Overview
- Speaking at the Tennessee State Capitol on Feb. 5 while promoting new HHS nutrition guidance, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said a Harvard doctor had cured schizophrenia using a ketogenic diet.
- Harvard psychiatrist Christopher Palmer, whose work Kennedy appeared to reference, said he has never used the word cure and described his findings as preliminary.
- Psychiatry experts, including Columbia’s Mark Olfson and former APA president Paul Appelbaum, said there is no credible evidence that ketogenic diets cure schizophrenia and cautioned against replacing standard treatments.
- Small studies and case reports, including a 2024 Stanford pilot of 21 participants, suggest metabolic interventions may help a subset of patients, but larger randomized trials are still underway.
- Researchers note potential risks from ketogenic diets, including effects on cholesterol, kidney function and cardiovascular health, with animal data indicating fatty liver disease, and they urge medical supervision for any such intervention.