Can A Keto Diet Really Help With Depression? Studies Offer Insight

Emerging evidence suggests that a ketogenic diet may help with depression symptom management. Nadine Greeff/Getty Images

• A 2025 pilot study showed that young adults saw a 70% reduction in symptoms of depression after following a ketogenic diet. 
• A new study has found that a ketogenic diet may have antidepressant effects in people with treatment-resistant depression. 
• The keto diet may also have potential for mental health conditions, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, but more studies are needed.

A ketogenic diet is a low-carbohydrate, high fat diet that has been shown to provide various benefits, such as weight loss.

The keto diet may also help with managing diabetes, cancer, epilepsy, and Alzheimer’s disease, and even improve symptoms associated with mental health conditions like depression.

A 2025 pilot study found that young adults experienced up to a 70% reduction in symptoms of depression after they followed a keto diet. 

A recent study published in JAMA Psychiatry suggested that following a keto diet may help manage symptoms in people with treatment-resistant depression. 

Treatment-resistant depression is a subset of major depressive disorder (MDD) that does not respond to traditional first-line treatments, such as medications and psychotherapy. 

Despite these positive findings, experts caution that a keto diet should not replace standard treatment for depression. There may also be certain risks associated with keto, which is why it’s important to consult with a mental health or healthcare professional before trying this diet.

“Ketogenic diets are highly restrictive and carry significant long-term concerns,” said Michelle Routhenstein, a preventive cardiology dietitian at EntirelyNourished, who was not involved in the studies. 

“They can increase cardiovascular risk, cause nutrient deficiencies, and are not recommended to be sustained long term, making this strategy not one that is sustainable,” Routhenstein continued.

“For most people, the potential harms, including heart health impacts and nutritional gaps, far outweigh the modest, short-term mood benefits observed. Keto should not be recommended outside of closely supervised research or specialist settings,” she told Healthline.

Keto diet and treatment-resistant depression 

A study published on February 4 in JAMA Psychiatry suggested that following a keto diet may have antidepressant effects in people with treatment-resistant depression. 

This small study included 88 participants with an average age of 42 years. The average time of experiencing depressive episodes was 16 months, and 93% of the participants were receiving monotherapy (one type of treatment). 

They were split evenly between the keto diet and control groups. These were both six-week dietary interventions. 

At the six-week follow-up, around 25% of the keto diet group and 9% of the control group had achieved remission from depression. Then at the final 12-week follow-up, 7% of the keto diet group had experienced a relapse in depression, with 18% continuing to experience remission. Remission in the control group remained unchanged.  

These results show that a keto diet had antidepressant benefits when compared with a control diet. However, the study authors note that “the clinical relevance is uncertain, as the mean effect size compared with the control was modest and not evident in secondary analyses.” 

Further research with larger participation groups is needed. 

“The recent trial suggests a ketogenic diet might produce a very modest reduction in depressive symptoms over six weeks in people with treatment-resistant depression,” Routhenstein said.

“However, the effect was small, short-lived, and not reflected in other outcomes like anxiety, cognition, or quality of life. The control diet, a vegetable-rich, lower-saturated-fat pattern, produced nearly as much improvement, showing that simpler, safer dietary changes can be just as effective,” she added. 

Keto diet may improve major depressive disorder

The 2025 pilot study tracked 16 college-age students with MDD over 10 to 12 weeks.

The researchers found that following a keto diet helped reduce their symptoms. They also reported improvements in overall well-being, cognitive performance, and even modest weight loss. 

The findings suggest that attaining nutritional ketosis through diet may be a feasible adjunctive therapy for depression and pave the way for a larger clinical trial. 

“A 70% drop in depression symptoms in just 10–12 weeks is impressive, especially alongside better well-being and memory,” Shelly Dar, a therapist specializing in anxiety and mood disorders, who wasn’t involved in the study, told Healthline in a previous interview. 

“But I’d stress that this was a small pilot without a control group, so we can’t say keto caused the change,” she added. 

Keto may help with other mental health conditions

Research from 2024 shows that following a keto diet may also help improve other mental health conditions. 

The keto diet has been shown to help reduce inflammation and oxidative stress, modulate gut microbiota, and improve metabolic health. All of these can have therapeutic potential in mental health conditions, such as bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. 

Further research is needed to verify these results. 

“Research on ketogenic diets and mental health is still limited and preliminary. Some studies suggest modest short-term improvements in depressive symptoms, mainly with very-low-carb diets that induce ketosis,” Routhenstein said.

“Small pilot studies in serious mental illness show possible benefits for mood, energy, sleep, and metabolic health, but the evidence is far from conclusive,” she added. 

Routhenstein told Healthline that anyone interested in trying keto should be aware that it should only be a time-limited, closely monitored regimen under the guidance of a professional.

In most cases, a plant-forward, nutrient adequate, lower-refined-sugar diet is more sustainable, safer, and better supported by evidence.