General Metabolic Psychiatry

A new metabolic psychiatry center opens at McLean Hospital

What it is: A WBUR news story (October 21, 2026) about the new McLean Center for Metabolic Psychiatry at McLean Hospital, near Boston. It is funded by a $20 million grant from the Baszucki Group, a philanthropy started by the family of a young man whose bipolar disorder improved on a ketogenic diet.

What it says: The center plans to expand care, education and research on how metabolism affects mental health, with a focus on ketogenic (high-fat, very low-carb) therapies. It will also look at other approaches, such as GLP-1 medicines. Its leader, Dr. Dost Ongur, expects to see up to 75 new patients in the first year. Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Chris Palmer, who will help with the work, stresses that keto doesn't work for everyone, can be hard to follow, and is meant to add to standard treatment, not replace it.

Why it matters: McLean calls this the first center of its kind in the country. A major psychiatric hospital putting staff and money behind this field should mean more careful research and clearer answers about who might benefit.

Honest limits: This is a news story, not a study. The personal recovery it describes is one person's experience. The article also notes that some doctors remain wary and want more rigorous research, and that most insurers don't yet cover these therapies.

Read the original: WBUR, "From keto to GLP-1s: New McLean center will research metabolic psychiatry therapies" (October 21, 2026): https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/10/21/mclean-center-research-metabolism-psychiatry-therapy

General education only. Not medical advice. Talk with your clinician before changing diet or medication. Crisis (US): call or text 988; emergencies: 911.

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Insulin resistance and the brain: a diabetes medicine helped protect it

Gut supplements for autism: which kind looks most promising?

Keto for depression and bipolar disorder: where the evidence stands

The Ketogenic Diet and Mental Health: What We Know So Far