CASE REPORT article
Front. Nutr.
Sec. Clinical Nutrition
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1600123
This article is part of the Research TopicKetogenic Metabolic Therapies in Prevention & Treatment of Non-communicable DiseasesView all 16 articles
Transdiagnostic Remission of Psychiatric Comorbidity in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, ADHD, and Binge-Eating Disorder using Ketogenic Metabolic Therapy: A Retrospective Case Report
Provisionally accepted
- 1University of East London, London, United Kingdom
- 2Family Renewal Inc., Vancouver, WA, United States
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Background: Psychiatric comorbidities, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), ADHD, and binge-eating disorder (BED), frequently share overlapping symptoms and metabolic dysfunctions. Disorder-specific treatments may not adequately address these shared biological mechanisms, resulting in suboptimal outcomes. This case report evaluates ketogenic metabolic therapy (KMT) as an intervention specifically targeting these transdiagnostic features.A 38-year-old female with PTSD, ADHD, BED, bipolar II disorder, depression, anxiety, and premenstrual dysphoric disorder diagnoses participated in a structured 8-week KMT psychoeducation program, with ongoing weekly professional and peer support up to 24 weeks. Standardized assessments, including the PHQ-9, GAD-7, DASS-21, PCL-5, BES, and CRAVED scales, measured symptom severity at baseline and 4 and 12 weeks. Daily biometric data including blood glucose and ketone levels were collected.Results: Baseline measures indicated severe psychiatric symptoms, notably maximal scores for PTSD and severe binge-eating behavior. By week 12, all psychiatric symptoms resolved evidenced by quantitative reductions to 0 across all validated instruments. The patient consistently reported optimal symptom control when blood ketone levels were maintained between 3 and 5 mmol/L. Qualitative reports substantiated marked functional gains, including improved occupational engagement and social functioning.This report demonstrates the potential of KMT to achieve comprehensive remission in severe, treatment-resistant psychiatric comorbidities. The findings emphasize the necessity for controlled clinical trials to verify optimal therapeutic ketone ranges and establish generalizability across clinical populations experiencing complex psychiatric comorbidities.
Keywords: Ketogenic Diet, ketogenic metabolic therapy, Post-traumatic stress disorder, PTSD, case report, metabolic psychiatry, ADHD, Binge-Eating Disorder
Received: 25 Mar 2025; Accepted: 29 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Bellamy and Laurent. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Erin L Bellamy, University of East London, London, United Kingdom
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