Fact Check: Can ‘keto’ diet cure schizophrenia, as claimed by Robert F Kennedy Jr?

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE: Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr recently sparked fresh debate by publicly claiming that the keto diet could cure mental illness, such as schizophrenia. Kennedy cited research to support his claim and suggested that what people eat has a direct impact on psychiatric conditions. Let us fact-check his claims.

Claim: Robert F Kennedy Jr claims 'keto' diet can cure psychiatric conditions

Kennedy Jr, who is currently on a tour across America, made big claims about the impact of diet on mental health.

“We now know that the things that you eat are driving mental illness in this country. And Dr Pollan, up at Harvard, has cured schizophrenia using keto diets,” Kennedy said.

Kennedy continued, “There are studies right now that I saw two days ago where people lose their bipolar diagnosis by changing their diet. It’s not only affecting our physical health; it’s affecting our mental health as well, and we’re asking people now, eat real food — eat protein. Eat fruit, eat vegetables, eat high-fiber grains.”

Fact Check: Experts partially agree with the claim

Kennedy appeared to misspeak, potentially meaning to credit Dr Chris Palmer, who has published research about the effects of the ketogenic diet on mental illness.

Dr Brooke Resch, a psychiatrist in Minnesota, said in an Instagram video that there is some evidence that suggests a keto diet may be beneficial in a mental health treatment plan, but there is not 'a ton at this point' to support that.

“We also have no long-term studies looking at the keto diet and what that does for mental illness,” she said.

“Even the most recent research that [Kennedy’s] citing in this speech here says these same things ― that it’s too soon to have this as a clinical recommendation,” Resch said in her Instagram reel.

“Most of the trials in nutritional psychiatry are in depression using a Mediterranean diet,” Dr Drew Ramsey, a psychiatrist and leader in nutritional psychiatry, told HuffPost.

Ramsey said depression symptoms got better when a Mediterranean diet was prescribed on top of another intervention, such as an antidepressant, therapy, or exercise.

Ramsey expressed hope in the keto diet for use in patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, but would not call it a 'cure.'

Robert F Kennedy's controversial health claims

Kennedy is known for making controversial health claims, especially about vaccines and autism. Medical experts have widely rejected these claims. 

He led Children’s Health Defense from 2015 to 2023. He has promoted theories that connect vaccines, chemicals, and other exposures to different diseases.

This has drawn criticism for spreading health misinformation and overstating scientific evidence.