MacDonald Aaron John, Palmer Christopher Michael
McLean Hospital, Belmont, MA, United States.
Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, United States.
Front Nutr. 2025 Apr 16;12:1568076. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1568076. eCollection 2025.
The ketogenic diet is being explored as a therapeutic intervention for the treatment of neuropsychiatric disorders. Emerging research suggests that these conditions share common pathophysiologies, with the ketogenic diet showing promise in addressing these. This study reports three individuals who reduced their symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) after adopting a ketogenic diet.
Participants were recruited through personal and professional networks among the authors. Each patient was interviewed, and evidence of their mental health history was collected. Their OCD symptoms were retrospectively assessed before and after adopting the diet using the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS).
The three participants in this case series have all achieved remission of their symptoms and are medication-free. The diet implementation reduced their average Y-BOCS scores by 21 points, corresponding to a mean decrease of 90.5%. In all cases, deviations from the ketogenic diet resulted in a return of their symptoms.
The ketogenic diet may be an effective treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder. Its capacity to improve the metabolic dysfunction associated with OCD may target the underlying mechanisms of the disorder. Controlled clinical trials of the ketogenic diet as a treatment for OCD are warranted.
生酮饮食正作为一种治疗神经精神疾病的干预措施进行探索。新出现的研究表明，这些疾病具有共同的病理生理学特征，而生酮饮食在解决这些问题方面显示出前景。本研究报告了三名采用生酮饮食后强迫症（OCD）症状减轻的个体。
通过作者的个人和专业网络招募参与者。对每位患者进行访谈，并收集其心理健康史的证据。采用耶鲁-布朗强迫症量表（Y-BOCS）对他们在采用该饮食前后的强迫症症状进行回顾性评估。
该病例系列中的三名参与者均实现了症状缓解且无需服药。饮食实施使他们的平均Y-BOCS评分降低了21分，平均降幅为90.5%。在所有病例中，偏离生酮饮食都会导致症状复发。
生酮饮食可能是治疗强迫症的有效方法。其改善与强迫症相关的代谢功能障碍的能力可能针对该疾病的潜在机制。有必要对生酮饮食治疗强迫症进行对照临床试验。
