Kennedy Makes Unfounded Claim That Keto Diet Can 'Cure' Schizophrenia [View all]

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. asserted on Wednesday that the keto diet could cure schizophrenia — an unfounded claim that experts say vastly overstates preliminary research into whether the high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet might help patients with the disorder.

Mr. Kennedy made the remarks while traveling in Tennessee as part of his national tour to urge Americans to “eat real food” — a message he is delivering in conjunction with his recent overhaul of federal dietary guidelines, which now emphasize protein and fats, including steak, cheese, butter and whole milk, over carbohydrates.

“We now know that the things that you eat are driving mental illness in this country,” Mr. Kennedy told a crowd at the Tennessee State Capitol, adding that a doctor at Harvard had “cured schizophrenia using keto diets.”

He went on, “There are studies right now that I saw two days ago where people lose their bipolar diagnosis by changing their diet.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/05/us/politics/kennedy-keto-diet-schizophrenia.html