat and fat & being in ketosis could possibly have any effect on schizophrenia, of all things. It doesn't even make sense on any basic level. Could there theoretically be some c...

I do think it'd be interesting to do a real study on it. Keto can reduce seizures, and after study it might turn out the same mechanism of action that helps there helps with schizophrenia symptoms. I hope there's a more extensive study being planned out there.

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Lucidlethargy sh.itjust.works Lucidlethargy@sh.itjust.works
Joined: 2023-06-28
#29 · Quote Reply

Why would literally anyone listen to this coke-fried man whose had actual fucking worms crawling around in his actual fucking brain?

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xep discuss.online xep@discuss.online
Joined: 2025-08-06
#30 · (edited) Quote Reply

I do think it'd be interesting to do a real study on it. Keto can reduce seizures, and after study it might turn out the same mechanism of action that helps there helps with schizophrenia symptoms. I hope there's a more extensive study being planned out there.

The good news is there are studies being done!

There is a lot of co-morbidity between Schizophrenia, Bipolar disorder, depression, and Schizoaffective disorder. Epilepsy might've been in this list as well. The research in this WRT to nutrition is known as Metabolic Psychiatry and the book that Dr Palmer has written is Brain Energy. It is a fascinating read. Other notable resources include Dr Georgia Ede, Dr. Bret Scher, and Dr. Iain Campbell.

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xep discuss.online xep@discuss.online
Joined: 2025-08-06
#31 · (edited) Quote Reply

It's a treatment for people who don't respond to medicine. https://www.epilepsy.com/treatment/dietary-therapies/ketogenic-diet It's pretty interesting! I listened to a medical history podcast about keto years ago. https://maximumfun.org/transcripts/sawbones/transcript-sawbones-ketogenic-diet Apparently the diet started as a treatment for epilepsy. Way back in history people noticed that if you ...

There are an increasing number of case studies for Bipolar Disorder, as well as pilot trials. If you're interested, there is a YouTube channel called Keto Bipolar with interviews that you could take a look at.

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GreenShimada lemmy.world GreenShimada@lemmy.world
Joined: 2024-12-22
#32 · Quote Reply

But a block of cheddar isn’t shredded. It’s a block. Shredded cheddar is shredded.

The cheddar GETS shredded through work.

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michaelalf lemmy.world michaelalf@lemmy.world
Joined: 2025-09-19
#33 · Quote Reply

There are an increasing number of case studies for Bipolar Disorder, as well as pilot trials. If you're interested, there is a YouTube channel called Keto Bipolar with interviews that you could take a look at.

Interesting. Just to correct you though, BPD is Borderline Personality Disorder not Bipolar.

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xep discuss.online xep@discuss.online
Joined: 2025-08-06
#34 · Quote Reply

Interesting. Just to correct you though, BPD is Borderline Personality Disorder not Bipolar.

Thank you for the correction, I'll edit my post.

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Tollana1234567 lemmy.today Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
Joined: 2025-06-04
#35 · Quote Reply

someone has been brain damaged by cocaine and heroin should not be giving medical advice, and likely a parasirtic infection in his youth(before his divorce)

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Tollana1234567 lemmy.today Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
Joined: 2025-06-04
#36 · Quote Reply

When has RFK ever suggested a vegan diet? The article referenced a "red meat, whole milk and animal fats" diet. So my mistake I should have said steak not chicken.

that is where you get all your essential parasites.

1
Tollana1234567 lemmy.today Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
Joined: 2025-06-04
#37 · Quote Reply

Whole milk has more sugar than it has fat.

he reccomended RAW MILK.

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Tollana1234567 lemmy.today Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
Joined: 2025-06-04
#38 · Quote Reply

After some health issues I did a whole food plant based, no SOS, Keto diet. My cholesterol ratio went to 1.08 without meds, I lost a ton of weight, was full of energy and got fit as fuck, and apparently I was "full of color" because I was now eating a ton of vitamins and nutrients. Great diet but viciously difficult to keep up with unless you have a peraonal chef. Needless to say, I am no longe...

FIBER does slow down the absorption of fat, cholesterol and sugar. i

2
Tollana1234567 lemmy.today Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
Joined: 2025-06-04
#39 · Quote Reply

He makes money off of stupidity, though; his and others.

anti-vaxxers were an UNTAPPED grifting "natural resources", before COVID, it always existed in the fringe and always were midwestern moms/families who ironically believe in chronic lyme too.

1
Tollana1234567 lemmy.today Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
Joined: 2025-06-04
#40 · Quote Reply

It’s more insidious than that. In general, meat forward diet influencers are entry points into the conservative pipeline. You start out seeking to improve your health and very quickly end up exposed to jordan peterson types who will ominously warn you of the “normalization of inadequacy” among the general public and suggest progressively more conservative content as a pathway to achieving your ...

the gym bros, culture is also pretty conservatives, they follow UFC, and by extension roegan, and other pseudointellectual. J peterson is a fully paid shill for Putin, ever since he went to russia to GET a coma from them.

0
Tollana1234567 lemmy.today Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
Joined: 2025-06-04
#41 · Quote Reply

The evidence that ketogenic diet might help with schizophrenia symptom remission comes from two case reports that Palmer published in Schizophrenia Research in 2019. When discussing them, Palmer was quick to emphasise that “yes, it’s only two”, and that “case reports don’t prove anything. They’re not controlled. They come with tremendous amounts of bias.” But, Palmer noted, that can be importan...

wasnt there a recent post, rebuking ketogenic diet is not much of difference.

1
Tollana1234567 lemmy.today Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
Joined: 2025-06-04
#42 · Quote Reply

Why would literally anyone listen to this coke-fried man whose had actual fucking worms crawling around in his actual fucking brain?

also HEROIN damaged brain, who drove his family member to OD on it, plus cocaine, and decades of parasite exposure. and he resulted in 80+ somoan Dead children by advising them to not take the MEASLES VACCINE.

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Tollana1234567 lemmy.today Tollana1234567@lemmy.today
Joined: 2025-06-04
#43 · Quote Reply

Nothing this snake oil salesman says is ever backed by any evidence.

thats DR.OZs job.

1
paperdoll lemmy.zip paperdoll@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2025-04-19
#44 · Quote Reply

There are an increasing number of case studies for Bipolar Disorder, as well as pilot trials. If you're interested, there is a YouTube channel called Keto Bipolar with interviews that you could take a look at.

As a bipolar person I tried the keto diet. It made me super manic and I ended up in the hospital so ymmv

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xep discuss.online xep@discuss.online
Joined: 2025-08-06
#45 · Quote Reply

As a bipolar person I tried the keto diet. It made me super manic and I ended up in the hospital so ymmv

I'm sorry to hear that. It makes sense that everything I've read on the topic says it's best done with the help of a psychiatrist as it is a medical intervention.

1
cheers_queers lemmy.zip cheers_queers@lemmy.zip
Joined: 2025-06-04
#46 · (edited) Quote Reply

Look at the last year. Now imagine permanently living in a conservative America. That's a reality we're actually facing because Americans can't get their shit together.

i was raised evangelical fundie and have had multiple breakdowns in the last year from feeling like i am being forced back into a life i clawed my way out of. it is hopelessly depressing

1
paultimate14 lemmy.world paultimate14@lemmy.world
Joined: 2023-06-18
#47 · Quote Reply

Kennedy Jr’s statement probably referred to the Harvard psychiatrist Dr Christopher Palmer, who said he has “never once used the word ‘cure’ in my work. I have never claimed to have cured any mental illness, including schizophrenia,” but added: “I have talked about ketogenic diet being a very powerful treatment, even to the point of inducing remission of symptoms of schizophrenia.”

RFK is a crackpot moving way too fast. At the same time, The Guardian is equally misleading in its headline here.

There IS evidence that Schizophrenia, like a lot of other disorders (epilepsy, Alzheimer's, Bipolar, etc) have links to the microbiome. Here is a paper analyzing various studies into keto as an effective treatment for schizophrenia. It's not perfect, it's not for everyone, and more research is needed.

Technically the Guardian is correct when they say there is no evidence that keto can "cure", but I find it very misleading when there is a decent bit of evidence that it is an effective treatment.

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BarneyPiccolo lemmy.today BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
Joined: 2025-06-30
#48 · Quote Reply

He so close - it's not the Keto Diet, it's brain-worms from eating the roadkill.

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BarneyPiccolo lemmy.today BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
Joined: 2025-06-30
#49 · Quote Reply

Why would literally anyone listen to this coke-fried man whose had actual fucking worms crawling around in his actual fucking brain?

But he's snorted cocaine off a toilet seat, he's just like me or you! So relatable.

3
BarneyPiccolo lemmy.today BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
Joined: 2025-06-30
#50 · Quote Reply

The evidence that ketogenic diet might help with schizophrenia symptom remission comes from two case reports that Palmer published in Schizophrenia Research in 2019. When discussing them, Palmer was quick to emphasise that “yes, it’s only two”, and that “case reports don’t prove anything. They’re not controlled. They come with tremendous amounts of bias.” But, Palmer noted, that can be importan...

"But even the doctor who wrote about it says it isn't a cure."

"What the fuck does he know?"

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BiglyFlyBye piefed.zip BiglyFlyBye@piefed.zip
Joined: 2026-02-25
#51 · Quote Reply

I have no expertise but found Dr Christopher Palmer's book interesting: https://brainenergy.com/

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