RFK Jr makes unfounded declare the keto food plan can ‘cure’ schizophrenia | EUROtoday

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made an unfounded declare on Wednesday that the keto food plan can remedy schizophrenia.

Health specialists have been fast to name the remark an unlimited overstatement concerning the connection between the food plan and the dysfunction.

Kennedy made the feedback whereas he was visiting Tennessee as a part of a nationwide tour to encourage Americans to “eat real food,” based on The New York Times.

His tour is serving as an info marketing campaign to spotlight the modifications he is made to the federal dietary pointers. The new suggestions embody consuming extra protein and fat — like steak, cheese, and butter — ingesting complete milk, and avoiding carbohydrates.

During his go to to the Tennessee State Capitol, Kennedy mentioned “we now know that the thing things that you eat are driving mental illness in this country,” and claimed {that a} Harvard physician had “cured schizophrenia using keto diets.”

“There are studies right now that I saw two days ago where people lose their bipolar diagnosis by changing their diet,” Kennedy mentioned.

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The Health and Human Services Secretary has been overtly skeptical of vaccines and medicine. In 2024, he mentioned that ADHD medicine had “poisoned” a complete era of kids. Last yr, he fired your complete 17-member Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices vaccine board and changed them with handpicked skeptics.

In Tennessee, Kennedy was apparently referring to a 2019 paper by Dr. Christopher Palmer, who described “two patients with longstanding schizophrenia who experienced complete remission of symptoms” after they started the keto food plan. According to the analysis, each sufferers “were able to stop antipsychotic medications and have remained in remission for years now.”

Palmer and his colleagues mentioned in September that the keto food plan was a “promising therapeutic approach for schizophrenia.”

The Independent has requested remark from Palmer.

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“Keto,” because it’s typically referred to as, is a food plan that typically consists of a minimum of 70 p.c of energy coming from fats, fewer than 10 p.c coming from carbohydrates, and fewer than 20 p.c from protein. The food plan has confirmed well-liked for folks seeking to shed weight with out having to go vegan or severely scale back their caloric consumption, however critics have warned that the give attention to fat can, over time, be detrimental to 1’s coronary heart.

While there are a lot of accounts of keto dieters shedding weight, the food plan can be troublesome to stay to as a result of so many meals — even widespread staples like some fruit and veggies and beloved treats like pizza — are prohibited by its guidelines.

There have been some short-term research — like one revealed by Stanford final yr — which have discovered the keto food plan “might” assist schizophrenia sufferers, however well being specialists warn that “might be helpful” will not be the identical because the nation’s high well being official declaring an advanced psychological sickness has been cured by slicing out bread.

Dr. Paul S. Appelbaum, professor of psychiatry at Columbia University and former president of the American Psychiatric Association, instructed The NYT that it’s “simply misleading” to assert that schizophrenia signs may even be improved by the keto food plan, by no means thoughts cured.

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“There is currently no credible evidence that ketogenic diets cure schizophrenia,” Dr. Mark Olfson, one other Columbia psychiatry professor, instructed The NYT.

He famous that many of the research that examined the keto food plan as a therapy for psychological well being issues — together with the Stanford research referenced by Kennedy — didn’t embody a management group following a daily, non-keto food plan.

Kennedy appears all-in on high-fat and protein diets. On January 7, Kennedy declared that the “war on protein” was over.

“Today the lies stop,” Kennedy mentioned in an announcement. “Protein and healthy fats are essential and were wrongly discouraged in prior dietary guidelines.”

The Independent has requested remark from Kennedy through the DHHS.