Episode 282: Dr. Erin Bellamy | Can a Diet Replace Psychiatric Meds? Ketogenic Metabolic Therapy for Food Addiction & Mental Health

Episode 282: Dr. Erin Bellamy | Can a Diet Replace Psychiatric Meds? Ketogenic Metabolic Therapy for Food Addiction & Mental Health

May 21, 2026 · 54 min

About this episode

Dr. Erin Bellamy discusses the potential of ketogenic metabolic therapy as an alternative to psychiatric medications for mental health recovery.

What if the most powerful tool for mental health recovery isn't a medication — it's your metabolism? Dr. Erin Louise Bellamy joins Dr. Vera Tarman for a deep dive into ketogenic metabolic therapy: what it is, how it works, and why it may be one of the most underutilized interventions in both psychiatric care and food addiction recovery. Dr. Bellamy is a chartered psychologist, CEO of IKRT (International Ketogenic Research & Therapy), and a research fellow at the University of East London. She has been researching and applying ketogenic metabolic therapy in clinical settings since 2014, with a background that bridges eating disorders, psychiatric research, and metabolic health. In this episode, Vera and Erin discuss: How Erin went from eating disorder and alexithymia research to ketogenic metabolic psychiatry — and why the field's "biopsychosocial" model was missing the bio The difference between metabolic psychiatry, ketogenic therapy, and therapeutic carbohydrate restriction — and why the terminology matters What carbohydrate range actually produces therapeutic ketosis (and why "dirty keto" doesn't cut it) The shared mechanistic pathways across psychiatric diagnoses — including…

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Host: Dr. Vera Tarman

Guest: Dr. Erin Louise Bellamy

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Organizations: IKRT (International Ketogenic Research & Therapy), University of East London

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