In this week’s episode, host Victoria Field speaks with Matt Baszucki and Dr. Iain Campbell about their lived experiences with bipolar disorder and the therapeutic effects of the ketogenic diet, potential root causes of the mental illness, and their mission to spread awareness and education around ketogenic dietary therapy as a treatment for bipolar disorder.
Iain Campbell, PhD, is the Baszucki Research Fellow in Metabolic Psychiatry at the University of Edinburgh. He has a PhD in Global Health from the University of Edinburgh and is a principal investigator on a pilot trial of a ketogenic diet for bipolar disorder.
Matt Baszucki lived with type 1 bipolar disorder for five years before coming across ketogenic therapy, and now works to educate the public about the roles of sleep, diet, and circadian rhythm management in mental illness. He currently works full-time in tech supporting third-party developers. Together, Matt and Iain host the BipolarCast podcast which can be found on YouTube here:
In this episode, we cover:
* Iain’s and Matt’s personal lived experiences with bipolar disorder & success in using ketogenic dietary therapy
* Dr. Campbell’s current research on the effectiveness of the ketogenic diet for bipolar disorder
* Bipolar disorder as an “energy-specific disorder” and its potential connection to metabolic dysregulation
* The many ways people can adapt their keto diet to meet their needs and lifestyle
…and so much more.
Matt Baszucki and Dr. Iain Campbell will also be speaking at Metabolic Health Summit 2024, January 25-28 in Clearwater, Florida – you can get your tickets on the Metabolic Health Summit website and save with Early Bird pricing through October 1st, 2023: www.metabolichealthsummit.com
You can also find this episode on all your major podcast players including Apple, Google, Spotify, Amazon Music, and Buzzsprout: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2103269/13488472
You can also learn more about the Baszucki Brain Research Fund here: https://baszuckigroup.com
Or watch Metabolic Mind’s YouTube channel here: https://www.youtube.com/@UCacg8HOfIUfFSUl2qk5m1sA
Thanks for listening!
Follow us on social media @metabolichealthsummit for the latest science on metabolic health and therapy. Please keep in mind: The Metabolic Link does not provide medical or health advice, but rather general information that does not serve as a substitute for a licensed healthcare professional. Never delay in seeking medical advice from an appropriately licensed medical provider for any health condition that you may have.
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I also posted it in Reddit's bipolarketo group & submitted to the Reddit group Keto 4 Mental Heatlh
Matt and Iain are rock stars! They provided this great info that saved me in Dec 2022. I am forever grateful to them and their families for this outreach and continued work. Congratulations to anyone who is discovering this and beginning their journey to recovery.
Such a great conversation!
I came to the keto space more for physical health, but the mental stuff still fascinates me.
I think it's a HUGE shame how few docs even try dietary approaches. When I turned 40 and my new doc found all my metabolic issues, she didn't even suggest diet changes.. just prescribed some meds and looked shocked when I asked about diet (because I already thought I was basically doing it right). The recommendations were unsurprising but also unfulfilling and I've been figuring this out for myself for five years. Weight is down, blood work better, energy levels back, it all works.
Back to that day… I don't hold it against the doc. I think she just got used to patients wanting a pill and not lifestyle change. I think those people are insane but docs are tired of trying to convince them to try. Also doesn't help that a lot of the standard recommendations don't work. It's a whole mess of issues that need to be worked out.
Do you suppose that for a segment of the population, that carbs cause poisoning and affects each individual’s metabolism or endocrine system differently depending on their genetics? And that we see this poisoning vary widely because of the vastly detrimental impacts to our bodies? Hyperinsulinemia (SP?) being behind it all?
The keto diet formulated for epilepsy is much more stringent than one that might be used for mood elevation and weight loss. The fat macros for epilepsy are really high. So, I think a general keto diet is not that difficult to follow. The tough part initially is getting over the sugar addiction which is REAL. Given the sugar addiction is rampant, yes folks are very weary of this eating approach.
This is great stuff. As an NP in primary care, I recommend keto to so many patients for a variety of reasons including mental health disorders. It’s a rare day that someone actually follows my advice. Our culture is so indoctrinated to taking a pill to fix everything. I have been following the ketogenic diet since 2018. It has been wonderful and has been so beneficial in so many ways. It’s not easy though so I do empathize with patients.
Very informative from people who went though it! Thank you!