Can changing what you eat change how you think and feel?
In this episode, Ben Hopkins sits down with registered dietitian Rachel Frase to explore metabolic psychiatry, the fast-growing field using ketogenic therapy to support depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder and more. Rachel shares how her own gut health struggles led her into low-carb nutrition, then into a psychiatric practice where she spent three years working with patients using personalised ketogenic diets alongside or instead of medication.
Together they unpack why ketones give the brain more energy than glucose, why mental and metabolic conditions should never be treated in silos, what “more mental bandwidth” really means, how ketogenic therapy is being explored for anorexia, and the simple steps to start a ketogenic diet without the dreaded keto flu.
If you’ve ever wondered whether diet can be a serious tool for mental health, this one’s for you.
MILESTONE MOMENTS
Why intervening early after a first episode of psychosis can change the rest of someone’s life
More ATP, more mitochondria: why ketones fuel the brain better than glucose
Depression, diabetes and bipolar disorder: one spectrum, not separate buckets
The myth that ketosis is dangerous in pregnancy, and the weak data behind 175g of carbs
Metabolic flexibility, BDNF and the science of mental capacity
How a ketogenic diet can bring food freedom to people with anorexia
The most common mistake people make when starting keto
Exogenous ketones: strategic tool, not a crutch
CHAPTERS
Welcome Rachel Frase
From gut health struggles to metabolic psychiatry
What convinced Rachel that diet can transform mental health
How effective is a ketogenic diet for depression?
Which version of keto actually works
Is it the ketones or the break from glucose?
Mental health as a spectrum, not silos:
Stress, pregnancy and gestational diabetes
Ketogenic therapy during pregnancy
The next frontier: education Mental bandwidth and capacity explained
Ketogenic therapy and anorexia
Keto in a calorie surplus
Carnivore and ketone levels
How to start a ketogenic diet the right way:
What a continuous ketone monitor might reveal
Dietary fat and burning body fat
Exogenous ketones: help or hindrance?
The Sugar Summit and where to find Rachel
LINKS
The Quit Sugar Summit (free virtual event, October 21 to 25, focused on metabolic psychiatry):
Follow Rachel on Instagram
Connect with Rachel on LinkedIn
Subscribe to Degrees of Health: youtube.com/@degreesofhealth
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