Therapeutic Ketogenic Diet for Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia Nervosa

This study is looking at how a Therapeutic Ketogenic Diet (TKD) affects people with Anorexia Nervosa (AN) who have recovered their weight, those who are still underweight, and individuals with Bulimia Nervosa. The researchers want to see if the diet is safe and tolerable, using weekly body weight measurements and a side effect scale. They will also measure changes in eating disorder behaviors like the drive to lose weight, fear of gaining weight, and body image concerns using a questionnaire. You may be able to join if you are between 18 and 45 years old and have a history of AN or Bulimia Nervosa. The study is currently unclear about its recruitment status.

Study design
This is an interventional study planning to enroll 20 participants. It will investigate the effects of a Therapeutic Ketogenic Diet.
What's involved
You would follow a ketogenic diet for 14 weeks. You would have weekly assessments for ketosis, mood, anxiety, and eating disorder symptoms.
Compensation
Not stated in the trial record.
Follow-up
You would have a follow-up assessment 3 months after the intervention ends.

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NCT06000774

Therapeutic Ketogenic Diet in Anorexia Nervosa

Recruiting
NAAges 18–45InterventionalTreatment
University of California, San Diego
~20 participants
Updated 2025-09-05 on ClinicalTrials.gov
What's tested:Therapeutic Ketogenic Diet

At a glance

Recruiting sites
1 of 1 listed site is recruiting right now
RecruitingSuspended, closed, or not yet open
What they're measuring
To assess the safety and tolerability in individuals with anorexia nervosa who are weight recovered, individuals with anorexia nervosa who are currently underweight, and individuals with bulimia nervosa using weekly body weight measurements.
Measured over Weekly for the duration of the study intervention (14 weeks)
+3 more outcomes measured
Anorexia Nervosa in Remission
Bulimia Nervosa
Anorexia Nervosa
1 sites across 1 states
California1
  • Guido Frank, MD · PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR · University of California, San Diego

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  • To assess the safety and tolerability in individuals with anorexia nervosa who are weight recovered, individuals with anorexia nervosa who are currently underweight, and individuals with bulimia nervosa using weekly body weight measurements.Weekly for the duration of the study intervention (14 weeks)

    Weekly weights will be obtained to assess whether subjects remain within a normal weight range.

  • To assess the safety and tolerability in individuals with anorexia nervosa (AN) who are weight recovered, AN individuals who are currently underweight, and Bulimia Nervosa individuals using the Committee of Clinical Investigations UKU-Side Effect ScaleAt weeks 4, 8, 12, 14

    The UKU assesses psychiatric, neurologic, autonomic, and other side effects.

  • Measurement of drive for weight loss, fear of weight gain and body image distortion using the Eating Disorder Examination Questionnaire (EDEQ) Global Score, EDEQ Eating Restraint Score, and EDEQ Weight ConcernAt baseline, Week 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 3 month follow-up

    The Eating Disorders Examination Questionnaire a self report assessment that measures core eating disorder symptoms. Subjects will complete this measure at the beginning and end of the study and weekly throughout the 14-week intervention and the investigator will measure the change in scores. The EDE Global, Eating Restraint, and Weight Concern scales have a range of 0 to 6 where higher scores mean worse outcome.

  • Measurement of the relationship between genotype and improvement of eating disorder symptomsAt baseline

    In order to identify potential genetic signatures that may predict response to treatment, Whole Exome Sequencing will be conducted on participants.