RFK Jr. says a keto diet can ‘cure’ mental illness. Here’s what it did for my son’s bipolar disorder
Author: Jan Ellison Baszucki
Published: March 6, 2026
Ten years ago, at age 19, our son Matthew experienced a manic episode that landed him in the involuntary psychiatric unit at Stanford Hospital for 10 days. He was diagnosed with bipolar 1 disorder with psychotic features, prescribed powerful antipsychotics and spent half a decade in and out of treatment while battling daily symptoms.
Then, in late 2020, we discovered the pioneering work of Harvard’s Dr. Chris Palmer, who was using therapeutic ketogenic diets to treat serious mental illness. Matthew began a medically supervised ketogenic regimen soon after — and it sent his bipolar symptoms into lasting remission.
Now, following new comments from Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., public discourse has erupted over whether a ketogenic diet can “cure” schizophrenia or eliminate a bipolar diagnosis. At one point, the topic was trending on X with 70,000 posts, and Dr. Palmer’s work — along with our family’s story — is at the center of the conversation.
While Kennedy’s imprecise terminology has certainly caused confusion, what we can’t risk losing sight of, amid the viral social media threads and attention-grabbing headlines, is the science itself. While still emerging, early evidence points toward a hopeful new frontier in mental health.
