The study aims to include 10 PTSD patients. If a participant drops out of the study, or if the study is otherwise terminated for a participant, another patient will be recruited until 10 have completed the study. The primary objectives of this feasibility study are to investigate if it is possbile to carry out a ketogenic diet therapy for patients with PTSD for 4 weeks, and systematically gain insight in all challenges relating to these objectives. The participants will follow a ketogenic diet for 4 weeks, and they are asked to self report daily on results from finger pricking blood measurements (glucose and betahydroxybutyrate (BHB)) to establish they are in a ketogenic state and are compliant to diet. Participants will also report food intake and side effects daily to be evaluated by the principal investigator. Participants are further asked to specify and elaborate on which adverse effects or other reasons as to why it is challenging to follow the study diet and/or procedures. The study lacks in power to statistically evaluate if ketosis has any effect on PTSD symptoms, however this secondary objective will be preliminary evaluated.
Many patients suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are resistant to established treatment consisting of psychotherapy. Patients often go years with this debilitating disorder without experiencing sufficient improvement. Approximately 1/3 of patients will drop out of treatment because of psychological burden and overactivation. A novel ketogenic diet treatment could amend established treatment, and potentially upregulate the threshold for exciting neurons in dysfunctional brain regions, mediated through various mechanisms. This may reduce PTSD symptoms, and thus enabling patients to respond to psychological treatment without getting overactivated and unable to process trauma. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether it is possible to carry out a ketogenic diet therapy for patients with PTSD for four weeks.