In this powerful interview, Dr. Bret Scher speaks with Dr. Robin Engelhardt, a German researcher and PhD in psychology, who is launching a pilot study investigating ketogenic metabolic therapy as a treatment for PTSD and complex PTSD. Using his own personal experience of healing from PTSD through nutritional ketosis, Dr. Engelhardt is now launching a pilot study to explore whether this approach can help others. His pilot study will test feasibility, safety, and symptom response, paving the way f...
Feb 16, 2026•27 min
Saturated fat is back in the headlines, and so is the confusion. The new Dietary Guidelines for Americans just dropped, and while there’s clear progress (more support for animal-based protein, low-carb options, and reduced sugar), they’ve kept the 10% cap on saturated fat. But does the science still support that limit, and does it make sense with the rest of the recommendations? In this episode, Dr. Bret Scher breaks down the real story on saturated fat: where the guidelines get it right, where ...
Feb 13, 2026•18 min
In this deeply personal and powerful conversation, Metabolic Mind founder Jan Ellison Baszucki joins mental health advocate Laura Delano to share a mother’s journey through her son’s bipolar disorder diagnosis, years of psychiatric crisis, and ultimately, hope. After five years, 29 medications, multiple hospitalizations, and a system that offered few lasting solutions, Jan’s son Matt found real and sustained stability through metabolic therapies, including a therapeutic ketogenic diet. In this c...
Feb 12, 2026•23 min
Can a ketogenic diet help with depression when other options have failed? Emerging suggests the answer may be yes. In this video, Dr. Bret Scher shares the latest clinical data on ketogenic therapy for depression, including two new studies showing meaningful improvements, even remission, in people with moderate to severe symptoms. For individuals struggling with treatment-resistant depression, these findings offer real hope and open the door to a new therapeutic pathway: metabolic interventions ...
Feb 11, 2026•6 min
The second-ever pilot trial (published in the Journal of Affective Disorders ) is making waves: a virtual medically supervised ketogenic diet showed impressive improvements in people with moderate to severe depression, including nearly 7 out of 8 study completers achieving clinical remission. In this interview, Dr. Bret Scher sits down with lead researcher Dr. Elisa Brietzke, Professor of Psychiatry at Queen’s University, to explore the inspiration, execution, and implications of this study. Wha...
Feb 09, 2026•31 min
The 2025-2030 Dietary Guidelines for Americans have arrived, and they’re sparking serious debate. Are we finally seeing a meaningful shift toward metabolic health? What do the guidelines get right, and where is there still room for improvement? To unpack it all, Dr. Bret Scher is joined by two long-time voices in nutrition science: Dr. David Ludwig and Gary Taubes. Together, they dig into what the new guidelines get right, what they overlook, and what this all means for public health, clinical p...
Feb 02, 2026•42 min
Can a ketogenic diet affect cardiovascular risk? Do nuts belong in a low-carb diet? What about ice cream, supplements, and electrolytes? In this episode of Metabolic Mailbag, Dr. Bret Scher tackles some of the most common and misunderstood questions about ketogenic therapy for metabolic and mental health. From concerns about LDL cholesterol to fears of liver and kidney damage, this conversation cuts through the noise with nuance, evidence, and practical guidance. This episode covers: LDL cholest...
Jan 26, 2026•36 min
Is carb-loading really the key to endurance and performance? A groundbreaking 100-page publication led by Dr. Andrew Koutnik says it’s time to question the dogma. For decades, athletes have been told that more carbs mean better performance. Strategies like carb-loading before and using sugary gels during exercise have become staples of endurance performance. But recent research has unveiled a shocking truth. Many athletes, even those who look healthy on the outside, are showing glucose levels co...
Jan 21, 2026•35 min
In this special Metabolic Mailbag episode, cardiologist Dr. Bret Scher steps into the hot seat to answer your most pressing questions about ketogenic therapy, heart health, and metabolic markers. Drawing directly from listener questions, this conversation tackles the confusion and concern many people face when lab results change after starting a ketogenic diet. 📌 In this video, you’ll learn: Why LDL may rise on a ketogenic diet and when that change is clinically meaningful What cholesterol mark...
Jan 19, 2026•29 min
The science of metabolic psychiatry is advancing, but the movement behind it is just getting started. In this episode, Dr. Bret Scher sits down with Natasha Smikles and Eddie Rodriguez from Metabolic Collective, a new nonprofit working to build an international advocacy network for ketogenic and metabolic therapies. Their goal: accelerate awareness, adoption, and support for metabolic interventions in mental health. They cover: The personal journeys that led Natasha and Eddie to metabolic therap...
Jan 12, 2026•42 min
Is caffeine sabotaging your mental health progress? Should you try a carnivore diet if keto isn't working? What if your meds lower ketones? In this new Metabolic Mailbag episode, Dr. Georgia Ede joins Dr. Bret Scher to answer your most pressing questions about metabolic therapies, mental health, and more. Together, they dive into nuanced, evidence-informed conversations about: The real impact of caffeine on mood, sleep, and ketosis Whether the carnivore diet is “too high” in protein Why some peo...
Dec 29, 2025•28 min
Do SSRIs help your brain? SSRI medications are among the most widely prescribed antidepressants, but what if we’ve misunderstood how they work? In this interview, Dr. Bret Scher sits down with biochemist and nutrition scientist Dr. Chris Masterjohn to explore a deeper, more systemic view of mental health and how we treat it. Dr. Masterjohn reveals why serotonin isn’t just a “mood booster,” how SSRIs may be disrupting mitochondrial function, and why focusing on lifestyle strategies that support b...
Dec 22, 2025•39 min
Is carb-cycling okay on a ketogenic diet? What about high histamine foods? In this episode of Metabolic Mailbag, Dr. Bret Scher and Dr. Georgia Ede answers questions on everything from the best sources of dietary fat to how to handle anxiety, perimenopause, and alcohol while maintaining ketosis. They unpack how to build a nutrient-dense, brain-supportive ketogenic diet using whole foods, why “keto-friendly” processed products can sometimes derail progress, and when supplements might be beneficia...
Dec 15, 2025•31 min
New research links chronic stress, brain energy, and psychiatric conditions, including PTSD, depression, and bipolar disorder. Stress doesn’t just impact your mood; it affects how your brain allocates energy. In this interview, Dr. Bret Scher sits down with Dr. Parker Kelly, a postdoctoral fellow at UCSF and the San Francisco VA, to unpack the Allostatic Triage Model of Psychopathology, a new framework proposing that psychiatric symptoms may emerge when the brain is forced to triage limited meta...
Dec 08, 2025•34 min
Novo Nordisk, the pharmaceutical company behind popular GLP-1 medications like Wegovy and Ozempic, recently announced that its phase 3, two-year trial examining GLP-1 medications for Alzheimer's failed to produce a significant reduction in disease progression. While these results are discouraging, they may have revealed something vital about Alzheimer’s treatment. In this video, Dr. Bret Scher breaks down the recent failure of Novo Nordisk’s evoke and evoke+ trials and what it teaches us about t...
Dec 02, 2025•6 min
What if your diagnosis of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, or fatty liver wasn’t a permanent sentence, but a condition that could improve or even reverse through targeted intervention? In this episode of the Metabolic Mind podcast, Dr. Bret Scher sits down with Dr. Adam Wolfberg, Chief Medical Officer at Virta Health, to explore groundbreaking data that challenges the conventional approach to managing chronic metabolic disease. They dive into Virta’s latest annual report, which highlights p...
Nov 24, 2025•37 min
Ever wonder why your ketone levels dip after a few months on a ketogenic diet? Or how exogenous ketones compare to ketones produced naturally? In this Metabolic Mailbag episode, Dr. Bret Scher and Dr. Georgia Ede unpack the latest round of keto questions asked by the community. 💡 You’ll learn: What lower ketone levels actually mean How to know if you need to raise your ketones How exogenous ketones compare to ketones produced by the body How to troubleshoot keto-induced insomnia The difference ...
Nov 17, 2025•35 min
What does it really look like to heal a serious mental illness with ketogenic therapy? At Metabolic Mind, we often highlight powerful stories of individuals putting serious psychiatric conditions into remission with ketogenic and metabolic therapies. But healing isn't always linear, and it's rarely easy. In this honest and deeply human episode, Dr. Bret Scher and Dr. Georgia Ede sit down with Matt Baszucki and Lauren Kennedy West to explore the real-world challenges of using ketogenic therapies ...
Nov 10, 2025•58 min
Is the diet being promoted to “save the planet” actually based on environmental data? In this eye-opening interview, Dr. Frank Mitloehner, air quality specialist and director of the CLEAR Center at UC Davis, unpacks the claims behind the EAT-Lancet 2.0 report, particularly the idea that cutting animal-sourced foods will drastically reduce environmental harm. Despite widespread media framing it as a climate solution, Dr. Mitloehner reveals that the Planetary Health Diet is not grounded in environ...
Nov 03, 2025•41 min
People living with serious mental health conditions face a dramatically higher risk of premature death, not only from psychiatric symptoms, but from the cardiometabolic complications that often accompany their treatment. Despite decades of awareness, this critical issue remains under recognized and under treated. In this episode of the Metabolic Mind podcast, Dr. Bret Scher speaks with two leading experts who are changing that: Dr. Margaret Hahn, Clinician Scientist in the Schizophrenia Division...
Oct 27, 2025•39 min
In this episode of the Metabolic Mind podcast, Dr. Bret Scher speaks with L.J. Amaral, a registered dietitian, certified in nutrition oncology, and PhD student researcher at Cedars-Sinai, about where ketogenic therapy may fit into cancer care. Together they emphasize a crucial point: in oncology, we’re not just treating the tumor, we’re treating the whole person. The quality of life, physical strength, and day-to-day function of patients matter in prognosis. L.J. covers: How shifting fuel toward...
Oct 20, 2025•33 min
Thinking about reducing or stopping psychiatric medication? It may not be the right approach for everyone, but for someone considering it, there's much to keep in mind. For instance, many individuals who adopt ketogenic therapy and other metabolic strategies often find themselves in need of reducing medication. But how can they do it safely and with minimal risk? In part 2 of our 2-part series on med tapering, Dr. Bret Scher and @GeorgiaEdeMD dive deep into how to safely and effectively taper ...
Oct 15, 2025•38 min
The EAT-Lancet Commission recently released their updated "Planetary Health Diet" and preemptively labeled a number of health experts who pushed back as “mis-influencers.” Dr. Georgia Ede was one of those health experts labeled and in this episode of the Metabolic Mind podcast, she joins Dr. Bret Scher to unpack the many flaws of the EAT-Lancet 2.0 report. In this episode, you’ll learn about: The deep flaws in claiming a one-size-fits-all solution to diet and planetary health. EAT-Lancet’s heavy...
Oct 13, 2025•40 min
Psychiatric medications have become a standard of care for many mental illnesses. For some, these medications can be life-changing. For others, they may offer little relief, cause intolerable side effects, lose effectiveness over time, or even worsen symptoms. Regardless, many individuals eventually seek to reduce or discontinue psychiatric medication use—often without adequate support. Unfortunately, most clinicians receive limited training in how to guide patients through safe, personalized ta...
Oct 08, 2025•41 min
Ketogenic therapy is a powerful tool for weight loss. But not everyone who cuts carbs is able to achieve their goal weight and metabolic health goals. Could GLP-1s offer the missing piece when low-carb and clean eating aren’t quite enough? In this episode of the Metabolic Mind Podcast, Dr. Bret Scher sits down with Dr. Shannon Robinson, a board-certified psychiatrist and addiction medicine specialist, to explore this overlooked population who could benefit most from GLP-1s. Drawing from both her...
Oct 06, 2025•33 min
Depression that doesn’t improve, or gets labeled as treatment resistant, can leave people feeling without options and hopeless. But what if there was another way forward? In this interview, Dr. Bret Scher speaks with Silvia J. Covelli, founder and CEO of the Healing Depression Project, and Dr. Achina Stein, a board-certified psychiatrist and functional medicine physician. Together, they share how personal journeys and clinical insights converged to create a groundbreaking program that addresses ...
Oct 01, 2025•51 min
Ketogenic therapy for mental illness is gaining attention, with more and more patients looking to incorporate this strategy into their care plan. The problem is that sometimes patients struggle to find providers to help them and providers often lack the expertise and confidence to prescribe this strategy. These issues led to a light bulb moment for Dr. Kelly, “We’ve got to capacity build, we have to figure this out.” In this interview, Dr. Bret Scher speaks with Deanna Kelly, PharmD, internation...
Sep 29, 2025•30 min
Dr. Ryan Patel, senior staff psychiatrist at The Ohio State University, shares a practical, evidence-based roadmap for helping young adults thrive during the most turbulent years of brain and behavior development. Across this deep dive, Dr. Patel explains why 18–24-year-olds are a distinct clinical population and how day-to-day habits can make or break academic performance, quality of life, and long-term health. He also discusses his work on the KIND Trial (Ketogenic Intervention in Depression) ...
Sep 22, 2025•52 min
Are there new treatment options for college students living with depression? Mental health challenges are rising at an alarming rate among young people—and college campuses are feeling the impact. Nearly half of students report depressive symptoms, and conventional treatments aren’t enough for many of them. But what if just changing what you eat could offer new hope? A recent pilot study out of The Ohio State University found that a ketogenic diet led to rapid and clinically significant improvem...
Sep 15, 2025•38 min
A groundbreaking study from The Ohio State University shows that ketogenic therapy may dramatically reduce symptoms of major depression in college students. In this interview, study research leads Dr. Jeff Volek and Drew Decker break down the results: 100% of participants responded 69-71% improvements in depression scores Improvements in cognitive performance, body composition, and metabolic health No relapses Dr. Volek has decades of experience conducting research on ketogenic therapy. The Vole...
Sep 11, 2025•34 min
