Lori Calabrese, MD

Category: Ketogenic Psychiatry

  • Replace Bipolar Disorder Meds with a Ketogenic Diet for Your Teen

    Replace Bipolar Disorder Meds with a Ketogenic Diet for Your Teen

    Ethan roared with rage. With one sweep of his arm, he swiped the figurines off the sideboard, and they crashed to the floor with the tinkling of shattered porcelain. Megan rushed to the room, and gasped when she saw the pile of shards on the floor. Her collection was destroyed. She knew better by now than to confront her 16-year-old son. He was immersed in an episode, and any added conflict would only fuel a heightened explosion from him. He needed calm so he could de-escalate. But it was heart breaking. She’d been collecting these pieces for 15 years. Each one had special meaning and memories attached. But, right now her son’s condition was more important. His need for support navigating this cruel illness took precedence. How she wished they could replace his bipolar disorder meds.

    His Meds Weren’t Working

    Ethan stormed out of the house and down the street. He’d grown so much, she could no longer control him physically. So she waited for him to walk off his angst, and return home. Every time this happened, she worried, of course. Hoping he didn’t do something destructive…hoping he would just de-escalate and return home. She felt so helpless.

    Megan loaded the dishwasher while she waited. She needed to get her hands busy. This was the third medication change they had tried, and his episodes continued. She worried about what this was doing to his self image. His school work. His relationships with friends.

    Each time this happened, she became more frazzled. And he was more engulfed in shame. Shame for a condition he really couldn’t help. To the average observer, these outbursts made him look like a “bad seed”… a trouble maker… an undisciplined kid with a bad attitude. 

    Those who judged him didn’t realize that Ethan was sweet, caring, and engaging — he could empathize with the pain of others, and was generous to a fault. These episodes were not a reflection of who he was. But if enough time went by without relief, would he become this person? Explosive, demanding, profane… violent? A hothead carrying a chip on his shoulder, rather than the magnanimous good guy she knew him to be?

    How Could She Help?

    At the end of herself, Megan called her friend, Liz, who worked in a doctor’s office. She told her that after 3 different med trials he had not improved, and she was desperate to find a different solution for her son. She asked Liz whether she had heard of any other alternative for bipolar disorder.

     Liz replied thoughtfully. “You know, I actually have. There’s some buzz about people with bipolar disorder getting better with a ketogenic diet. I have a friend whose teenage daughter is showing she’s remarkably better after several months of this treatment. And she’s actually been able to replace her bipolar disorder meds with it.

    “It’s not the sort of thing you should try to do yourself, like people do with keto to lose weight. It should be done with a psychiatrist who’s experienced with this illness and this approach, but it can be incredibly effective.”

    Megan scratched her head. This was baffling. Food? For bipolar disorder?? The concept was jarring.

    Liz Offers Transforming News

    “Liz, are you saying that people with bipolar disorder have actually started eating differently and it relieved their bipolar symptoms??”

    She nodded, then laughed at herself…Megan couldn’t see her nodding through the phone! So she spoke up.

    “Megan, I know a family personally who did this. And their daughter is so so much better! They needed to make changes and follow what was prescribed, and not eat what’s not prescribed, but the payoff is that her symptoms have disappeared — they would have never believed it — and there are no side effects like she had with medications. They’re thrilled.”

    Megan paused. She tried to take all this in. Food. She shook her head…she couldn’t absorb this.

    Finally she found words. “Liz, this is mind boggling. Do you have any idea the name of the doctor they worked with?”

    “Yes, and she’s not far. Outside Hartford. I’ll text you the contact info and you can read up on their website. As I understand it, this is a metabolic psychiatrist who has a program for using food as medicine. Her in-house registered dietitian/nutritionist sets up a personalized dietary plan to help you get into ketosis and sustain it. It’s in the state of ketosis that the healing happens. It’s a pretty amazing program.

    “I just texted you the website link and her phone number.”

    “Thanks enormously Liz. I called you at the end of myself, and you’ve filled my sails with hope. I’ll keep you posted about how this goes.”

    A Strange Solution Leads to Hope

    Just then, she heard the sound of the front door opening and closing.

    Megan stood up and walked into the living room to see if it was Ethan. She found him sitting on the sofa, subdued. “Hi, buddy.”

    “Hi, Mom. I’m sorry. Again.”

    “I know… but I hope you realize by now that I don’t blame you. I know your heart. This is the illness…and I’ve learned something while you’ve been gone that may turn out to help.”

    “That’s nice Mom.” He continued to look at the floor. Deflated. Defeated. Hopeless.

    “I learned there is a way of treating bipolar disorder that can relieve your symptoms, and possibly allow you to wean from medications so you can feel better and get rid of the side effects. It’s about eating ketogenic foods…

    Ethan snapped a look her, glaring with fire in his eyes. “Are you serious?? Food?? C’mon.”

    He scoffed at the idea that something so powerful as bipolar disorder could be tamed with food. It made him kind of mad that she would even suggest it. 

    “I know, Ethan. It shocks me too. But people are having good results. You know Liz? She has a friend whose 15-year-old daughter’s bipolar symptoms have all but disappeared after 6 months…and she has replaced her bipolar disorder meds with this diet.

    Touchpoints 180™ is Dr. Calabrese's program to help you achieve therapeutic nutritional ketosis so your mind and body can heal.

    Touchpoints 180™

    “Why don’t we explore the website together and see what we can learn…see if it resonates with us or not?”

    They sat side by side at the table and opened up the website.  As they read through the home page, they could see it talked about a program for metabolic psychiatry called Touchpoints 180™… that must be the program Liz mentioned. They read about the program and what they offer. 

    It talked about ketogenic and metabolic therapies. It was extensive. He looked at the page about the psychiatrist herself, and saw she had published studies using the ketogenic diet to help people heal from psychiatric illness like depression, anxiety, even anorexia. Hard to imagine… how come he’d never heard of this?

    There was a search bar…so he searched bipolar disorder. Multiple blogs came up about what a ketogenic diet can do for patients with bipolar disorder. The more he read, the more his mind opened about the possibility. 

    “Maybe we should call, Mom.”

    They continued to read about Touchpoints 180™ …they found an article titled Food as Medicine. They stopped and read that word for word. Then, they followed a link to a blog post about mitochondria. That really cleared things up. So all this healing happens in the mitochondria of cells, and eating a ketogenic diet gives the mitochondria abundant and superior energy to accomplish all they do.

    It hinted at the idea that an energy crisis in the brain cells could be a partial cause of this condition.

    Ethan and his mom agreed they would call in the morning for an appointment.

    Food as Medicine

    Salmon and avocados are part of a ketogenic diet which unravels generalized anxiety.

    They arrived early the next day, and Ethan underwent an extensive metabolic and psychiatric evaluation. The doctor explained the program, which included nature walks, monitoring, support from the registered dietitian/nutritionist to help with challenges, a book club to learn more in-depth about ketogenic living.  There were CSA farm affiliations to give access to healthier food products…it went on and on.

    Then the dietitian explained how food is medicine in this treatment. She put together a meal plan to ensure he was eating enough fat throughout the day to help his body produce ketones for his mitochondria.  Then, she explained that for his body to transition to ketones for fuel, he would have to eat very low carbs, and that his body would begin breaking down his own body fat after that. She showed him how his diet would include a moderate amount of protein with those abundant fats. So they needed to go home and clean out the potatoes, corn, rice, bread, and sweets.

    And that’s what they did. They also tossed out frozen pizzas, coffee cake, cookies, chips, and stocked up with fresh low carb veggies like broccoli, spinach, asparagus, bell peppers, and Brussel sprouts. 

    They added cheeses, eggs, onions, heavy cream… then fatty fish like salmon and trout, shellfish like shrimp and scallops, marbled beef, and free range chicken.

    Salmon is a great food for ketogenic metabolic therapy-KMT- for social anxiety.

    And Megan and Ethan started cooking together. It was satisfying and enjoyable. And their first meal included a dill cream sauce on salmon with a spinach, avocado, and mushroom salad. It was delicious.

    A Better Plan for Living a Healthier Life

    After dinner, they worked on plans for packing lunch and snacks for him to take to school, to ensure he was getting enough fat through the day to keep him satisfied – and to keep those ketones flowing.

    By checking with the ketone meter, they could see it took till the end of the third day for Ethan to enter ketosis. That was a milestone for him. Now my brain can begin healing…he thought. 

    Days turned into weeks as they meticulously followed the plan. After about 3 months, Ethan was in a hurry and forgot to prepare and pack his lunch and snacks. So he ate the cafeteria food and tried to avoid carbohydrates. But it wasn’t good enough. By the next morning he was feeling agitated and sluggish. With his mom’s support, they loaded him up with avocados, eggs, and a well marbled steak. In a few days, he was feeling better, and his meter showed he was back in ketosis. 

    After that, he learned to plan ahead to be sure to always have his ketogenic foods with him.

    Time to Replace Bipolar Disorder Meds

    Three months later, he realized he hadn’t had an episode lately. Then, at the five month mark, he realized he hadn’t had any symptoms in awhile. But he guessed that could change. So he didn’t put much stock in it.

    However, when he’d been following this plan for seven months, he was sure. HIs bipolar disorder symptoms seemed to have subsided. He called her about reducing his medications, since his symptoms were gone.

    So they worked together on weaning gently, and gradually, based on each medicine and what this psychiatrist knew to do.  After a few more months, he was off his medications, and continued to enjoy stability without symptoms.

    Ethan would not have believed it if he hadn’t experienced it himself. But he was so grateful to Liz for telling his mom about this program…and so grateful to Touchpoints 180™ for providing the way for him to get better. Really better.

    He also could see that if he started eating carbs at any point, he would likely ignite his bipolar disorder symptoms again.

    Increasing brain energy by eating healthy high fat foods can help your brain heal.

    But eating ketogenic meals was his path to wellness and stability for life. He had been fascinated by all he learned in the book club about why this lifestyle works for serious psychiatric disorders, but nothing could make the impression his own experience had. By eating these foods…he was really better. He could predict his behavior in a way he’d been unable to for years. He was flooded with hope just to think about it.

    You Can Replace Bipolar Disorder Meds With a Ketogenic Diet 

    If your child takes bipolar medications, but they aren’t working, and the side effects are adding a burden to his life, you do have options. Even if your child has bipolar disorder and you prefer he not take meds with its side effects, there is another way. Increasing evidence demonstrates that metabolic dysfunction is a cause of bipolar disorder. 

    A ketogenic diet is a diet low in carbohydrates and high in fat. As such, it mimics the actions of mood stabilizers. It also seems to repair deficiencies in the metabolism while diminishing inflammation…as a result it helps to regulate mood. 

    Switching the energy source in brain cells from glucose to ketones (achieving therapeutic nutritional ketosis) can offer protective aspects to nerve cells, as well. 

    The science is on your side. More and more people with bipolar disorder, and other severe psychiatric disorders, are experiencing remission through this 21st century treatment. And as a result, are able to replace their bipolar disorder meds with this metabolic ketogenic therapy.

    If you can relate to Ethan, and nothing you’ve tried has helped with your symptoms, call us.

    Touchpoints 180™ is Dr. Calabrese's program to help you achieve therapeutic nutritional ketosis so your mind and body can heal.

    Fuel your mitochondria to heal and restore your brain. 

    Join us in Touchpoints 180™ for support and guidance as you take back your health.

    We can help you get there.

    Lori Calabrese, M.D. is on the front end of the race to stop PTSD in its tracks using IV ketamine treatment.

    To the restoration of your best self,

  • A Ketogenic Solution for Anxiety Can Make All the Difference

    A Ketogenic Solution for Anxiety Can Make All the Difference

    Brittany tossed and thrashed in bed, restless and unable to get into a deep sleep. She felt panicky that she would have to face the day exhausted. Finally, she sat up in bed to check her clock. 4am. Sighhhhh. Her alarm would blare at 5:30…not much time to sleep left at all. She decided to stop fighting it and to get up and make coffee. Her mind had been racing all night. Drowning in all that could happen. Fear rose in her chest. As she sipped her coffee and became more alert, she knew her racing thoughts and gripping fears weren’t rational. What had started it, anyway? Even as she tried to analyze it all, her heart was still racing. She didn’t know that a ketogenic solution for anxiety was right in her kitchen.

    Anxiety Symptoms Disrupt Everything

    This wasn’t the first time Brittany had lost sleep. Over the years, there had been more fitful nights than she could count. If only she could get her mind to calm down before she went to bed. She’d tried a mountain of supposed remedies for sleep hygiene, as they called it: Unplugging screen time, reading calming poetry before bed, warm milk, avoiding exercise after 6pm. Nothing made a real difference. 

    Plus, insomnia was’t the only problem.

    She had terrible nervousness before and during dental appointments, whether it was a painful procedure or just cleaning and maintenance. In the last ten years, that nervousness had escalated to panic during a couple procedures, where she would grip the assistant’s arm and eventually cry out loud. Humiliating. Naturally, she began to avoid the dentist.

    And there was the crippling shyness that paralyzed her when she had to attend meetings with strangers… or even at parties. Occasionally, she had to make a presentation at work, before a room of 30-40 people…only a few of which were her coworkers.  Her armpits and palms would sweat, her voice would shake…her mind would go blank… and sometimes violent nausea rose in her throat.  So she learned to write meticulous notes to guide her. 

    Brittany could use a ketogenic solution for her anxiety. BADLY. She just didn’t know it yet.

    Her presentation didn’t appear smooth or spontaneous, but it was better than going completely blank and shaking in front of everyone!

    So she tried to avoid speaking at all, even though presentations were necessary if she was ever going to be promoted.

    High Stress Meant Worse Agoraphobia

    But eventually, as stressors at work increased, she found it harder and harder to leave her apartment and go in. It reminded her of her childhood, when at times it was just too hard to go to school. Some days she couldn’t face the social pressure or the demand to perform. She felt so inadequate, and so ashamed.

    But Brittany just didn’t know what to do about it at the time. It happened again in college, and now…here it was again. 

    How could she succeed in her career —or her relationships —if she didn’t find a way to manage this?

    After work, and a terribly difficult day, Brittany decided to go to her parents’ house to see if they had any ideas. She felt foolish to expect they would think of something she hadn’t. After all, she was an adult, right? — she should have things figured out for herself. 

    But her mom was a therapist, and her dad owned a medical supply company, so who knows? She could say something. Maybe they had run into something like this along the way…?

    Her dad greeted her at the door.

    Dad Has Some Good Ideas

    “Britt! I was so glad for your call. It’s been awhile…we do like to have the chance to see you and catch up whenever we can. Your mom should be home within the hour. How are you?”

    “Hi Dad…it’s good to see you too! I’ve missed you. Life has been a handful. I think I’m reaching a point of desperation, and I really need to find a solution.”

    “What is it, honey?”

    “It’s a lot of things. I’ve not been sleeping for some time. Every time I toss and turn all night, I’m a wreck at work all day. Then, the next night, when I need to catch up, it’s the same thing again. Then, the next day is even harder. When the stress mounts higher, I start having other problems. Like leaving my apartment. So walking out the door to go to work is so hard I’m choking and crying at times.

    “And you KNOW how hard it is for me to go to the dentist. But now it’s also hard to go to the doctor, or the grocery store…or even take a shower. I feel so foolish that I can’t seem to manage my life.”

    Her dad’s eyes filled with compassion.

    “Oh Britt… I’m so sorry you’re going through this. We have to see what your mom says…I’m confident she’ll have some clear views about all this. But off the top of my head, I’m guessing it’s ALL anxiety of one sort or another. 

    “I’m hearing more and more people talk about how eating food that triggers your body to make ketones helps relieve anxiety and lots of other psychiatric disorders. People are saying this approach to treatment yields remarkable results. Maybe there’s a ketogenic solution for your anxiety..?

    A Deep Dive on the Internet

    Brittany pulled up close to her dad to see what was on his screen. He googled keto, ketogenic, psychiatry….anxiety.

    “OH look! Here’s a psychiatric practice a short drive away that offers a program to treat this. Keto… not just for weight loss… rather for getting well emotionally and physically. Let’s see…”

    “Here. I think this might be it. Here’s a metabolic psychiatry blog. I bet there’s lots of information here…”

    He found a search box and typed in anxiety.

    Then a list of blog posts came up about treating anxiety with keto foods. And one about “Food as Medicine”… All of this was new to her…food as medicine? But she was desperate, so she kept reading.

    She learned that what she was experiencing could actually stop. She learned that while medication may help some people, it didn’t help others at all. Also, that symptoms of various disorders can overlap, and her impression was that the most effective approach was to treat the cause of the symptoms, rather than focusing on diagnoses, per se.

    She kept reading to see if they had a ketogenic solution for her anxiety symptoms.

    As she read she could see what she had in common with others whose stories described their symptoms, many of which were similar to hers.

    This could work. And she wanted to do it right—so that it did. So she made the call.

    And then felt so much better. Hopeful even. So she and her dad met her mom at a restaurant for dinner before she drove home.

    Touchpoints 180™

    Touchpoints 180™ is Dr. Calabrese's program to help you achieve therapeutic nutritional ketosis so your mind and body can heal.

    A couple days later, she arrived for her appointment, and soon met with the doctor. A thorough evaluation of her metabolic health was revealing. The doctor explained things about her blood pressure, her labs — and her weight — all were signs of metabolic dysfunction. They talked about their program, Touchpoints 180™ and mitochondria and how transitioning to therapeutic ketosis could harness and amplify brain energy and anti-inflammatory signaling throughout her body.

    How switching up and eating foods high in fat like she could find in cheeses, butter, olive and coconut oils, fatty fish, free range eggs, marbled beef, and fresh lamb could provide ketones for fuel – instead of glucose. She also explained how the mitochondria can make greater amounts of energy from ketones than from glucose. 

    A shrimp and avocado salad is a perfect keto meal.

    The doctor gave Brittany a whole way to understand the science a little better, so she understood how and why this treatment works… this ketogenic solution for anxiety.

    Then, their registered dietitian/nutritionist designed a meal plan for this dietary intervention, and showed her foods she needs to eat in abundance and foods she needs to avoid. She explained the food program the practice had arranged to make grass-fed and grass-finished proteins for her, organically grown produce, and all the foods she needed to include to be sure she was getting all the nutrients she needed. 

    They worked together to ensure the foods they chose for her plan were foods she liked, and worked it around her own schedule. The key was to be sure she was getting the amount of fat she needed through the day to feed her metabolism in the best way possible.

    Once she got home, she cleaned out her pantry, fridge, and freezer of all high carbohydrate foods. She also tossed out ultra processed foods, like coffee cake, cookies, pizza, ice cream… Somehow all this gave her hope and purpose, so heading out to buy food wasn’t so difficult.

    Putting Ketogenic Metabolic Therapy to Work

    Soon, she was back home, and putting it all away. She’d always bought skinless chicken, but now she bought it with the skin on. Plus several cheeses, heavy cream, olive oil (she tossed out the seed oils), eggs, salmon, marbled beef, avocados, spinach, arugula, lemons, broccoli, cauliflower, bell peppers, and mushrooms.

    Vitamin deficiencies can be obstacles to your relief of psychiatric symptoms.

    Now she had ingredients to make rich sauces, crunchy salads, and 3-cheese and mushroom omelettes in the mornings. This dietary intervention had so many delicious dishes to choose from.

    So she started with dinner, which was easier than she expected. She’d lived on pizza and hamburgers, so this idea of cooking meals with whole foods instead of instant frozen meals, was an adventure. But if eating this way could reduce her anxiety and help her sleep better, it was well worth it. Hands down!

    She determined to wake up 15 minutes earlier in the morning to pack her lunch, ensuring she had plenty of fat in her diet to keep her metabolism singing.

    The meals she was cooking were not only healthy but delicious. She’d never eaten so well. (Some of them rivaled five star restaurants.) She felt pampered, even though she was the one doing the work! 

    After a couple weeks, she began to notice a difference. She’d been in ketosis, according to her meter, since the fourth day… and by now she was sleeping better, feeling calmer, more relaxed…and what was that feeling…more confident maybe?  She wasn’t sure. But something was definitely changing. And she liked it.

    Ketogenic Solution for Anxiety Leads to Remission

    A few months later, her boss approached her about doing a presentation, knowing Brittany might balk. But strangely, Brittany wasn’t afraid. That panic that used to rise in her throat didn’t seem to be there. 

     So she quietly agreed…not knowing if she could do it, but hoping she could. 

    As it turned out, the panicky feeling seemed to be gone. She spoke with confidence, and everyone listened intently. Self respect and gratitude competed for dominance in her chest as she sighed with huge relief after it was over. This ketogenic solution for anxiety really was working. She was sold.

    Touchpoints 180™ is Dr. Calabrese's program to help you achieve therapeutic nutritional ketosis so your mind and body can heal.

    Once in her car, she called her parents first to tell them. They were thrilled to hear the Touchpoints 180™ program was working so well for her! She told them without their help she would never have found out about it. 

    Months of ketogenic metabolic therapy resulted in a slimmer figure, growing confidence, and better relationships. (She started dating!) But, the biggest benefit was that the symptoms of anxiety were gone. She was sleeping soundly, excelling at her job, and going out with friends. 

    She could never have imagined this much could change in a single year. 

    Need a Ketogenic Solution for Anxiety Symptoms?

    Most people can expect fleeting feelings of anxiety in a stressful moment, like public speaking, or before a blind date. But if you find yourself escalating to feelings of panic, or fear you’re dying, or even avoiding situations in your life where those feelings can occur, you might need some intervention.

    Much research has revealed that many psychiatric conditions that have traditionally been treated with medications can be resolved with a ketogenic diet, or eating food that helps your body produce an abundance of ketones.  Ketones are produced in the liver when your body breaks down fat, and when glucose in the diet is reduced, those ketones become an amazing fuel. But that’s not all. They produce a wide variety of components your body needs, and trigger an assortment of processes that bring your mind and body into balance with a sense of wellbeing.

    In a case series we published about our own results, patients achieved remission from anxiety, as well as depression, on a ketogenic diet. Our results made it to the top 5% of more than 26 million scientific papers within 6 weeks of publication—unheard of! And months later, it’s still at the 97th percentile. We’re not researchers. We’re a team that knows how to get results and we go for remission.

    Touchpoints 180™ is Dr. Calabrese's program to help you achieve therapeutic nutritional ketosis so your mind and body can heal.

    If you can relate to Brittany and her symptoms, call us.

    You, too, can enjoy watching your symptoms disappear, with Touchpoints 180™, and getting well — this time for good.

    We’re so excited to help you experience the healing outcomes of a ketogenic lifestyle.

    Lori Calabrese, M.D. is on the front end of the race to stop PTSD in its tracks using IV ketamine treatment.

    To the restoration of your best self,

  • Ketogenic Diet Kicks Parkinson’s Disease To the Curb

    Ketogenic Diet Kicks Parkinson’s Disease To the Curb

    Ben sat sipping his coffee. He set it down on the lamp table and relaxed, then his hand trembled wildly and knocked the mug, spilling coffee all over the table and chair. Groan. His tremors were getting worse. He got up to get a towel, and wobbled a bit. Then as he stepped toward the kitchen his head was swimming… and before he knew it he had sunk to his knees. Slowly, he crawled to the sofa, and used it to climb up and sit. I’m just not doing well, he thought to himself. He felt discouraged. Listless. Could he be depressed? He was tired, and remembered he’d had a fitful night. Why couldn’t he wake up rested? He realized that maybe it’s time to face all this. He would soon learn that a ketogenic diet can kick Parkinson’s to the curb. But it all started with a first step.

    His doctor encouraged him to see a neurologist, and gave him a name, so he called for an appointment. 

    Starting with a Specialist

    He liked the neurologist. He seemed engaged and caring. After evaluating him, the doctor gave him a diagnosis of early Parkinson’s disease. And he encouraged him that there are things he can do. That he can alter the course of the disease by getting actively involved in the process. 

    He explained the importance of exercise to stimulate dopamine, which needs to be generated to replace the dopamine loss that’s at the core of the disease. Then, he gave him a brochure about a group of Parkinson’s patients who get together for boxing to help with coordination, muscle tone, and exercise. He told him that would help, and would give him camaraderie, too.

    He also arranged for physical therapy to work on his walking gait, and posture. And occupational therapy to develop his swallowing muscles.

    Touchpoints 180™ is Dr. Calabrese's program to help you achieve therapeutic nutritional ketosis so your mind and body can heal.

    He then handed him a leaflet about a program a local psychiatrist offered. Touchpoints 180™ it read. He told him he had patients who were using this kind of approach very successfully. Using real food in the right proportions, personalized for him, Ben’s body would enter a state of ketosis, where his own body would produce the ketones he needed. Ketones are produced in the process of breaking down fat. These ketones are an outstanding source of energy for the brain.

    The brain can use two forms of energy: glucose or ketones. But ketones provide far more energy per unit and equip the brain to do more of what it needs to do. To function, as well as to repair itself. This process enhances mitochondrial function as well as producing more mitochondria, multiplying its energy supply.

    The important aspect of this treatment is a personalized ketogenic diet nutritionally appropriate for him, and designed to maximize his brain energy and functioning. It is a diet high in fat, with a moderate amount of protein and very low carbohydrates so the brain wouldn’t switch back and forth between energy supplies. This would help him maintain that state of ketosis, so he’d continue producing those ketones.

    The doctor explained that a nutritionally sound ketogenic diet can kick Parkinson’s to the curb.

    The doctor encouraged him to make an appointment with this psychiatrist for her Touchpoints 180™ program, to get her help with his depression, his spiraling anxiety, as well as the guidance of their registered dietitian/nutritionist and her whole team. He explained that maintaining this wasn’t just about doing a diet, it was a whole treatment. Along with the rest of their program, it could help him structure his days in a way that actually treats his mood and anxiety symptoms and could put them into remission, and address some of the fundamental brain issues that go wrong in Parkinson’s.

    Ben thanked him, made an appointment for 3 weeks later, and left. He was shell shocked at the diagnosis… but he’d never heard there were things you could do to affect the outcome. He felt gratitude that his family doctor had referred him to the neurologist he did. And now he needed to see this psychiatrist. 

    Ketogenic Metabolic Therapy for Parkinson’s

    As he thought about the serious implications of the diagnosis, he kept reminding himself that the doctor said there were things you can do. He determined to learn what those things were… and do them.

    The psychiatrist was able to work him in within two days, so when the time came, he took an Uber. He didn’t trust himself driving.

    That was the most amazing day he’d had that he could remember. They assessed his metabolic health, designed a personalized ketogenic treatment for him—called ketogenic metabolic therapy, not “just” a keto diet—that he could manage himself, complete with real foods he could carry with him when he had to be at physical therapy or the boxing group.

    Their program was all about real whole foods, not powders, shakes, or commercial keto food. It included lots of support, phone calls, question and answer sessions, and even nature walks. He could see with all this support and supervision, this approach could kick his Parkinson’s to the curb, alright.

    Of course, he began immediately. 

    He felt like he’d been shot out of a cannon. There were activities every day, sometimes with the boxing group, other times the walks and talks with the Touchpoints 180™ group, plus sessions with the physical therapist, the psychiatrist, and the neurologist.

    After a couple weeks, he found he hit a rhythm with the meals. It was a new way of thinking about food. Instead of grabbing quick crackers, pizza, or soup when he was hungry and in a hurry, he planned his food to be sure he was eating enough fat and protein to nourish his brain and accomplish the goals of nutritional therapeutic ketosis. 

    It kept his mind occupied, just trying to keep up and show up to everything that was expected of him. It’s a bit like boot camp – this new lifestyle, he chuckled to himself. But he felt productive, and proactive, like he was doing something to find a solution. Being so busy helped to distract him from the fear he felt initially about Parkinson’s.

    After three months of this, he wondered if he was imagining it, but the tremors in his hand seemed less intense. Could it be?

    Ketogenic Lifestyle Promotes Health and Restoration

    He’d made some friends at the boxing group, and on the nature walks with Touchpoints 180™… so in the evenings, he would call one or another of them and they would just shoot the breeze. It was good to be getting to know new friends.

    As time flew by, and he saw his neurologist regularly, his doctor agreed that his symptoms were diminishing.  At first, he thought he would get dizzy or have muscle cramps, like he’d heard about — but he didn’t, and within days of letting into ketosis, his mind felt clearer. Less foggy.

    After a few months, Ben was felt stronger and wasn’t losing his balance. He didn’t expect miracles, but he did try to stay tuned in to improvements. He’d made a decision. He had every intention of maintaining this lifestyle. At his age, there was nothing but benefit to him in working on fitness, emotional wellbeing, mental clarity, and burgeoning health, all the way down to his mitochondria.

    A year later, Ben was maintaining his schedule, seeing friends, attending baseball games, and enjoying his ketogenic lifestyle. Touchpoints 180™ and this ketogenic diet had kicked Parkinson’s disease to the curb.

    He hadn’t driven his car since he received the Parkinson’s diagnosis, but he was seriously thinking taking a few lessons at a driving school, just to brush up. He believed he’d be able to drive just fine.

    Truth be told, he felt younger than he had felt before his diagnosis. Younger, more vibrant, more socially at ease, and energetic. His mood was better and he was enjoying things again. Sure, his joints creaked, and he needed to get new glasses. He was still an aging man. But the ketogenic diet had given his body vitality, in the course of the process of treating the Parkinson’s disease.

    You Can Change the Course of Parkinson’s Disease

    At the core of Parkinson’s, there is a place in the mid-brain, called the substantia nigra, where pigmented cells make dopamine. These cells are destroyed, and as a result, dopamine production is decreased drastically. 

    The critical depletion of the neurotransmitter dopamine, combined with toxic environmental factors among other aspects, result in motor symptoms, like stiffness, a shuffling gait, and tremors. But they also cause non-motor symptoms like mood disorders, fatigue, compulsive behaviors, psychosis, dementia, and sleep disorders. In addition, there can be very low blood pressure and problems with constipation.

    With close monitoring, exercise, and a ketogenic diet — his psychiatrist called it ketogenic metabolic therapy — the mitochondria can benefit from a healing and restorative process that can change the course of the disease.

    Touchpoints 180™ is Dr. Calabrese's program to help you achieve therapeutic nutritional ketosis so your mind and body can heal.

    If you can relate to Ben, or have been diagnosed with early Parkinson’s, and want support to address your symptoms, call us.

    Through our Touchpoints 180™ program, we’ll help you with what you need to change the course of this disorder, and get your life back.

    We’re here to stand with you and watch your recovery unfold.

    Lori Calabrese, M.D. is on the front end of the race to stop PTSD in its tracks using IV ketamine treatment.

    To the restoration of your best self,

  • How Your Ketogenic Diet Dismantles Panic Attacks

    How Your Ketogenic Diet Dismantles Panic Attacks

    Emily gripped the steering wheel with both hands. Her arms stiffly tried to guide the car as she became more nervous. Rigid. With pressure rising in her head and neck, she reached up to feel her pulse under her jaw. Boom. Boom. Boom…Panic was rising in her throat, and she feared where her emotions were going. What if she passed out? What if she had a stroke? She tried to take some slow breaths. She filled her lungs and tried to release the air in a slow, controlled breath. But, it wasn’t working. As terror rose, she took another long slow breath, and tried to pull her car over and park. Now her heart was racing, her hands were slick with sweat. She didn’t understand what was happening to her. If only she’d known a ketogenic diet could dismantle panic attacks.

    She closed her eyes to try to block out the terror…and jammed her feet against the floorboard, desperately straining for control. What was happening to her?

    She didn’t know. Was this a panic attack?  This had never happened before. Finally, she dissolved in a flood of tears. She felt limp. Drained. Ashamed. 

    Cars whizzed by her, some honking, others screeching their brakes.

    Tap – Tap – Tap!

    She moved her hands off her face and looked toward the sound. It was the police, knocking on her window. She searched his eyes with a tear-stained face, and rolled down the window.

    “Ma’am? You need to move your car. You’re parked on a busy boulevard. Are you alright?”

    Emily blinked, wiped her face, and realized where she was.

    “I’m sorry. I got scared and forgot where I was. This was the best I could do. I’ll move.”

    She put her car in gear and moved forward, turning right into a nearby parking lot…then parked safely in a space, and turned off the engine. In a few moments, she saw flashing lights, and the officer pulled in beside her. Once again, he came to her window.

    “Thank you for moving your car. That was a dangerous spot. You could have caused a collision. Can you tell me what happened?”

    Emily closed her eyes, hard. So humiliating.

    “I was driving along, and a terrible feeling started rising up inside me. My hands were sweaty, my heart was racing, I felt like I would throw up, and I was terrified. I don’t really understand what started it…”

    “Maybe we should get you to a hospital. Please wait right here.”

    He then picked up his radio and called for an ambulance to their location.

    Within minutes she heard a siren. Then it got closer, and pulled into the same parking lot. The paramedics checked her pulse and blood pressure. By this time, she was much calmer.

    They suggested she might have had a panic attack, and asked if it had ever happened before. She told them it hadn’t. And she assured them she didn’t need to go to a hospital. She just needed to go home and relax. After spending 30 minutes with her, they asked her to sign a release, and they drove away.

    Emily thanked the officer for his help, and drove home.

    Piecing It All Together

    Once home, she made a cup of herbal tea, then sat on the sofa with her feet up, to sip.

    What had happened?  

    She honestly knew she could not have driven any farther before parking on the road. Why?

    As she thought about it, the memory began to come back. Someone had swerved and almost hit her…it frightened her…and the fear had become increasingly intense until she had felt it ballooning out of control.

    So something had triggered it. Bizarre.

    She knew she worried a lot. ALOT. Her family was always telling her to stop worrying. But this was much much worse than that. She had felt paralyzed. It felt like she was losing her mind. So frozen and afraid. So out of control.

    Could She Find a Way to Dismantle the Panic?

    After a couple hours, her husband, Tyler, walked in. He could see in her face that something was wrong. So he asked.

    “Yes I’m ok. But something happened while I was driving that was rather traumatic. Someone swerved and almost hit me, and I started feeling more and more afraid and couldn’t calm down. In fact, I couldn’t drive. I did my best to pull over and park on Hartford Blvd. and was frozen, terrified… incapacitated. 

    “Emily. On Hartford??? That’s a busy road! I’m glad you weren’t hit!”

    “I know…I am, too. The whole experience was awful. Just terrible. An officer called an ambulance, and they checked me out and stayed with me awhile, then let me go home. It was humiliating. But what’s important is knowing why it happened?  What can I do to keep such a thing from happening again?”

    “You know, Em, I work with a girl who sometimes has experiences like that. She calls them panic attacks and eats keto — says the food dismantles it. I guess that’s a Captain Obvious thing.

    Anyway, lately, she’s been talking about a doctor who has helped her, and how it’s all about eating certain foods, and avoiding others. I’ll find out more from her tomorrow. Right now, I’m going to get dinner going so you can relax.”

    Ketogenic Diet Dismantles Panic Attacks

    The following evening, Tyler came in from work excitedly talking as he opened the front door.

    “I got the doctor’s name, the program that’s helped my co-worker, and a website we can look at. The food she talks about eating is a ketogenic diet says it helps her achieve ketosis which just dismantled the panic attacks. She says you have to really reduce your carbohydrates so that you body can make ketones . At the same time, you add a lot of healthy fats. And that changes the fuel in your brain cells from glucose to ketones. 

    Mitochondria make neurotransmitters from a ketogenic diet that dismantles panic attacks.

    “When you do that, your body transitions to using ketones for fuel in the part of the cells where energy is produced and used: the mitochondria. I remember from biology class in high school — that the mitochondria are the power houses in every cell.

    “When you eat carbohydrates, your cells get a spike of glucose for fuel, then it just drops out, and they’re in crisis as a result. But when you transition to ketones — which are produced when your body breaks down fat — the cells have an abundance of fuel, and the mitochondria can produce all the things you need, so you can be in the best health and balance.”

    Emily and Tyler hopped on the internet to look up all the terms he’d mentioned, and to learn more about ketones and a ketogenic diet to dismantle panic attacks.  They also looked up this doctor’s program, the one Tyler’s coworker had written down for them.

    Touchpoints 180™ is Dr. Calabrese's program to help you achieve therapeutic nutritional ketosis so your mind and body can heal.

    Touchpoints 180™ Is Keto for Panic Attacks

    Through reading together, they learned that what Emily experienced probably was a panic attack. They learned that a ketogenic diet could reverse anxiety and dismantle panic attacks. And they read about Touchpoints 180™, that doctor’s program for this.

    Together, they went into their kitchen and dumped the rice, potatoes, bread, buns, potato and corn chips, coffee cake, donuts, and cookies into the trash.

    The next morning they started the day with eggs, until they could figure out what else they could eat on this ketogenic thing.

    After Tyler left for work, Emily called this doctor’s practice to ask about Touchpoints 180™ and made an appointment.

    The doctor evaluated her psychiatrically and evaluated her metabolic health, and the registered dietitian/nutritionist worked with her to create a personal plan (that they call a ketogenic metabolic therapy) that incorporated her likes, dislikes, that would address medical conditions, and help her psychiatric symptoms slowly go into remission.

    She went on to explain that the program offered walks, talks, lots of opportunities for answers to questions, making connections, and encouragement. She even mentioned a fun book club to learn more.

    When Emily left, she felt armed, like she had her power back. By eating different foods than she was eating, she could feel better, worry less, have more energy, and reverse all this fear.

    Team-Focused Ketosis Dismantles Panic Attacks

    Tyler enthusiastically listened that night to all Emily had learned. They started making dinner together, following the plan designed for her. It was so easy. Then they put their heads together to pack lunches from her meal plan, and to be sure they always had the foods they needed. They were learning that food was their medicine to reverse these anxiety symptoms. And they stuck close to their food “prescriptions.”

    High healthy fat and whole foods provide increased brain energy from ketones.

    Even though Tyler didn’t struggle with panic per se, he worried about Emily, and felt she could do this more effectively if they were in it together. (A little aside: he had his own issues, and was curious to see if this program would help.)

    They learned that her symptoms of panic and anxiety could be eased by neurotransmitters like GABA (the calming neurotransmitter) and serotonin (a ‘feel-good” neurotransmitter). That certain ketones can raise GABA levels in your brain which calm anxiety and those panicky reactions, and eating foods like salmon, eggs, avocados, and meats provided excellent and nutrient-dense, nourishing foods for her brain and her whole body.

    In addition, they learned more about why eating sugar was harmful. That it triggers inflammation, and also feeds the wrong bacteria in the gut microbiome…those that promote depression and anxiety.

    Learning all this opened their eyes. Neither Tyler nor Emily had any idea all this went on inside their bodies… and depended on what they actually ate… for better or for worse.

    Ketogenic Diet Dismantled the Panic

    Within only a couple weeks, they both realized how clear their minds were. So that was brain fog…! They had no idea until it was gone. What a relief!

    Your ketogenic diet dismantles panic attacks.

    After a few more months, they both noticed more and more that Emily wasn’t talking about worry nearly as much. She seemed to be taking life in stride instead of worrying a hole in everything.  She had not had another panic attack. That was progress!

    Who knew something so simple and straight forward could make such a dramatic difference?

    She also noticed she felt more comfortable meeting new people, going out with friends, and inviting them over for a keto dinner.

    In 6 months, she realized she’d never felt so free…so “normal.”  

    Tyler couldn’t get over the change in his wife… and his own blood pressure came down to normal limits. They both lost some unwanted pounds, to boot. But most important, they both felt relaxed and at ease with themselves and each other. In fact, with life in general.

    Do You Need A Ketogenic Diet for Panic Attacks?

    Or maybe just anxiety…and possibly depression? By eating a ketogenic diet, you can enter a state of therapeutic nutritional ketosis. In this state, your brain is empowered to heal and restore balance through a cascade of processes in your liver, your microbiome, and your mitochondria. It can make more GABA, serotonin, and more of those components that help you feel relaxed, at ease, and resilient.

    If you struggle with panic attacks and worry, and nothing you’ve tried has helped, call us.

    Our Touchpoints 180™ program is designed to help you transition from using the toxicity of glucose to the abundance of ketones in mitochondria in every cell of your brain and body. You’ll enjoy the new energy, clear mind, and balanced emotions that you can experience through therapeutic nutritional ketosis.

    You’ll have access to walks and talks, personalized dietary intervention by our wonderful registered dietitian/nutritionist, phone calls, and your questions answered. 

    Join us as we learn together and thrive.

    Lori Calabrese, M.D. is on the front end of the race to stop PTSD in its tracks using IV ketamine treatment.

    To the restoration of your best self,

  • Metabolic Psychiatry’s Secret Weapon: Therapeutic Nutritional Ketosis

    Metabolic Psychiatry’s Secret Weapon: Therapeutic Nutritional Ketosis

    The most remarkable, neuroscience-driven advances in psychiatry, are emerging after decades of research and evidence-based experience known as metabolic psychiatry. Metabolic psychiatry is all about understanding the connections between psychiatric symptoms and metabolic dysfunction. We’ve talked often about the reality that the brain is part of the body, and what goes on in the body affects the brain. If metabolic health is suffering, psychiatric health can not be at its best. If the mitochondria are suffering from energy shortage due to insulin resistance, so is the mitochondria in the brain. And when the brain’s energy is restricted, its compromised ability to function well results in symptoms like memory loss, brain fog, erratic shifts in mood and behavior, depression, and anxiety. But metabolic psychiatry’s secret weapon is therapeutic nutritional ketosis. More about that ahead.

    Pearls from Dr. Ede

    Dr. Georgia Ede, a psychiatrist who specializes in nutritional and metabolic approaches to psychiatric symptoms, recently joined an interview with Dr. Bret Scher, the director of Metabolic Mind, and Carlene MacMillan, Chief Medical Officer of Osmind. They discussed a subject you know is dear to my heart, which is how a ketogenic diet can improve brain health so beautifully that you can actually achieve remission.

    It may surprise you to know that over 50% of all adults in this country suffer from insulin resistance, or the inability in the cells for insulin to process glucose. And that causes problems…lots of problems! It causes high blood sugar levels throughout the body because the cells aren’t able to pull the glucose out of the blood stream and put it to work in the cells. 

    And even worse, it keeps the brain from processing glucose, which creates an energy crisis for the brain. As we’ve talked about before, the brain is part of the body, and your metabolic health incorporates every organ in your body. When insulin resistance impairs your body’s ability to process glucose, all your organs suffer damage.

    Crisis of Brain Energy

    So, it’s vital that an alternate fuel source for the body, and especially the brain, is provided. When you consume a ketogenic diet, your body makes the shift from relying on glucose, to relying on ketones for fuel. Ketones don’t need insulin to be used in the cells, so it’s a limitless source of fuel.

    Because the brain uses so much energy – a full 20% of what the entire body uses – it’s vital that its energy source be readily available and inexhaustible. And it is, as long as you’re eating ketone producing foods…or ketogenic foods…and your body’s fat stores serve as a supplement.

    Metabolic Evaluation is Vital

    Dr Ede talked about her wish to see every psychiatrist do a metabolic evaluation as part of the intake assessment of each patient. Every patient with psychiatric symptoms deserves a metabolic evaluation to see if there is metabolic dysfunction involved—because it can be so readily reversed. Everyone needs to know about evidenced-based ways to change their lifestyle to improve their overall wellbeing, as well as their psychiatric condition. Whether they incorporate a ketogenic diet or not, they need to see how they might improve their metabolic health. You can’t have excellent mental health unless you’re metabolically healthy as well. And honestly, metabolic psychiatry’s secret weapon is, after all, nutritional ketosis. That’s what causes the change and improvement.

    Touchpoints 180™ is Dr. Calabrese's program to help you achieve therapeutic nutritional ketosis so your mind and body can heal.

    I heartily agree, and a comprehensive metabolic evaluation is just one part of our deep-dive assessment for our TouchPoints 180™ program.

    So, these are the elements she suggested for that assessment.  Because when you use A1C as a marker for metabolic health, it’s not effective, — because it’s a measure of Type 2 diabetes after it has already taken hold. And it’s important to keep in mind that it can take up to 20 years of high-carb eating for Type 2 to develop. So the key is to discover the metabolic dysfunction before it does.

    So what you really want to know is how much insulin your body is actually having to pump out day after day to counter the carbohydrate load you’re eating in order to maintain your fasting blood sugar in a normal range.  She made the point that those climbing insulin levels are damaging your physical health — and your brain metabolism. 

    Brain Metabolism

    When we refer to brain metabolism, we’re talking about the ability of your brain to turn glucose into energy. We test for the fasting insulin level, which should ideally be under 5. Yes, under 5. (In our practice, we actually run tests to determine your insulin resistance score, which gives you a numbered score if you are insulin resistant.)

    You also should check triglycerides, which should be below 100mg/dL, and better yet, below 80 mg/dL. You want HDL to be above 40-50 (pushing 100 is better) and you want your waist circumference to be less than half your height. 

    As you can see, these are simple measures, easily available, and can easily give you a ballpark idea your current metabolic health—and there are many more sophisticated tests which take a deeper dive. When these numbers are out of whack, it’s a good indication that your metabolism needs an intervention.

    The beauty is, that you can change these numbers very quickly with a ketogenic diet. Amazingly, you can drop your fasting insulin and triglycerides in days or weeks. You don’t have to lose 50 pounds to begin to see important changes! You just need to get your body metabolizing fat, and achieve nutritional ketosis.

    Metabolic Psychiatry’s Secret Weapon

    In the ketogenic diet, food is medicine for metabolic psychiatry.

    In fact, the ketogenic diet is not the only dietary intervention that will achieve this. The carnivore diet, or a vegetarian diet that’s low carb and high in fat, and that is properly formulated with the best quality proteins and all of the micronutrients you need. You can find a diet that helps you achieve therapeutic nutritional ketosis. It can be an adapted from carnivore, vegetarian, mediterranean… the goal is to find a dietary intervention that works for you; it just needs to help you maintain a consistent state of ketosis.

    And it needs to fit your life.

    This isn’t a solution that addresses the superficials. This solution attacks the root cause. Metabolic dysfunction throughout your body causes damage to your organs and brain because of an energy crisis in your mitochondria. It’s vital to improve your metabolic health by natural means. 

    What About GLP-1?

    Dr. Ede states that GLP-1 such as Ozempic and others can help with some of these same things. But they are not what we recommend for our patients — they do not offer the sustainable cellular benefits of nutritional ketosis and have many potential short and long-terms side effects: continued use, weekly injections, huge monthly costs and copays, etc. The good news is that the same and more can be achieved with ketosis. Through a ketogenic diet without copays, without side effects, and without injections that disrupt your normal metabolic function, you can achieve remission.

    I agree with her that a huge advantage to seeking metabolic health through dietary intervention is that it puts the power in your hands. We teach our patients how to do this, and offer dozens and dozens of personalized opportunities to help them make it happen. Unlike the old paradigm where the doctor prescribes the medication, and the patient takes it. In this approach, you learn to wield this tool to cultivate your own metabolic health. 

    It’s empowering, confidence building, and improves your own autonomy. It makes you proud of yourself to know you’ve made your body and mind healthy by changing your lifestyle and food choices.

    You can give someone a fish, and they’ll eat a meal. But if you teach them to fish, they’ll have the knowledge to be able eat for the rest of their lives.

    Education about metabolic health empowers people to restore their own metabolic health. And to restore their physical health and mental health as a result.

    Why Does Ketosis Help Alzheimer’s, Bipolar Disorder, and Schizophrenia?

    Metabolic psychiatrists know that if you have insulin resistance you don’t just have a blood sugar problem, you also have a brain sugar problem. The brain cannot utilize glucose without adequate insulin. Over time, slowly, the brain is losing its glucose processing power. By the time you notice any memory problems (this sets the stage for Alzheimer’s by the way) you can already have lost 25% of your brain’s glucose processing power. So you need a supplemental fuel source as a result. Ketones bridge that energy gap for you. They don’t need insulin to fuel brain cells. So the brain cells can go back to work doing their job at an optimum level. Because they’re fueled with ketones. 

    The key is ketosis. And it triggers a cascade of changes that put the brain cells back on their feet.

    If You Suffer From Psychiatric Symptoms

    Maybe you have tried prescription medications that haven’t improved your symptoms, or maybe psychotherapy hasn’t helped, either. Maybe you’ve been told your condition is “treatment-resistant.” Metabolic psychiatry may not be the solution to every single psychiatric issue, but it’s in your best interest to find out if it might help yours.

    When you consider that more than half of all adults in the US suffer from insulin resistance, and insulin resistance contributes to psychiatric suffering, it’s not such a bad idea to find out if your symptoms could be related to your metabolism, your mitochondria, and the way your body and brain use energy and signaling.

    Metabolic psychiatry’s secret weapon is therapeutic nutritional ketosis.

    Join us in our TouchPoints 180™ program, and take charge of your own health, physically and mentally. Take back your life and your wellbeing. 

    We’re all about helping you build your life at its best.

    Lori Calabrese, M.D. is on the front end of the race to stop PTSD in its tracks using IV ketamine treatment.

    To the restoration of your best self,

  • Binge Eating Disorder Bows to a Ketogenic Diet

    Binge Eating Disorder Bows to a Ketogenic Diet

    Lexie drank the rest of her diet Coke, and belched as she dropped the bottle in the recycle bin. She was full. Not really satisfied, but who knew why? She’d been watching a streaming comedy series on her big screen, and had called out for food delivery. She started with a double cheeseburger with seasoned fries, but wanted more. So she went to the freezer and filled a bowl with her favorite Extreme Moose Tracks chocolate fudge ice cream, with those shortbread and fudge cookies slipped into the bowl on the side. That helped. At the next commercial, she paused the streaming and it was back to the kitchen. A family sized bag of chips with onion dip gave her something to munch on while she watched. After that her stomach was stretched. And her mood sank. She was suspicious her eating marathons were more than cravings. She wished this binge eating disorder would bow out. She’d done it again.

    This mountain of food was only going to make her weight worse. Why did she do it? It’s not like she was hungry after the hamburger… she just felt a hollowness in her mood. Why couldn’t she remember each time that she always felt like this afterward?

    Shame… Guilt. 

    Failure.

    She should have accepted Hannah’s invitation to go shopping. At least she would have been getting exercise…and not eating so much.

    But Lexie didn’t feel like shopping with a friend. She felt anxious at the mall…like people were looking at her…judging her… She felt safer at home, where she could do what she wanted. In privacy.

    Still. She stared at her swollen belly… her spreading thighs. She caught her reflection as she passed a mirror, and realized she didn’t even recognize herself anymore.

    It all seemed so futile. She’d gone from one diet to another since she was 12.  Even when she lost weight, it wasn’t long until she gained it back and then some. Because she felt so deprived on a diet. It took all her willpower to restrict her eating like that for several weeks, until she finally caved in and ate. And ate.

    What was wrong with her?

    The next day, she took a long lunch to go to her dentist appointment. While she waited to be called, she picked up a magazine she saw on the table by her chair. It was an issue about nutrition, and she read an article about using a ketogenic diet for psychiatric conditions. Who ever heard of that what you eat could treat your mood? Was this real?

    She did know that each time she indulged in a ton of snack foods, she always felt bad afterwards. She so wished binge eating disorder would bow out and give her peace. Was that because she knew she couldn’t stop once she started, or was there something else involved?

    Time to Learn More

    Once she was back home, she got on her laptop and googled binge eating, and ketogenic diet and ketogenic psychiatry. 

    Hours went by as Lexie devoured one article after another.

    So metabolic psychiatry described a whole new field, and ketogenic psychiatry very specifically uses a ketogenic diet—a personalized therapeutic ketogenic diet— as treatment. That was news. Also, they’d discovered that metabolic problems in your body can also include psychiatric symptoms as part of those metabolism problems. That was even newer news.

    She kept reading.

    She also learned that eating a lot of processed foods that are high in carbohydrates causes hormone changes. And those hormone changes result in more and more deposits of fat in her body. Who knew?? Hormone changes…?

    Yes. But not the ones you’re thinking of.

    Processed high carb foods can cause psychiatric disorders.

    As Lexie thought back over yesterday, she realized all the foods she ate were processed, high carbohydrate foods. No wonder she was steadily gaining weight. This article also said those foods also make hunger worse, and tamp down the desire for exercise.

    Really?

    The food she was eating was causing her problems!! 

    So it made her wonder, what foods should I eat??

    The next paragraph seemed to answer her question.

    The Ketogenic Diet. A Therapeutic Ketogenic Diet.

    Ok. So what is that exactly?

    Fat as Fuel

    She read on and found out that reducing her carbohydrates…drastically it seemed… and increasing the good fats in her diet along with the right amount of protein would transition her body from using glucose or sugar as fuel… to using fat.

    Huh.

    This process … helping her body transition to use fat as fuel… was called therapeutic nutritional ketosis.

    Lexie sat back, and rubbed her neck. She’d been bent over her laptop for hours and hadn’t realized it was making her neck sore. This is a whole new way to look at my weight, my tendency to go on marathons with junk food, and my self contempt, she thought. I wonder if this way of eating could turn this around and make binge eating disorder bow out of my life.

    She looked at one of the studies she’d found, and kept reading. This one was conducted in Italy, and was interesting.

    Ketogenic Diet Stops the Craving

    It pointed out that a ketogenic diet prevents an increase in appetite. Boy I need that…she thought.

    It said it can cause you to feel less hungry. Imagine that!!! 

    And that because your body is using fat for fuel, it consumes your own body fat to stoke that fire. So, of course, you lose weight—you actually lose body fat, not muscle.

    The study also pointed out that another study had been done using this ketogenic diet and ketamine treatment for anorexia nervosa. Now that really resonated. It wasn’t the same thing she struggled with, but she had compassion for anyone who struggles with food.

    Out of curiosity, Lexie looked at the footnote about that anorexia study, and discovered the the lead author on this study is a psychiatrist who was just an hour away. Then she did a double take. It was the same psychiatrist whose article she read in that magazine yesterday!

    This can’t be a coincidence.

    Touchpoints 180™ is Dr. Calabrese's program to help you achieve therapeutic nutritional ketosis so your mind and body can heal.

    A quick phone call the next morning, and she had an appointment to see her about the Touchpoints 180™ program. 

    She was able to spend time with the doctor, who diagnosed her binge eating disorder, depression, and social anxiety. She learned that the ketogenic diet they design specifically for her and use with her could actually force the binge eating disorder to bow out once and for all.

    Lexie was pumped.

    She also spent time with the registered dietitian/nutritionist, who gave her a game plan, her tons of resources, to learn more, and equipment for monitoring ketosis, and all of he apps they use.

    She felt hungry on the way home, but resisted the temptation to drive through a hamburger place. Once home, she threw away – in the trash can – all her rice, potatoes, pasta, ice cream, cookies, coffee cake, chips, and bread, and carried it to the dumpster. Good riddance!

    Then she stood in front of the pantry…and her heart sank for a moment.

    Whew!! That pantry looks empty!! What am I going to eat??

    So, she got in the car and drove straight to the grocery store for marbled steak, chicken, salmon, trout, scallops, and a couple cheeses. She then added avocados, kale, baby spinach, bell peppers, heavy cream, onions, shallots, and a couple tomatoes. Time to get the best fats to have at home—and she picked up a couple.

    “Ok, this is a start. Now to learn a new way to eat.”

    The recipes were very manageable, and delicious, it turned out. For a few days she kind of missed her French fries and pizza. But these meals were so delicious, she was soon looking forward to the adventure of cooking -and eating – the next one.

    Within a few days, she didn’t mind missing out on the bread and sweets. By the end of the week, she realized she no longer craved all that empty junk food. Binge eating disorder bowed to ketogenic psychiatry.

    Ketogenic metabolic therapy uses food as medicine to reset your health.

    That was an amazing feeling. She’d been a slave to cravings for desserts all her life. She thought about her next snack constantly. But now those feelings and thoughts were gone! She could look at a bag of cookies at the grocery store and keep walking.

    WHAT???

    Just that freedom alone made this diet worth it.

    Binge Eating Disorder Bows Out

    Lexie definitely felt she was on an adventure. New things to learn, lots of reading, groups that she could drop in on, nature walks with the Touchpoints 180™ group, trips to buy fresh produce, and learning new super-easy recipes almost every day.

    Within a few weeks, she realized she was feeling not just better but substantially better. Her mind was clear, she could think better, she was free from the sugar addiction that had always plagued her…and she hadn’t done a food marathon in ages.

    She realized that walking was important, for her health, her metabolism, and her outlook. So she decided to go to the shelter and look for a puppy. He would need her to walk him every day, and those walks would be a great help to her. 

    A New Friend

    At the shelter, she locked eyes with a sweet and fluffy boy, and knew she’d found her new bestie. This happy, bouncy little guy was just what the doctor ordered, so to speak.

    Within 4 months, Lexie had lost 32 pounds, and her puppy had grown. She’d named him Miles for the miles they walked together that were saving her life. And his.

    She bought the most nutritious food she could find for Miles. If nutrition was changing her life and health, he needed the best nutrition he could get, too.

    But, an unexpected benefit of all these changes was that her social anxiety seemed to be subsiding. The nature walks had become more and more enjoyable. She was coming out of herself and making friends on those walks. 

    She even had 2 people she’d met on the walk come to her house for lunch. They had a lively discussion, and enjoyed the delicious ketogenic dishes they made. Not only did binge eating disorder bow to ketogenic therapy, but ketogenic therapy was introducing her to a new social life.

    Lexie’s deep feelings of insecurity and inadequacy continued to subside, as she moved forward on this new found ground of self respect and acceptance of others. She could see her life was headed in a new direction as her brain and body thrived.

    The Right Foods Can Set Your Mind on Solid Ground

    Surprising, isn’t it? Without starting or changing medications at all, your mind can become calm, clear, and even more clever by feeding the mitochondria in your cells the right fuel. Will a jet fly more efficiently on jet fuel or turpentine? Your brain craves the ketones that are produced when your body breaks down fat.

    If you can relate to Lexie’s struggles, if you find yourself binge eating, and unable to lose weight, if you struggle with depression and anxiety, and if you want to break free of it, call us.

    You, too, can be amazed at the freedom from cravings, and the joy of being at peace with yourself and those around you, while also losing unwanted weight. You can enjoy  physical and mental energy, and revel in your life’s rewards.

    Come join us in Touchpoints 180™ and find the wings to fly.

    Lori Calabrese, M.D. is on the front end of the race to stop PTSD in its tracks using IV ketamine treatment.

    To the restoration of your best self,

  • Ketogenic Metabolic Therapy (KMT) Can Fix Your Mood and Health

    Ketogenic Metabolic Therapy (KMT) Can Fix Your Mood and Health

    Brianna sank into the sofa, and groaned as she leaned over to pull on her shoes. It was hard to reach them, and she grunted repeatedly as she reached down to tie her laces. Uggghhhhh. She just had to lose weight. She was too big around her waist to comfortably reach her feet anymore. How did this happen? When did this happen? Was it the pandemic? She hadn’t noticed, but she had been forced to buy larger clothes to be comfortable. She should have noticed that! Or…maybe she had…and didn’t care enough to do something about it. Everything had seemed so futile for a long time…and it had been harder and harder to care. For things like her weight to even matter at all. While she drank her coffee she browsed on her laptop. Ketogenic metabolic therapy (KMT) showed up in an email, so she opened it.

    Ketogenic Metabolic Therapy is Food as Medicine

    The email was sponsored by a nutrition organization that touted this month, March, as National Nutrition Month by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Hmmmm. Why was she receiving an email from them?

    I mean, she thought, I try to eat from the 5 basic food groups, but it isn’t always that convenient. I do eat a lot of fast food too, and frozen prepared food. Whatever I can manage.

    Bottom line, she didn’t think it mattered much.

    But she wondered why she felt so draggy. Did she sleep enough last night? Her legs felt heavy, and it was a chore to get ready for work. She’d been noticing this for a few months, and wondered if she’d gained THAT much weight in her legs specifically? Were they just so so much heavier than they had been?  If only she’d known about ketogenic metabolic therapy.

    As she walked to the car, she tripped and nearly fell on her face. It startled her, and sent a sensation of panic jolting through her. Her heart pounded, and she couldn’t catch her breath. It washed over her how awful it would have felt if she’d fallen hard on the concrete. She was only 25, but it would have hurt. Bad. 

    Absent-Mindedness Wasn’t A Joke

    Once in the car, she couldn’t find her keys. She dug through her purse and didn’t find them. She went back in the house and looked everywhere! Where were they? Finally, she realized they were in her hand. She rolled her eyes. This happened... All. The. Time.

    Even after she started the car and put it in gear, she was still shaking from that near fall. This had been happening more and more, where something unexpected struck her with a panicked feeling. Losing her keys hadn’t helped.

    Why were her reactions so intense? For several months, she’d found herself making mountains out of molehills, mostly at work. But…at home too, now that she thought about it. She couldn’t seem to let things slide off her back. Everything was a big, bad event.

    She felt raw…and volatile.

    She determined she would look at that email that caught her attention after work. There was a lot to learn, and soon she would begin to learn about ketogenic metabolic therapy and how it can heal.

    Brianna learned about the nutrition found in foods grown on carefully managed farms, where soil was allowed to rest and restore nutrients, and how much that improved the nutrition of the vegetables grown there. She learned about grass fed beef, and grass finished beef. Now this was something she’d never heard of.

    She knew grass fed beef provided more nutrition when you consume it. But grass finished? She dug deeper. And learned more.

    Grass Fed Beef or Grass Finished Beef?

    So it turned out that grass finished beef is very different from grass fed.  “Grass fed” refers to cattle that were fed grass at some point in their lives… it might be that they started eating grass when they were young, then were fed other things, like grain. “Grass finished” beef refers to cattle fed nothing but grass their entire lives.

    She learned that grass finished beef has a deeper red color than traditional beef because of its high vitamin E content from the grass the cow ate. Vitamin E is extremely beneficial in helping to balance cholesterol, reduce free radicals, improve vision…in fact, this said it seemed to lower risks of some types of cancer.

    It also had nothing added, like hormones, and was rich in antioxidants vitamins like A, B6, B12, D and E. These improve skin health, strengthen immunity, and improve your memory and mood.

    Obstacles to your relief of symptoms can be removed by giving KMT months longer.

    Hmmmm… my mood…and memory? This is surprising. I never thought much about nutrition before, and it sure never occurred to me that the food I eat can make my mood better or worse…or my memory, for heavens sake!

    Brianna searched the internet for more articles about farm to fork… and nutrition… and mood. She saw articles about ketogenic diet and how it can help all sorts of medical problems. She ran across the term ketogenic metabolic therapy. Now this was brand new to her. The concept of using a ketogenic diet to treat metabolic illness.

    Definitely not her wheelhouse.

    But wait. The next article she scanned talked about metabolic syndrome, and metabolic conditions. And it described symptoms she actually had. Like weight gain, a spreading waistline, lack of energy, apathy, fatigue. People described feeling weighed down, emotionally and physically. 

    Ketogenic metabolic therapy uses food as medicine, to reset your metabolism.

    Brianna had to admit it to herself. This could be HER.

    Then, she ran across a link to Metabolic Psychiatry so she clicked. It was informative, and described their program for helping people improve their outlook and mood, symptoms of anxiety and depression, and a host of other conditions by using light exercise and food as medicine. And she read about ketogenic metabolic therapy.

    Wha…?

    Food as medicine?

    She learned that when a person has this “metabolic syndrome,” a most effective way to treat it is by drastically reducing carbohydrates, and eating a wide variety of farm grown foods that are first, low in carbohydrates, plus from all the color groups.

    Ketogenic diet feeds ketones to cells and improves energy and outlook.

    And to eat foods high in fat. So it might include avocados, and cheeses, coconut or olive oil (avoiding seed oils), grass fed butter, fatty fish like salmon, tuna, and trout, grass finished beef, and heritage pigs that are allowed to forage in grass.

    She learned that ultra processed foods like frozen pizza, lunchmeat, potato and corn chips (her weakness), donuts !!Oh NO!!, and artificial sweeteners, were all contributing to her metabolic problems. 

    It had never, EVER, occurred to her that her snacks and fast food – and frozen dinners with diet drinks – were all contributing to how bad she felt.

    So, Brianna found a program on this website that offered support, a dietitian to help her with planning her diet, and group conversations along with walks in nature, to help her reset her life.  

    She called for an appointment.

    Learning… To Improve Her Life

    It was time to get serious, and learn.

    She was able to get an appointment to learn about the program on Friday.

    Brianna found out she was depressed and had moderate anxiety, as well as brain fog. No wonder she’d been so down. She also learned she was pre diabetic. Who knew? She should have, if she’d been paying attention. 

    But that was ok. She was paying attention now. And she was going to find out what to do to fix her mind and her body.

    Touchpoints 180™ is Dr. Calabrese's program to help you achieve therapeutic nutritional ketosis so your mind and body can heal.

    Brianna joined the Touchpoints 180™ program and got to work. She knew this was going to be challenging. But she wanted to improve her life. So she set herself up to start reading all she could.

    The first thing she did when she got home was to throw away all the frozen pizza, burritos, TV dinners, ice cream, cookies, bread, rice, and potatoes. She knew this would surely be a learning experience, but those foods were glaringly obvious offenders. 

    LOW CARB. That was the ticket.

    Ketogenic metabolic therapy (KMT) can restore your health, mood, and energy.

    Then, a quick trip to the grocery store to load up on salmon, trout, scallops, grass fed beef. (They’d told her at the Metabolic Psychiatry office that they had sources for grass finished beef, so she’d find out about that this week.) She bought avocados, olive oil, coconut oil, kale, broccoli, eggs — good whole food, not powders, processed or commercial “keto”.

    Once home, she prepared her first meal. “Wow! This is delicious!!” It was scallops sautéed in garlic and grass fed butter with a caprese salad of cherry tomatoes, thick mozzarella slices, and fresh basil leaves. It was a symphony of flavor! East. And night and day better and more delicious than fast food. 

    She hadn’t realized what she was missing!

    Weeks passed. Her transition to therapeutic nutritional ketosis the first week wasn’t unpleasant, though she heard that it was for some people. It’s not to say that she never missed the junk food she’d lived on all her life. Sometimes French fries sounded appealing, but she would just eat a few avocado slices and the desire dissipated.

    Ketogenic metabolic therapy is enhanced when we join you out of doors, enjoying nature walks.

    She was so focused on buying food, attending the nature walks, preparing meals to take to work as well as to eat at home, she forgot to weigh herself. So after 4 1/2 weeks she stepped on the scale before her shower.

    Brianna’s jaw dropped. 

    She’d lost 18 lbs!! No wonder her clothes felt so frumpy. 

    Looking at herself in the mirror, she smiled a big, bright smile. She hadn’t noticed, but she could see it now. She was slimmer.  What a reward!

    She decided she would go shopping on Saturday, and get some clothes that fit better. Maybe only a couple outfits, because she knew she would lose more.

    After 5 1/2 months, she had lost 35 lbs, and was still losing. She had dropped 3 dress sizes so far.

    But more important, the fatigue, anxiety, and depression were gone. She had energy, hope, and anticipation about the future. Her thinking was more clear and sharp than it had been in many years…well, since she was a child.

    And she was feeling so much calmer, she was coping with life better, and enjoyed a wonderful feeling of wellbeing.

    Plus, an important and added benefit revealed itself at her next doctor visit. Her A1C had dropped and was low enough she was no longer considered pre-diabetic. She’d dodged that freight train, too!

    And this was all about the food she ate!

    The term ketogenic metabolic therapy (KMT) had meaning for her now that she had experienced such improved health, and freedom from symptoms, as a result of the way she was now eating and her involvement in the Touchpoints 180™ program.

    She knew this was not a fad. This was a whole new way of life that was solving her problems and removing her obstacles. And it was sustainable. She decided to maintain a low carb lifestyle and a ketogenic diet.

    Her instincts told her if she went back to eating like she used to, she’d end up diabetic, sick, and depressed again. She wanted no part of that.

    This wasn’t an experiment. This was a new and better way to live. And she was going to keep living it.

    With joy.

    What About You?

    Do you struggle with symptoms of metabolic dysfunction, like erratic blood sugars, weight gain around the waist plus everywhere else? Depression, anxiety, brain fog? Maybe PTSD, OCD, or bipolar disorder?

    Perhaps you haven’t realized that these conditions are metabolic, just as diabetes is. If not, you may not realize your symptoms can lift with a personalized, consistent, ketogenic diet that brings you into therapeutic nutritional ketosis.

    Well, it can. 

    If you have symptoms like Brianna, and you hadn’t connected the dots to realize you can experience relief with ketogenic metabolic therapy, call us.

    We’ve set up a way to help you get the relief you need through Metabolic Psychiatry, including therapeutic carbohydrate restriction with a personalized, whole foods ketogenic diet.

    Let us help you achieve a whole new level of health and wellbeing. That’s what we’re here for.

    Lori Calabrese, M.D. is on the front end of the race to stop PTSD in its tracks using IV ketamine treatment.

    To the restoration of your best self,

  • How Mitochondria Can Help Heal Your Brain…And Your Body!

    How Mitochondria Can Help Heal Your Brain…And Your Body!

    When you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired, you need answers, solutions, and information that leads you to take action to change your health, and your life. Maybe you’re suffering from unrelenting depression that medicines don’t help, and maybe you’ve gained weight – even exorbitant weight – that you feel powerless to lose. Maybe it has just happened, or maybe it’s a side effect of all the medicines you’ve tried for treatment. Just maybe, the weight gain has given rise to pre-diabetes, or Type 2 diabetes, and sometimes the more weight you gain, the more you want to eat. And that increased weight causes worse depression. And what if your depression symptoms have been accompanied by OCD symptoms, or hallucinations, and even delusions? Let’s talk about how mitochondria can help your brain heal.

    Chris Palmer, M.D., author of the book Brain Energy, was recently interviewed on Jordan Peterson’s podcast. He had so many good things to say about conditions that include all these different symptoms… and a wonderful explanation for why.

    Is Depression Always a Disorder?

    First, he said, all humans get depressed, feel anxiety, humiliation, and shame. Those are normal emotions in specific circumstances, and they can help you make necessary changes to improve your life. Human emotions are not disorders — they’re part of being human. When that happens, it’s not a disorder.

    But, there are so many ways you can suffer, and develop patterns that aren’t appropriate or adaptive adjustments to events in your life or your environment.

    You can develop patterns as you try to adapt to events in your life that caused you hurt or broke your trust that aren’t so good for you. But those aren’t necessarily brain disorders, either.

    Some people have actual brain disorders, where their brain is not functioning properly. They have anxiety for no reason, because cells are firing when they shouldn’t be. Or depression, because cells aren’t firing when they should be.

    This can cause crippling OCD, persistent depression, mania, even hallucinations, and delusions… for NO reason.

    Through the ages humanity has formed theories about the cause of symptoms like these. From demon possession to bile to dopamine and beyond. But none of these theories connect the dots for all of these conditions. Mitochondria connect those dots. And mitochondria can help your brain heal.

    They’re the crux of a central theme that revolves around metabolism.

    What’s the Role of Metabolism?

    Understanding metabolism—and mitochondria—helps us better understand how risk factors for these conditions come together. It gives us clear direction for treatments we can put in place. And it shows us how changes in diet, exercise, hormones, and medications can be helpful or harmful. And how substance use can impact a condition and its treatment.

    Someone who has vital elements missing in his life, like a rewarding job, significant and rewarding relationships, and a sense of purpose, can be depressed because the human brain is hard-wired to be depressed in the absence of those things. Its purpose is to push that person to develop the social connections to integrate him into a rewarding life.

    Then, Dr. Palmer pointed out how pain provides a great comparison. When you have pain because of an injury or surgery, that’s pain for a good reason. It’s logical and easy to explain. Of course you have pain!

    But when you have pain for no reason, that’s a disorder. Cells are firing for no valid reason. They’re malfunctioning.

    By the same token, he stresses that when you’re depressed for obvious reasons, that’s not a disorder. But when you’re depressed – or have anxiety – for no good reason, it rises to the level of being a disorder.

    And Mitochondria Can Help Your Brain Heal

    There is a wide range of medical conditions that can cause the exact same symptoms of depression, like neurological disorders, Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, hormone imbalances, like hypothyroidism, women’s hormones during menstrual periods, pregnancy, and menopause, low testosterone. Inflammatory conditions. A host of others.

    And that makes us wonder… what is the connection between all of these diseases and conditions that could explain the same depression symptoms?

    Dr. Palmer said that this is a really important clue to solving the puzzle!

    What Causes Mental Disorders??

    For all people suffering from mental illnesses—psychiatric conditions—around the world, how can we produce better treatments? He believes it’s by recognizing a common denominator, or a common thread. And it seems clear that what they all have in common is metabolism. And…more specifically, it’s these tiny things in our cells called mitochondria.

    Schizoaffective Disorder and Ketogenic Diet

    He told the story of a patient he’d had for 8 years. This man had schizoaffective disorder, with chronic hallucinations and delusions; he was overly suspicious, convinced everyone was out to get him, laughing at him, spying on him, and trying to hurt him. He’d tried 17 different medications — none had helped. He’d gained massive weight and asked Dr Palmer to help him lose it.

    Salmon and avocados are part of a ketogenic diet to heal your brain.

    So Dr. Palmer put him on a ketogenic diet — to help him lose weight. 

    Within 2 weeks, he was losing weight. But Dr. Palmer noticed a powerful antidepressant effect taking place. He was flabbergasted. How could two weeks of food affect symptoms that had been there for years?

    Then, came the shocking revelation. About 2 months after starting the ketogenic diet, he started spontaneously reporting that his hallucinations and delusions were beginning to go away.

    That man went on to lose over 160 lbs and has kept it off for seven years now. He was amazingly able to do things he hadn’t been able to do since he was first diagnosed.

    This man could go out in public without paranoia — he completed a certificate program, performed improv before a live audience (no joke!) and he started teaching karate. He was able to do things that had not only been impossible for him, they’d be impossible for just about anyone with his illness.

    Weight loss w/o cancer is easy with a delicious ketogenic diet.

    Dr. Palmer began using the diet with other patients, quietly. And took a deep dive into basic science and bodies of evidence from treating epilepsy, to other bodies of evidence, about bipolar disorder, depression, and schizophrenia.

    Not a Fad Diet

    The ketogenic diet is not a fad weight loss diet. It’s an evidence-based treatment that’s been used for more than 100 years for epilepsy. So Dr. Palmer thought that maybe that’s why this is changing this patient’s brain symptoms… because of the effect it has on epilepsy in the brain.

    Maybe those same processes are reducing his psychotic symptoms. Could it be?

    He studied the enormous body of evidence in the field of neurology regarding how the ketogenic diet stops seizures. There are changes in neurotransmitters, changes in the gut microbiome, decreases in inflammation…

    But one thing stood out:

    It improves how mitochondria function, which means:

    IT IMPROVES BRAIN METABOLISM

    The metabolic theory of brain disorders can explain to us why neurons might be overactive – or hyper-excitable — through neuroimaging studies, cell biology studies, and others that confirm this. We know that people with these brain conditions have hyper-excitable neurons. That there are parts of their brain that just start firing when they shouldn’t. 

    Not so different from a pain cell that fires when it shouldn’t.

    So to understand why this happens, we can turn to the metabolic/mitochondrial theory to connect the dots with all the symptoms of these conditions. Mitochondria can help your brain heal.

    It helps us understand why sleep deprivation can lead to psychosis, and why antidepressants can precipitant mania. 

    When we understand that the mitochondria is at the foundation of what occurs to create so many different psychiatric symptoms, it allows us to find treatments and solutions that may actually help people heal and recover.

    To understand mitochondria better, we think of it like this: 90% of the food we eat ends up as fuel in the mitochondria. When mitochondria get fuel, they convert it into energy in the form of ATP, or they break it down to smaller molecules to create hormones, enzymes, new proteins, neurotransmitters, or cell membranes…. or mitochondria can convert that energy to make heat.

    If you run a fever, they’re creating that. If you’re too cold, the mitochondria are underperforming.

    The medical field that’s focused on obesity, the cardiovascular field, the Alzheimer’s field, the ageing and longevity field have all been fueling research over the last 20 years on the role of mitochondria that is now taking off by leaps and bounds. Let’s learn about just how mitochondria help your brain heal.

    Mitochondria are Central to Just About Everything

    They serve up the fuel that’s used to create, regulate, and release neurotransmitters like serotonin, norepinephrine, dopamine, GABA, and more. And those neurotransmitters impact mitochondrial function.

    Mitochondria can help heal your brain with a ketogenic diet.

    Mitochondria also help control the expression of genes from the nucleus, which is called epigenetics.

    Mitochondria help turn inflammation both on and off.

    We’ve known that cortisol, the hormone, is poorly and improperly regulated in people with brain disorders. Mitochondrial dysregulation is believed to be the cause of cortisol dysregulation. So how can we get mitochondria to help your brain heal?

    Mitochondria are affected by our diet, our exercise, our drug and alcohol intake… but here’s the kicker. 

    Mint infused water is a delicious alternative to plain water in fasting.

    Biological, Sociological, Psychological

    Trauma and childhood adversity directly impact mitochondrial function and health. So by understanding and treating mitochondria, we can resolve the connections between the biological, sociological, and psychological risk factors that lead to brain disorders.

    The ketogenic diet also mimics fasting. And fasting triggers a process called autophagy, to clean out faulty cells and cell parts to help the body restore itself. The ketogenic diet also cleans up and removes faulty mitochondria, which is called mitophagy. Hugely important repair processes for brain health and longevity. And when mitochondria are fueled by a ketogenic diet they themselves become larger, more productive… they multiply.

    These are just a few of the ways that help mitochondria heal your brain cells. And your cells in the rest of your body, too.

    Fasting-Mimicking Diet

    A water only fast can trigger mitophagy in the cells.

    In some people, especially with extremely difficult diagnoses, it is sometimes necessary under medical supervision, to intensify that fasting state.

    The most intense approach is to ingest nothing except water for a limited period of time. A second level of intensity might be to trigger a fasting state in the body with a carnivore diet, meaning nothing but meat…or beef, specifically. (Nose to tail deep nutrition is important there.)

    Touchpoints 180™ is Dr. Calabrese's program to help you achieve therapeutic nutritional ketosis so your mind and body can heal.

    Touchpoints 180™

    But in most cases, a properly-formulated, nutritious diet of very low carbohydrates, moderate servings of protein, and high fat, creates this therapeutic state of therapeutic nutritional ketosis. This is the treatment strategy we use in our Touchpoints 180™ program — with striking results. Our patients see proof day in and day out that mitochondria can help heal your brain. And that it can last. So do their families.

    Are YOU sick and tired of being sick and tired?

    Mitochondria can help heal your brain, and your body.

    If you struggle with a whole cluster of symptoms like Dr. Palmer and I have talked about here, and nothing you’ve tried has made a difference, call us.

    See what the science of nutritional psychiatry can do to restore your joy… and your life.

    We’re here to partner with you in your recovery to living a better life. We can show you how.

    Lori Calabrese, M.D. is on the front end of the race to stop PTSD in its tracks using IV ketamine treatment.

    To the restoration of your best self,

  • Metabolic Psychiatry Can Heal Your Brain AND Your Body

    Metabolic Psychiatry Can Heal Your Brain AND Your Body

    Crystal wobbled, then caught herself with her hand on the table. Whoa…I’m dizzy. She took a breath, then planted her feet and felt steady enough to keep moving. As she dug through her purse, her hands couldn’t find her keys in her purse, so she dug deeper. Sighhh…where are they?? After dropping her purse on the table, she looked over the kitchen countertops and saw no keys. Walking through the house, she found no keys in the bathroom or bedroom. Nope, not the living room, either. Scratching her chin, she started opening cabinets. Then the refrigerator. Wow! There they were, ice cold, next to the cream she had used for her coffee. She rolled her eyes. My head is filled with clouds, she thought. She didn’t realize that metabolic psychiatry can heal so many of these symptoms.

    Grabbing her keys, Crystal pulled her purse strap over her shoulder, and started out the door to the car.

    Weight Gain, Blood Sugar, and Depression

    She’d struggled with her blood sugar for 8 years. Her weight had been slowly but steadily climbing. When she went on diets and lost some, she gained it right back. 

    Now her doctor was referring her to an endocrinologist and cardiologist. He was concerned for her Type 2 diabetes, her blood pressure, and her cholesterol. He told her they often go hand in hand. Anxiety climbed to her throat, choking her, as she drove on.

    But it wasn’t just her cholesterol, dizziness, and blood sugar that worried her. She’d lost her motivation. It was getting harder and harder to get up and get things done. Her house was becoming more cluttered, the laundry was lagging behind. Her bathroom hadn’t been cleaned for weeks, and her sheets needed to be changed. 

    I don’t even recognize myself anymore. What’s wrong with me?

    She stopped at her favorite drive-through on the way to order a cheeseburger, French fries, and a diet Coke. After wolfing it down, she felt like she could go to the doctor appointment without feeling so hungry. If only she understood how this high carbohydrate meal was making her worse… and that metabolic psychiatry can heal.

    Once she got out of the car, she could hardly walk into the office.

    They sent her to the lab for a blood draw, then back to the exam room. She liked the doctor. He was easy to talk to, and understanding about her lack of energy, motivation, and her struggle to find the initiative to cook more nutritious meals for herself.

    Her Doctor Gets Real

    Then, he leaned against the counter, and said, “I’m going to level with you, Crystal. I think all of the symptoms you’re struggling with are related. They have a common cause.

    “We need to work together to get your metabolism healthy and resilient. Doing that will help relieve all these symptoms you’re experiencing. I’ll be keeping a close eye on your blood sugars and your A1C, and your cardiologist will oversee your heart rate, blood pressure, and cholesterol. 

    “You need a psychiatrist for your depression, anxiety, brain fog, and panic attacks. I’m referring you to one here in the area who’s got a whole treatment program that can treat those symptoms and turn your metabolism around all at the same time. One of my patients with her lost 60 lbs, and was able to come off medication–hers and mine! Metabolic psychiatry can treat all these symptoms, in addition to those your cardiologist will monitor.

    The thing about all these metabolic symptoms you’re experiencing is that they form a vicious cycle. Depression makes you want to eat foods that aren’t healthy, and eating those foods makes your depression worse. Then, you gain weight which makes you feel more out of control and that feeds your depression and drives up your blood sugar and cholesterol. And on and on it goes.

    Touchpoints 180™ is Dr. Calabrese's program to help you achieve therapeutic nutritional ketosis so your mind and body can heal.

    Touchpoints 180™

    “The beauty is that by working with this doctor’s program, you get benefits for all these other conditions. She’ll focus on your psychiatric conditions, but the program will help you lose body fat consistently, bring down your A1c and your insulin, and that will eventually resolve your diabetic symptoms, and improve your cholesterol and blood pressure, as well.

    “She calls her program Touchpoints180™ and it would be so perfect for you. It’s the first of its kind anywhere. We’re fortunate to have it here in the area.

    “Here’s her website. Give her a call and instead of jumping on medication now that I know you don’t want, see what you can do to get your metabolism on track — body and brain. Then I’ll see you back in 3 months.” As he handed the slip of paper to Crystal, her heart did a little leap. Not what she expected. It felt like hope.

    When she reached her car, she didn’t want to wait another minute. She pulled up the website on the slip of paper, found the phone number, and called.

    She was able to arrange an appointment quickly. 

    Metabolic Psychiatry Changes Her Life

    The doctor evaluated her on a psychiatric and metabolic level. It was medical psychiatry but also holistic psychiatry and integrative. Everything was pulled in. Then, she met with an experienced ketogenic registered dietitian/nutritionist for a deep dive nutritional assessment, looking at her history, her food story, what she liked and didn’t like, and what had happened to her as she gained weight, did develop yo-yo dieting, and got more and more sick of herself.

    But instead of feeling bad about herself, she felt heard. Instead of judgement, she found hope.

    They really get this, she thought.

    Joint Feedback: Psychiatrist and Ketogenic Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist

    They both explained how food is the best medicine for her brain cells, as well as those in the rest of her body. There was more about how metabolic psychiatry can heal so much in the body. They talk about this as not a fad, but a leading-edge treatment that could be used to actually get her symptoms to STOP. Comprehensive treatment that was designed personally for her brain, and her body by the whole team, not a download from an app created with AI.

    It included both scheduled and drop-in activities, in person and virtual — like walks in nature, building friendships, support for her family and friends, meetings with her to help her maintain therapeutic nutritional ketosis. They introduced her to the idea of meticulous monitoring, labs, biometrics, and digital tools, and explained how it all worked together and why all of this was important.

    They didn’t say, “Let’s see how it goes.” They said, “You’re going to feel amazing.”

    She felt supported, a new and refreshing element that was unusual in a doctor’s office. She was more accustomed to being told to lose weight. Then 3 months later, being criticized for not losing enough.

    This was a whole new experience. And she liked it.

    She left the office… which was lovely — in fact more like a spa … armed with a whole new idea of what to keep in the house, what groceries to pick up, what to order out….and excited about joining their nature walks, working with them closely for advice and questions, reading the next book for their book club — she couldn’t believe they ran a BookClub! She got geared up, preparing to learn new recipes, new meal structures, and new digital apps.

    She had to push through her anxiety to show up for it all, and she wasn’t sure she’d try it all out all right away, but something this important deserved her best effort. After all, this was her chance to get better… to even maybe get well.

    Getting Started

    Her first meal was delicious and satisfying. This wasn’t anything like any low-cal diet she’d been on before where still was still hungry when she got up from the table. There was no sense of deprivation. Just her agreement to get rid of carbohydrate-heavy foods – and toss them.

    So, into the bin went potatoes, bread, rolls, biscuits, rice, and powdered sugar for frosting on cakes. Then she filled her fridge with butter, heavy cream, parmesan cheese, sharp cheddar, avocados, chicken, shrimp, salmon, ribeye steak, and all colors of bell peppers, leafy greens, and broccoli. 

    Crystal was set for her first week.

    The program was active, and the walks in the fresh air began to pierce her isolation. She noticed she began to look forward to those walks, and filling her lungs with fresh air. She even began to venture into conversation.

    This idea of walking outdoors among the trees with her doctor was a whole new paradigm. Who ever heard of such a thing? But it was confidence-building, and comforting at the same time. If it weren’t for all of the different opportunities to connect, she would never have walked like this by herself. Metabolic Psychiatry really does heal.

    But she wanted to get better.

    So she just kept showing up as scheduled. Within about 3 weeks, she realized she was relaxing. The anxiety was gone. She hadn’t had a panic attack in awhile. She also was thinking more clearly. Crystal marveled at the changes she was seeing in herself. 

    And she was losing weight!

    So this is how this works. Touchpoints 180™ is the best thing I’ve ever done for myself. Who knew it could be so easy? All I have to do is make it my priority and show up, prepare and eat the meals. Participate in phone calls. Extraordinary.

    Six months after she began participating in Touchpoints 180™ Crystal had lost 38 lbs. Her A1C had reduced dramatically. It was still within the “diabetic” range, but her blood sugars were becoming lower and more stable. And she knew this wasn’t some diet she would eventually abandon. 

    She knew this was a whole therapeutic lifestyle she could continue. So she did, and it got easier and easier as her A1C continued to drop and improve over time. Now she actually believed that her diabetes would eventually resolve. 

    Meanwhile, her muscle tone had improved from all the walking, and the depression had faded, leaving her with a much brighter outlook. She hadn’t experienced panic in months, and felt so much more control in her life.

    And a big bonus: her mind was clear. Clearer than it had been in many years. She was just amazed. Keeping up with her keys was so easy now, along with a host of things that used to baffle her.

    Crystal felt younger, more energetic, and liked the way she looked. So confidence building. And this was just the beginning. 

    A year later, she had dropped 4 sizes, and had gotten her sassiness back. She felt like herself again. Metabolic Psychiatry and Touchpoints 180™ really can heal.

    And she continued with Touchpoints 180™ to benefit from the advice, monitoring, and help with changes in her food preparation to slow down her weight loss, and maintain her weight, which was just right. 

    Her A1C was 5.6, and she was technically no longer a Type 2 diabetic. But she knew that without this lifestyle, it could all reverse. So she stuck with the lifestyle that worked, and all the support that went with it.

    Life Transforming

    This metabolic intervention had not only transformed her brain but it had also transformed her life. She would never have believed it until she experienced it.

    Do you struggle with the symptoms Crystal did?

    Metabolic dysfunction can create an array of symptoms like severe depression, OCD, panic attacks, severe anxiety, bipolar disorder, an eating disorder, or alcohol misuse. We harness all of the latest research (and contribute to it!) in metabolic psychiatry to create carefully formulated, therapeutic low carb and ketogenic treatment in Touchpoints 180™ program. We want to reverse what’s gone wrong, heal your symptoms and give you back your life.

    If you can relate to Crystal’s story, and want to get both your brain and your body health, call us.

    We’re here to figure it all out, help you, guide you, and walk shoulder to shoulder with you, to find your best self ever.

    Lori Calabrese, M.D. is on the front end of the race to stop PTSD in its tracks using IV ketamine treatment.

    To the restoration of your best self,

  • Ozempic Risky? Try Touchpoints 180™ For Weight Loss w/o Cancer

    Ozempic Risky? Try Touchpoints 180™ For Weight Loss w/o Cancer

    If you’re struggling with weight gain that’s causing other health problems like Type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, depression…maybe social anxiety… and every time you manage to lose weight, you just gain it back… let’s talk. You need an alternative to traditional weight loss diets, rather than weight loss medications, or fads. If you’ve talked to your doctor about medications that can help you lose weight and/or manage your diabetes symptoms, you may be struggling with the potential risks of these meds. The most prominent medicines that produce weight loss may also help with Type II diabetes. We’re talking about Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound. Studies have shown people lose significant weight on these medications, when taken a year or more. But are they all they’re cracked up to be? What about the risk of thyroid cancer? Let’s take a closer look at weight loss w/o cancer.

    Ozempic for Type II Diabetes

    Ozempic is a medication FDA-approved for Type II diabetes. It also helps with weight loss, and some doctors may prescribe it off label for that. Because it’s been so widely marketed, it has come to be the general term for a weight loss medication used to treat diabetes. 

    You might think of it similar to the way people say, “Coke” referring to any soft drink, or “Vaseline” referring to some type of lubricant.

    So, Ozempic has become the general term for a class of injectable weight loss drugs used to treat diabetes. But, it’s not the only one, as we’ve mentioned, and they aren’t all the same. 

    In the case of Ozempic, it was originally FDA approved for the treatment of Type II diabetes at small doses of 0.5mg and 1mg in 2017. Then, by 2022, it had been approved at 2mg doses.

    It’s a glucagon-like peptide1 agonist, that works by imitating a hormone that’s produced naturally in your body. That hormone is called glucagon-like peptide 1. So Ozempic, and medications like it, are called GLP-1 agonists, or sometimes just GLP-1 drugs. As in, “I want my doctor to give me one of those GLP-1’s.”

    It’s music to the ears of Big Pharma.

    GLP-1 stimulates the secretion of insulin, suppresses a hormone called glucagon, and increases a satisfied, or “full” feeling by slowing the emptying of your stomach.

    Since glucagon helps you to feel hungry, suppressing it tamps down your appetite. On top of that, by slowing your digestion, you feel full longer. 

    Another thing this drug does is focus on some areas of the brain, like the hypothalamus, where you find your appetite control, as well as choices you make about eating. Sounds promising on the surface, doesn’t it? But there’s more to the story.

    Wegovy for Weight Loss Specifically

    A drug similar to Ozempic, but FDA-approved for weight loss specifically, is Wegovy. Each of these medicines is a brand name for the same medication, called semaglutide, but they’re offered in different dosing devices.

    Ozempic comes in a multi-use injecting pen, and Wegovy — which dispenses at a higher dose — is offered in a single use, disposable pen. So even though they’re basically the same medicine, they’re not FDA-approved to treat the same condition, and as such, the pens dispense different dosages.

    While those are just little details, there are lots of big potential problems with this medicine, whether it’s under the brand name of Ozempic, or Wegovy, or it’s a knock-off version, a non-FDA-approved compounded formulation of semaglutide. 

    Moderate to severe gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or constipation, pancreatitis, gastroparesis (paralysis of the stomach), gallbladder disease, diabetic retinopathy, and allergic reactions. 

    Loss of important lean muscle — almost as much, pound for pound, as the loss of fat (about 40% of the weight loss is muscle) — lean muscle that you may never be able to build back. A huge deal because muscle is very metabolically active and you need it to keep the weight off once you’ve lost it.

    Because if you go off the drug, and you gain back the weight you lost, you’ll likely gain it all back as fat. (It doesn’t usually come back on as fat plus muscle.)

    In addition, and even more alarming, is the risk for thyroid cancer. Studies conducted to identify the link between these semaglutide medicines, found a moderate risk of thyroid cancer, although they couldn’t identify whether the risk was specific for medullary or papillary thyroid cancer. 
    Think about that for a minute.

    Not a rare risk. Not a slight risk. A moderately increased risk of cancer.

    When you consider the seriousness of this risk — actuallly all the risks — and all of the lawsuits that have already been filed against the companies, the doctors and the pop-up shops dispensing compounded versions of these — you should take a breath… and consider whether these semaglutide medicines are your only option. Surely there’s a path to weight loss w/o cancer.

    And, well, there are two more we can discuss.

    But, not sure they’re preferable alternatives. See what you think.

    Mounjaro and Zepbound

    Mounjaro is FDA-approved for Type II diabetes, and Zepbound is FDA-approved for weight loss. Sound familiar?

    It should. This pair is two versions of the same medicine, like Ozempic and Wegovy are. It’s just a different medicine. Tirzepatide. 

    Tirzepatide

    This medicine, more familiar by the brand names Mounjaro and Zepbound, works by imitating two hormones, instead of the single one that Ozempic and Wegovy use.

    These two hormone mimickers are glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptor and the GLP-1 receptor agonist like Ozempic and Wegovy. Both of the hormones these two mimic are “satiety” hormones. Your body releases them in the intestines, so you know when you’ve had enough to eat. 

    By using this double hormone approach, Mounjaro seems to be more effective at controlling glucose levels. Plus, Mounjaro and Zepbound yield greater average weight loss than the GLP-1 medicines alone.

    So, what’s not to love about tirzepatide? 

    Well, it’s the side effects. Some say they aren’t as severe as those for the GLP-1, or semaglutide medicines. And by combining the two mechanisms of action, GIP and GLP-1, the side effects might be easier to tolerate. You might not get so nauseous. You might not throw up every day. Trouble is, it was only FDA approved in May 2022, so there’s lots to learn.

    But those gastrointestinal symptoms are still side effects of tirzepatide —Mounjaro and Zepbound — and the moderately high risk of thyroid cancer when you use these medications is real.

    So what do you do if you live with obesity and the diseases associated with it, like type II diabetes, cardiovascular disease, depression, anxiety, PTSD…

    You do need to lose weight, and you need to feel better. Is injectable medicine that’s rife with side effects and risks your only option? Is there any other option to achieve weight loss w/o cancer?

    Yes!! There is Something Better!

    There’s a special intervention that’s based on metabolic science. Metabolic psychiatry makes use of therapeutic nutritional ketosis to shift your body’s method of generating energy for your cells from glucose to ketones. By eating very low amounts of  carbohydrates, and high amounts of healthy fats, your body will transition its method of generating energy, and will continue to consume those fats you eat, as well as your body fat, to continue to fuel your cells.

    Well-fueled cells are happy cells, and when they’re happy, your body functions so much better in so many ways.

    Ketones are natural, and they’re made by your body, in your body, and we’re genetically wired to produce them… easily. We have been since the dawn of time. They are a much more efficient and beneficial fuel that help all your cells function better—especially cells in the brain and heart. Your brain cells will operate at their best, clearing out brain fog, depression, and anxiety.

    Conditions like bipolar disorder, social anxiety, PTSD, and eating disorders can fade away. (We were the first to publish stunning results with this treatment approach in one of the deadliest psychiatric disorders, anorexia!) and we continue to break new ground with real-world scientific results from our practice showing how easy this can be, what it takes to adopt and maintain nutritional ketosis, and what it takes to make depression and anxiety go away. And all the while, if you’re overweight, your weight will likely steadily decrease.  And what’s more, it’s the healthiest, safest way to lose weight: it’s weight loss w/o risk of thyroid cancer!

    We call it metabolic health. And metabolic health leads to mental health.

    Touchpoints 180™ is Dr. Calabrese's program to help you achieve therapeutic nutritional ketosis so your mind and body can heal.

    Touchpoints 180™ – Your Better Alternative to Health

    The funny thing about Type II diabetes is that it disappears once you get metabolically healthy. You’ll see your A1C slowly decrease until it finally drops below 5.7, and your diabetes symptoms are gone. The numbers are living proof that your body is healing. HDL’s of 96. Triglycerides of 66. You become the living proof of glowing health.

    Delicious Ketogenic Diet

    Want weight loss w/o cancer? Try tasty ketogenic meals.

    Eating this ketogenic diet is like eating gourmet food every day. It’s just a matter of choosing all your favorites in the good fats category. Perfectly prepared North Atlantic wild caught salmon, with a cream based dill sauce, if you like. Lightly browned scallops in garlic butter. Sounds delectable, doesn’t it? Sautéed spinach, snow peas, sliced mushrooms, with sweet peppers and tomatoes in butter and olive oil with balsamic vinegar alongside a tender filet mignon. Caprese chicken with basil and mozzarella cheese. Grilled avocados with roast brisket, feta cheese, sour cream, and pesto.

    And we’ve got ways to make a well-formulated ketogenic diet work for any budget. 

    Mouth watering yet?

    This isn’t deprivation, it’s not a fad diet, and it’s not the Wild West out there that you see on You Tube. A well-formulated, medically supervised ketogenic diet is a metabolic intervention to give your body the fuel it needs to restore itself. It uses food as medicine to help you get healthy and well. Mental health and freedom from symptoms that have lingered for years can finally be yours. Weight loss (where you lose body fat and not muscle) is the beautiful side effect of this intervention. 

    Touchpoints 180™ is our special, customized program to help you achieve therapeutic nutritional ketosis, so you can get better.

    It includes support from a remarkable registered dietitian/nutritionist, nature walks, phone calls, and lots of education. We even have a LowCarb Lifestyles Book Club every month for our patients. 


    We’re so dedicated to education and empowerment that we’ve opened it to the public and offered it on MeetUp.com. (If you’d have told me 20 years ago, when I was at Hopkins, Harvard, and Yale, that I’d be doing nature walks and book clubs with my patients I’d have laughed—that just wasn’t what doctors did then. But it’s on the cutting edge of what doctors can do now).

    We don’t just talk. We walk the walk, and we walk it with you.

    Because we know how extraordinarily life-changing it is.

    Why on earth risk thyroid cancer, serious gastric conditions, and the misery that goes with them… when you can have great food, improved energy, better cognition, and mental clarity — and watch your symptoms of diabetes, obesity, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, brain fog and even PCOS, melt away?

    Enjoy a beautiful and delicious path to weight loss w/o cancer.

    If you’d like guidance and support to improve your metabolic health and gain a healthy, bright outlook, call us.

    We’re so excited about what global research in metabolic health is revealing for your improved overall health and wellbeing.

    Join us and let’s work together for you to live your best life.

    Lori Calabrese, M.D. is on the front end of the race to stop PTSD in its tracks using IV ketamine treatment.

    To the restoration of your best self,

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