New Study of College Students with Depression Adds to Growing Evidence for Ketogenic Therapy as a Mental Health Treatment

Audio By Carbonatix

SAN MATEO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sep 10, 2025--

The promise of ketogenic therapy for treating mental illness is accelerating with the newly published findings of a pilot study at The Ohio State University, which showed remarkable improvements in symptoms of depression in college students who maintained a ketogenic diet. This is the third recent study to show significant improvements in mental and physical health through ketogenic therapy.

This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250905877754/en/

Originally introduced as a medical intervention for epilepsy over a century ago, ketogenic therapy–a clinically supervised high fat, moderate protein, low carbohydrate nutritional intervention is demonstrating increasing potential as a treatment for a broad spectrum of neuropsychiatric disorders. A growing body of research suggests that this therapy is a feasible and effective approach to improving both psychiatric symptoms and metabolic health in conditions like major depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia.

The latest findings, published this week in Translational Psychiatry, come from a pilot study at Ohio State which found that 16 college students with major depressive disorder experienced significant improvements in depressive symptoms and overall well-being after 10-12 weeks of ketogenic therapy. Led by Jeff Volek, PhD, RD, Professor in the Department of Human Sciences, the study found depressive symptoms decreased by an impressive 69%-71% across depression scales.

“We're witnessing an extraordinary convergence of evidence demonstrating that individuals struggling with serious mental illness are benefiting from the same life-changing impact of ketogenic therapy as our son experienced,” said Jan Ellison Baszucki, co-founder and President of Baszucki Group, which works to advance the mainstreaming of metabolic health and funded the three studies. “This well-established neurological therapy is rapidly emerging as a promising new treatment option in psychiatry. With more than a dozen additional clinical trials underway and thousands of clinicians embracing metabolic psychiatry practices, a hopeful new era in mental healthcare is now within reach.”

Serious mental illnesses are increasingly understood as sharing common metabolic irregularities, such as inflammation, glucose hypometabolism, oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction. This connection is a key focus of the new field of metabolic psychiatry, in which ketogenic therapy is rapidly emerging as a powerful transdiagnostic tool for targeting the root causes of mental illness.

In 2024, a 4-month ketogenic diet intervention study led by Shebani Sethi, MD, ABOM, at Stanford University School of Medicine recruited individuals with serious mental illness—specifically schizophrenia or bipolar disorder—who were on antipsychotic medications and experiencing metabolic dysfunction. The results demonstrated striking dual benefits: resolution of metabolic syndrome alongside substantial psychiatric improvement.

Building on these findings, researchers at the University of Edinburgh published Europe’s first pilot study to test ketogenic therapy for bipolar disorder in February 2025, with this cohort also reporting striking mental and physical health benefits. Iain Campbell, PhD, Daniel Smith, MD, FRCPsych, and Harry Campbell, MD, FRSE, FMedSci, employed neuroimaging technology to demonstrate a ketogenic diet's neurological impact. This study revealed correlations between ketone levels and improvements in mood, energy, impulsivity, and anxiety.

These first three clinical trials since 1966 were motivated by the personal and clinical experience of the researchers, as well as decades of case studies, case series, retrospective analyses, reviews and preclinical data demonstrating a strong link between impaired metabolism and serious mental illness.

“These collective findings underscore the profound potential of ketogenic therapy for complex neuropsychiatric conditions, meriting further research and consideration as a treatment option in mainstream psychiatric practice,” Baszucki said.

About Baszucki Group

Launched in 2021 by Roblox founder and Chief Executive Officer David Baszucki and best-selling author Jan Ellison Baszucki, Baszucki Group leverages private giving, impact investing, advocacy, storytelling and community building to drive foundational change. A primary objective of Baszucki Group is to transform mental health outcomes by supporting initiatives at the intersection of metabolism, psychiatry, and neuroscience. To learn more about metabolic approaches to mental disorders, including ketogenic therapy, visit MetabolicMind, a nonprofit initiative of Baszucki Group.

View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250905877754/en/

Media contact for Baszucki Group:[email protected]

KEYWORD: UNITED STATES NORTH AMERICA CALIFORNIA OHIO

INDUSTRY KEYWORD: NEUROLOGY GENERAL HEALTH HEALTH MENTAL HEALTH UNIVERSITY FITNESS & NUTRITION EDUCATION CLINICAL TRIALS

SOURCE: Baszucki Group

Copyright Business Wire 2025.

PUB: 09/10/2025 08:00 AM/DISC: 09/10/2025 07:59 AM

http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250905877754/en