The Mental Health Revolution That Israel Needs Now

What if the solution to most of our mental health qualms and tragedies has been hiding in plain sight?

Well, the latest research at the cutting edge of psychiatry explains that for many people who suffer, the cause is surprisingly simple, and solutions can be both humane, largely free of unwanted side effects, and extremely effective at the same time.

Metabolic Psychiatry asks and answers the key question here: “How well is the brain being fueled?”

We all know that Israel needs better solutions: post October 7th we have both anecdotal evidence as well as established survey results indicating that as a society, post-traumatic stress, anxiety, depression, and even suicidality are of national concern. 

In 2025, one study published in The Lancet, followed 680 Israeli adults and found a 19.7% rate of probable PTSD, 23.3% for depression, and 21% with anxiety. This means that 1 in 5 people in our country are experiencing mental health related distress; and this does not account for the combat soldiers and reservists whose symptoms have not yet been closely studied or monitored for long term impact.

Another 2025 study by the comptroller reported 38% of respondents to a national survey had moderate or severe symptoms of post-traumatic stress, depression or anxiety, or a combination. This number represents three million Israeli adults. 

These are survey symptoms, and no single study captures the full picture of our national experience. Yet, the need for better care is unmistakable: the demand for mental health care in Israel exceeds what our current services are providing.

A Hopeful Solution 

In this very moment, an emerging field of psychiatry is changing how leading researchers understand the brain. It is called Metabolic Psychiatry, and it starts from a simple observation.

The brain is an organ. Like every organ, it runs on energy. This past week, two milestone developments in the field took place: MetPsy; A Global Network for the Advancement of Metabolic Psychiatry was established.

Additionally, access to the most cutting edge information in this space has been democratized. Dr. Georgia Ede, a Harvard Trained psychiatrist and leader in nutritional psychiatry now has a free, medically accredited program on low-carbohydrate protocols for mental health available online.

Continuing medical education credits are available for doctors who complete the course, while the course is also available to laypeople. This is especially significant in Israel where access to trained Metabolic Psychiatrists appears to be quite limited or even nonexistent at present.

What is Metabolic Psychiatry and Why Does it Matter for Israel

Metabolism is the set of processes that turn food into fuel, regulate blood sugar and keep cells working. Inside our cells, structures called mitochondria produce the energy that powers everything the brain does: thinking, feeling, concentrating, sleeping, coping.

Dr. Christopher Palmer, a psychiatrist at McLean Hospital and Harvard Medical School, published his “brain energy” framework and best selling book in 2023. He explains that when metabolism in the body is disrupted, the brain’s energy supply is disrupted in turn. This is when psychiatric symptoms can follow the body’s metabolic dysfunction. 

While his framework is not a claim that every mental illness has only one cause, it is a testable scientific framework for many diagnoses, and researchers at Stanford, Oxford, UCSF and a growing list of institutions are now testing it and finding significant results.

Metabolic Dysfunction in the Body and Brain

The metabolic lens matters because metabolic dysfunction is staggeringly common. While I was unable to find a reliable statistic in Israel, it is notable that in the US, 93.2% of the entire population has suboptimal cardiometabolic health, with blood sugar and weight measures worsening over two decades. Because so often, the health of the body shapes the health of the brain, then a vast, overlooked territory of mental health care has been hiding in plain sight.

Food is fuel for the brain, and as leading psychiatrist Dr. Georgia Ede writes plainly: the brain, including neurotransmitters and they “soup they’re swimming in,” are made of the food that we eat.

One intervention drawing serious attention is ketogenic metabolic therapy, a carefully formulated, very-low-carbohydrate way of eating that shifts the body from running mainly on glucose to producing ketones, an alternative fuel the brain can use.

You can think of ketogenic therapy as switching the body and brain’s power source – as a metaphor, imagine switching a car from gas power to electric power.

Ketones are a different energy source than glucose, and for people with insulin resistance or other signs of inefficient glucose metabolism, this switch may matter significantly for mental health outcomes.

The Evolving Research in this Space

The first clinical signals were striking: in a 2024 Stanford pilot study, 21 adults with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia and metabolic abnormalities completed a four-month ketogenic intervention alongside their usual psychiatric care. Researchers reported improvements in metabolic health and psychiatric symptoms, including an average 31% improvement on the Clinical Global Impression severity scale. This study justified something bigger, when this year (2026), the field moved into randomized controlled trials:

• UCSF researchers randomized 58 adults with schizophrenia-spectrum disorders or bipolar I disorder to a ketogenic diet or their usual diet. The ketogenic group showed greater improvements in weight, blood sugar control and insulin resistance, and participants who continued for four months also improved on psychiatric and cognitive measures.
• An Oxford-led team published the first randomized trial in treatment-resistant depression in JAMA Psychiatry: 88 adults, six weeks of ketogenic eating versus a comparison diet rich in plants and healthy fats. Depression scores improved substantially in both groups at six weeks. Durability and support are now the frontier questions.
• In September, an integrative review of ketogenic therapy and PTSD examined 16 publications and identified plausible biological pathways, opening a research direction with obvious relevance for Israel.

Serious Medicine Requires Serious Supervision

The growing research on Metabolic Psychiatry is not a blanket suggestion to try an internet diet instead of treatment. This is a call to medical and health care professionals, especially those in the mental health space – namely Psychiatry – to get on board with this forward thinking movement. 

This past February, leading healthcare professionals published an international consensus on how ketogenic therapy for serious mental illness should be assessed, monitored and delivered. Researchers have also documented cases of people developing hypomania or mania after starting a ketogenic diet, which is why mood and sleep monitoring matter, and also why anyone adopting these practices needs to be supported and aware of potential drawbacks.

Everyone – professionals and lay people – also need to understand that ketogenic  protocols are not indicated for anyone and everyone. She has published a list of several conditions that exclude someone from being a candidate for ketogenic therapy, although many of the other interventions that she proposes are suitable for the general public.

For example, anyone can improve their body and brain metabolism by:

1. Eliminating seed oils which are high in Omega-6’s (canola, grapeseed, vegetable oil, rapeseed oil, and others,)

2. Replacing processed foods with whole, nutrient dense alternatives.

3. Reducing or ideally eliminating harmful substances including alcohol and more.

4. Prioritizing a consistent sleep schedule.

5. Getting outdoor morning light and limiting artificial light exposure in the evening. 

6. Taking a basic blood panel for metabolic markers and addressing them with nutrition and lifesytle

7. Movement, especially strength training which builds muscle and thereby the body’s capacity to process glucose

Precautionary Advice for All

One rule is clear: never stop or change psychiatric medication abruptly. Medication changes belong in the hands of qualified clinicians who understand the recently updated science of a careful deprescribing practice  for medical students and of serious interest to anyone in the field of psychiatry (professional or patient).  Further information on best practices in deprescribing can be found through Dr. Anders Sorensen’s online resources; he is a leading expert in deprescribing and he holds a Ph,D. in Psychiatry.

What We in Israel Can do Right Now

The revolution will not arrive here by itself. Three steps can bring it closer:

1. Educate clinicians. Free, evidence-based training in metabolic psychiatry already exists internationally; Israeli professional bodies can evaluate and adapt it.
2. Pilot carefully. Hospitals and health funds can bring psychiatrists, physicians and dietitians together for small, monitored programs alongside existing treatment, designed for Israeli life: kosher kitchens, family meals, Hebrew and Arabic speakers, real budgets.
3. Educate Yourself. Lay people can rely on the largest organization in the space, Metabolic Mind, being funded privately by a family who suffered through serious mental health disorders and is now committed to advancing the field.  (These parents, and founders of this organization are Roblox founder and CEO David Baszucki and his wife, best-selling author Jan Ellison Baszucki)

A Revolution Worth Leading

For decades, mental health care has treated the brain as if it were separate from the body. The science of metabolic psychiatry says they were never separate. The brain needs fuel, and how we fuel it may help determine how we feel, function and heal.

Israel has never waited for permission to adopt good ideas early. The evidence is young, the questions are real, and the potential, for a country carrying this much pain, is too significant to ignore. The mental health revolution is underway, and the people of Israel can and deserve to benefit.

“If you will it, it is no dream.” – Herzl

This article is for education only and is not medical advice. The author is an educator and researcher, not a medical doctor. Never start, stop or change psychiatric medication without the guidance of a qualified clinician. Sources are linked in the article above.